ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION
Giuseppe D'Alessandro, Henry William Chesbrough, EMANUELE VIGLIERCHIO
Instructional goals
This course provides students with a detailed overview of innovation management to understand its characteristics, distinctive processes, benefits, and challenges, and in parallel it will give an understanding of how entrepreneurship works and of its relation with innovation.
Intended learning outcomes
At the completion of this course, students will be able to:
Knowledge and understanding
Describe innovation processes
Identify the Benefits and challenges of innovation
Identify disruptive technologies
Explain Open Innovation characteristics and peculiarities
Understand the role of entrepreneurship in the economic system, especially in fostering innovation
Realize the differences between the entrepreneurial approach to innovation and the managerial one
Comprehend the functioning of a business model, and of its evolution
Applying knowledge and understanding
Use strategic tools for innovative projects management
Reverse-engineering successful and failed business ideas
Explore and seize entrepreneurial opportunities building and testing a consistent BM
Making Judgements
Distinguish different types and sources of innovation
Make judgments about business opportunities and their feasibility, learning to overcome confirmation bias
Communication Skills
Explain the Importance of Innovation
Acquire communication skills for effectively presenting business ideas
Improve their collaboration skills and competences
Learning Skills
Experience the innovation process
Compare different theories and models, identifying the best option
Approach and validate projects, dealing with uncertain outcomes
Course Contents
The modules of the course will cover the following topics:
The innovation process: Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Portfolios and Gambles
Inventions, Innovations and Profit
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Mean Disruption
Problems and Other Sources of Innovation
Customer Co-creation. Product-Market Fit
Business Models
Service Vs Products. Model Vs Model
Open Innovation and the Entrepreneurial Way
Innovation Ecosystems
Moonshots Models of Innovation
Failure Cases in Innovation
Reference Books
The key textbooks for the course are:
Osterwalder, A.; Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation: a book for visionaries, game changers, and challengers.
Ries, E. (2011). The lean startup: How today's entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses.
Selected articles and reading materials presented weekly on the platform.
Teaching Methods
Asynchronous AND Synchronous
TA consultations
Individual assignments
Group project work
Assessment Method
Attending students will be evaluated on the following activities:
Individual Graded assignments (50%)
Project Work: Problem validation (10%)
Project Work: Solution validation (10%)
Project Work: Final Project work (10%)
Project Work: Pitch presentation (10%)
Individual Final Exam (on-campus) (10%)
Active participation (additional points)
For non-attending students the final grade will be given as a result of an in-presence written exam, based on all the reading materials from the Innovation and the Entrepreneurship parts of the course. The written exam will be made up of 12 Multiple choice questions (each worth 2 points) and 1 Open-ended question (worth 6 points).
Thesis assignment criteria
Active attendance at the course
Quality of the proposed issue for the thesis
Week 1 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 1: "The innovation process. Entrepreneurship and Innovation"
Asynchonous lesson: "The Innovation Process, from inception to launch"
Key phases of the journey of an innovation project
Stage Gate Process
Representation of the innovation process (Innovation Funnel)
E-tivities
Self-check quiz
Stage Gate process creation exercise
Related Material
Selected readings
Lecture slides
Videos
Synchronous lesson: "Entrepreneurship and Innovation"
The map and the territory
The relation between Entrepreneurship and Innovation (and Technology)
Why entrepreneurship matters: economics, society, culture
Related Material
Lecture slides
Selected readings
Videos
Week 2 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 2: "Portfolios and Gambles"
Asynchronous lesson: "Innovation as a Portfolio of Projects"
Different types of innovation projects
3 Horizon Framework
E-tivities
Self-check quiz
Related Material
Selected readings
Lecture slides
Videos and podcast
Synchronous lesson: "The entrepreneurial gamble"
The entrepreneurial hype
Mith Vs Reality of entrepreneurial activity
Types of entrepreneurs
Related Material
Lecture slides
Selected readings
Week 3 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 3: "Inventions, Innovations and Profit"
Asynchronous lesson: "Profiting from Innovation (PFI)"
Ways to profit from innovation
The role of Intellectual Property to profit from innovation
The role of Complementary assets as profit enablers
E-tivities
Open-ended question
PFI framework exercise
Related Material
Selected readings
Lecture slides
Videos
Synchronous lesson: "Beyond Invention and Innovation"
Bringing innovation to the market
MVP and route to market
Related Material
Lecture slides
Selected readings
Videos
Week 4 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 4: “Innovation and entrepreneurship mean disruption”
Asynchronous lesson: "Disruptive Technology"
Disruptive technologies
Role of incumbent firms' (and their business model) responding to disruptive technologies
E-tivities
Open-ended question
Adobe vs Canva exercise
Related Material
Selected readings
Lecture slides
Videos
Synchronous lesson: "Thinking about Innovation"
Kinds of innovation
Criticism of Disruptive Innovation Theory
Criticispm of Open InnovationTheory
Related Material
Lecture slides
Selected readings
Week 5 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 5:“Problems and other sources of innovation”
Asynchronous lesson: "Sources of Innovation"
Sources of external knowledge for innovation
Make, buy or collaborate choices for innovation generation
Introduction to Open Innovation
E-tivities
Self-check quiz
Related Material
Selected readings
Lecture slides
Videos
Synchronous lesson: “The Problem-solution issue”
Innovation adoption
The entrepreneurial Chasm
Problem-solution
Related Material
Lecture slides
Selected readings
Week 6 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 6 "Customer Co-creation. Product-Market fit"
Asynchronous lesson: "Customer Co-creation"
Customer engagement in the innovation process
Company internal management of customers' co-creation
E-tivities
Self-check quiz
Co-creation exercise
Related Material
Selected readings
Lecture slides
Videos
Synchronous lesson: "The Product-Market fit"
Product-Market fit
MVP, MAP
TAM, SAM, SOM
Related Material
Lecture slides
Selected readings
Week 7 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 7: "Business Models"
Asynchronous lesson: "Innovation and the Business Model"
Business Model
Business Model Canvas
The role of business model in innovation projects' evaluation and inherent bias
E-tivities
Self-check quiz
Business Model Canva exercise
Related Material
Selected readings
Lecture slides
Videos
Synchronous lesson: "The father of all models"
The classic company view vs the Business Model one
9 internal boxes
4 external boxes
BM and SDG
Related Material
Lecture slides
Selected readings
Week 8 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 8: "Service Vs Products. Model Vs Model"
Asynchronous lesson: "Innovation in Services vs. Products"
Innovation in Services
Innovation in Products
Service Blueprint
Innovation in Services and Products: main differences
E-tivities
Self-check quiz
Related Material
Selected readings
Lecture slides
Videos
Synchronous lesson: "A blueprint for blueprints"
BM and Blue Ocean strategy
VP design
Alternative Business Models
Related Material
Lecture slides
Selected readings
Week 9 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 9: "Open Innovation and the Entrepreneurial way"
Asynchronous lesson: "Open innovation"
Vertical Integration
Open Innovation
Open Innovation and Intellectual Property
E-tivities
Self-check quiz
Want/Find/Get/Manage model exercise
Related Material
Selected readings
Lecture slides
Videos
Synchronous lesson: "The entrepreneur way"
Effectuation theory
Entrepreneurs Vs managers
Related Material
Lecture slides
Videos
Week 10 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 10: "Ecosystems"
Asynchronous lesson: "Innovation Ecosystems"
Innovation ecosystems (characteristics, typologies, and relevance)
Innovation risks
E-tivities
Open-ended question
Related Material
Selected readings
Lecture slides
Videos
Synchronous lesson: "The entrepreneurial ones"
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems
Key actors: VC, Universities, PE, Government...
Complexity theory
Related Material
Lecture slides
Videos
Week 11 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 11: " Moonshot and Unicorns"
Asynchronous lesson: "Moonshot Models of Innovation"
Innovation policies
Moonshot models of innovation
Innovation and Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs)
E-tivities
Self-check quiz
Related Material
Selected readings
Lecture slides
Videos
Synchronous lesson: "Funding, Funding, and more Funding"
Funding of entrepreneurial projects
Growth and exit
VC and Negotiation
Related Material
Lecture slides
Videos
Week 12 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 12: "Innovation Failures, Barriers, Intrapreneurship"
Asynchronous lesson: "Failure Cases in Innovation"
Failure in Innovation
Innovation risks
E-tivities
Self-check quiz
Related Material
Selected readings
Lecture slides
Videos
Synchronous lesson: " Manager and Entrepreneur?"
Intrepreneurship & Corporate Entrepreneurship
Barriers to Intrapreneurship
Strategies to overcome the barriers
Related Material
Lecture slides