DATA-DRIVEN INNOVATION
Instructional goals
The course “data-driven innovation” focuses on the strong correlation that exists nowadays between data and the innovation path of organizations.
The first part of the course focuses on firms’ innovative processes and on the issues arising from them. The course analyses challenges and criticalities relevant the development and maintenance of an organizational structure that facilitate innovation and to the management of the key individuals in the firms innovative processes. The course provides students with an overview on strategic, organizational and operative dimensions of innovative processes.
The second part of the course provides an overview on peculiarities, challenges and issues in management of digital innovation. By providing both theoretical and practical approaches, the course focuses on innovation methods and approaches that enable organizations to create and accelerate innovation in the business world. The course shows how data become the main source of innovation and thus competitive advantage.
Intended learning outcomes
Knowledge & Understanding
The course offers conceptual frameworks for understanding main concepts of innovation management within organizations.
The course provides knowledge and analytical resources that will enable students to
- describe the main models of innovation, use analytical tools to understand and interpret technological innovations;
- list the market strategies for introducing an innovation in the market.
- illustrate the fundamental characteristics of the innovation processes;
- understand the most diffused approach to internal development of innovations.
-understand he main challenges and opportunities of digital innovation
-use the theoretical frameworks, methods and analytical resources to understand data as an important source of innovation
Applying knowledge & understanding
Upon completion of this course, students should be able:
· to assess various models of innovation, and understand technological innovations
·to understand and use market strategies for introducing an innovation in the market
·to understand challenges of digital innovation management
· to understand and apply innovation methods and approaches
· to have an innovative mindset, which is necessary to tackle the new challenges
· to understand and use data as source of innovation
Making Judgment
During the course, students will be asked to analyze organizations, challenges, issues related to innovation process and provide suggestions.
The course is based on inquiry-based learning where students asked to apply knowledge gained from the course, analyze and solve real problems.
During the course, students will be continuously asked to explain and analyze real cases and at the same time made, develop and discuss solutions to problems.
Communication skills
The resulting multidisciplinary communication skills are the main result of teaching. The student will indeed be able
- to combine the technical and managerial terminology related to innovation management
- to contribute to the resolution of problems related to innovation management
Learning skills
The course facilitates the development of learning skills through analyzing of case study and inquiry-based learning.
Various online collaborative tools will be used.
Course Contents
The course is organized in the following modules:
Module 1: Overview of Innovation Management
-Management of technological innovation and Open innovation
-Technological life cycles and standard design battles
- Learning from the Market
Module 2: Digital Innovation, Platforms and Innovation Methods
- Platforms and ecosystems
- Innovation in the digital age
- Design thinking
Module 3: Business models, Agility and Data ecosystems
- Business models
- Agility to sense and respond to business changes
- Digital and Data ecosystems
Reference Books
All information concerning the course, the lecture notes, the support materials and the exercises and all communications will take place through the e-learning platform.
A list of the required and suggested readings is included in the detailed program.
Teaching Methods
The course mixes theory with practice, and students will be challenged to apply principles, concepts and frameworks to real world situations.
Each week is comprised of two classes. Usually in the first sessions of weeks, an overview of the topic is provided using traditional – though interactive – lectures. The second sessions of weeks will be focused on the discussion of relevant studies or cases that highlight the topic or on seminar and guest lecture.
The discussion is going to be guided by the inputs provided by students through their active involvement, by which we mean that for each session (but the first one), students are expected to:
Before each session, study the material – usually one paper and / or case studies – suggested in the reading list;
During the session, actively discuss other students’ presentations and papers.
Students are also asked to develop a final project work, in collaboration with a company. This will reinforce the possibility of applying the theory in live business cases
Assessment Method
Attending students:
The grade is based on a written exam (20%), mid-term individual assessment (20%), a group discussion and presentation (30%) and final project work (30%).
Group presentations will be also assessed through a peer-evaluation system.
Active involvement in each class – e.g. attendance, participation to discussion, and short presentations – will add up to 10% of the final grade.
In this case, students can ONLY retake mid-term individual assessment and written exam.
Non-attending students:
They will be assessed as follow:
Business case individual assessment, written exam and individual project.
Thesis assignment criteria
No specific criteria required.
Does the syllabus cover sustainability topics?
Yes
Week 1 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 1:
Management of Technological innovation and Open innovation
Required Readings:
Chesbrough, H., (2003) The Era of Open Innovation, MIT Sloan Management Review, 44, 3, 35–41
Optional Readings:
Tennenhouse D. (2004) ‘Intel's Open Collaborative Model of Industry-University Research’, Research-Technology Management, 47, 4, 19-26;
Bogers, M., H. Chesbrough, and C. Moedas. "Open innovation: research, practices, and policies." California management review 60.2 (2018): 5-16.
Cases for Discussion:
Procter & Gamble
Week 2 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 2-
Project work introduction
Introduction of project work, in collaboration with a company
Guest speaker
Technological life cycles and standard design battles
Required Readings
Chapter 3 and 4 Schilling (2017) Strategic Management of Technological Innovation, McGraw Hill
Optional Readings
Dosi G. 1982. Technological paradigms and technological trajectories. Research Policy, 11: 147‐162.
Abernathy WJ, Utterback JM. 1978. Patterns of Industrial Innovation. Technology Review, June‐July: 40‐47.
Adner, Ron, and Rahul Kapoor. "Innovation ecosystems and the pace of substitution: Re‐examining technology S‐curves." Strategic management journal 37.4 (2016): 625-648.
Week 3 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 3-
Technological life cycles and standard design battles
Cases for Discussion:
BlueRay vs HD-DVD
Facebook vs SixDegrees
Learning from the Market
Required Readings:
Learning from the market, ch. 7, Leonard-Burton, D. (1998), Wellsprings of Knowledge, Harvard Business School Press.
Optional Readings
von Hippel, E. 1976. The dominant role of users in the scientific instrument innovation process. Research Policy, 5 (3): 212‐39.
Bower, J. and Christensen, C. (1995) ‘Disruptive Technology: Catching the Wave’, Harvard Business Review, 43-53
Week 4 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 4:
Learning from the Market
Cases for Discussion:
TataNano
Platforms and Ecosystems
Required Readings:
Chapter 2: Tiwana A (2013) Platform Ecosystems: Aligning Architecture, Governance, and Strategy. Newnes.
Optional Reading:
Jacobides MG, Cennamo C and Gawer A (2018) Towards a theory of ecosystems. Strategic Management Journal 39(8). Wiley Online Library: 2255–2276; Tiwana A, Konsynski B and Bush AA (2010) Platform Evolution: Coevolution of Platform Architecture, Governance, and Environmental Dynamics. Information Systems Research 21(4): 675–687.
Week 5 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 5:
Platforms and Ecosystems
Cases for Discussion:
Mobile Payments
Uber
Innovation in the data age
Required Readings:
F. Pigni, G. Piccoli, and R. Watson, “Digital Data Streams: Creating value from the real-time flow of big data,” Calif. Manage. Rev., vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 5–25, 2016
Nambisan, S. (2017). Digital Entrepreneurship: Toward a Digital Technology Perspective of Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 41(6), 1029–1055. https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12254
Week 6 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
1st check point- meeting with groups
Week 7 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 7- Business models
Required Readings:
Redman , 2015, 4 Business Models for the Data Age, Harvard business review
Wiener, M., Saunders, C., & Marabelli, M. (2020). Big-data business models: A critical literature review and multiperspective research framework. Journal of Information Technology, 35(1), 66-91.
Optional reading:
Mayer-Schönberger and Ramge, 2018, Are the Most Innovative Companies Just the Ones With the Most Data?, Harvard business review
Week 8 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 8: Design thinking
Required Readings:
•Brown, T. (2008). Design thinking. Harvard business review, 86(6), 84.
Optional readings:
•Liedtka, J. (2018). Why Design Thinking Works. Harvard business review
Week 9 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 9: Individual assessment
Week 10 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 10: Agility to sense and respond to business changes
Required Readings:
Tallon, P. P., Queiroz, M., Coltman, T., & Sharma, R. (2019). Information technology and the search for organizational agility: A systematic review with future research possibilities. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 28(2), 218-237.
Optional readings:
Walter, A. T. (2021). Organizational agility: ill-defined and somewhat confusing? A systematic literature review and conceptualization. Management Review Quarterly, 71(2), 343-391.
Croll, A., Yoskovitz, B., Tesler, M., Bauer, H., Monoghan, R., Ries, E. (Eds.). Lean analytics: Use data to build a better start-up faster, O'Reilly Media, 2013
Cases for Discussion will be distributed in class.
Week 11 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Week 11: Data ecosystems
Subramaniam, M. (2020). Digital ecosystems and their implications for competitive strategy. Journal of Organization Design, 9, 1-10.
Kazemargi, N., Spagnoletti, P., Constantinides, P., & Prencipe, P. (2022). Data control coordination in cloud-based ecosystems.
Cases for Discussion will be distributed in class.
Week 12 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Group Presentations
Wrap up session – Q&A