MSc Management of Innovation

Whether an organization innovates determines whether it survives. It does not take a world-wide crisis for an organization to realize that the status quo will not be sufficient. And it is not only the multi-national corporations like Amazon that need to innovate, it is the restaurant at the corner, the local charity, and even national governments see the need for innovation. The question is not whether to innovate, but how.

In this course you learn why organizations struggle to innovate and what to do about it. The course is organized around three broad questions such that each question will be addressed in a specific module:

1.       How can organizations generate value?

2.       How can organizations capture the value that they generate?

3.       How can organizations and managers deliver value?

Taught by Dr H. Klapper.

Generation, recognition, adoption and sharing of innovation is certainly a challenge for every organization, but creating an organizational structure that enables an organization to continuously innovate is also an equally, or even more, daunting task. This course will introduce the central challenges and available solutions to organize innovation activities.

Central topics encompass the processes by which innovation is generated, idea generation, theories of organization of innovation, organizing in service organizations, innovation networks, and organizational design in start-ups also through prototypes. The theoretical knowledge will be supported with case studies, skill development activities and guest speakers with whom the student will have the unique opportunity to discuss and share their opinion.

Taught by Dr S. Tasselli. 

New products, services and business models are generally implemented through projects. In this course students will have a “hands-on” experience in which they will plan and execute one of such projects. The goal of the course project is to transform an innovative idea into a tangible product. During the class sessions and through the course activities, students will be able to discuss concepts and theories that will allow reflecting on their work and help them improve their team’s project.

The course is divided in four different modules. The first module focuses on providing students with the basic tools for setting up and starting the execution of the project. The second module focuses on the management of the parties involved in a project, the project team and other stakeholders. The third module focuses on the discussion of risk management and project governance as mechanisms of project control. Lastly, in the fourth module, the course discussion assumes a critical perspective on project management practices and explores why projects fail and how to overcome those failures.

Taught by Dr J.P. Madiedo.

In a knowledge-based and innovation-driven business environment, managing ideas is an essential capability if an organization is to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. All innovations begin with ideas and managing these ideas is needed during the entire innovation process. Employees in any job and at any level of the organization can contribute to innovation with creative ideas. Thus idea management is important for everyone and at any moment.

This course takes place as part of the master in Management of Innovation. After general courses concerning innovation strategy and organization of innovation it is the first of a series of two courses that follow the temporal order innovation in the innovation funnel: Fuzzy front end (this course: problem analysis, idea generation, selection and communication), and Implementation (course 2: Innovation Implementation).

The course consists of a series of lectures, 2 assignments and an exam. Assignment 1 is an individual assignment which involves a reflection of a real world individual creative process. Assignment 2 is a group assignment which involves identifying a problem, generating, selecting, and communicating a creative solution to the problem and reflecting on the group process. Assignment 1 is worth 30% of the grade, assignment 2 is worth 40% of the grade, and the exam is worth 30% of the grade.

Taught by Dr D. Deichmann. 

The aim of ‘Your Future Career’ is to prepare RSM students at an early stage in their master's for their careers.

The online modules will help you make crucial steps towards the most suitable career step, whether an internship or a job.

To pass the course, you need to gain a minimum number of points within a few months. You can decide if you want to reflect on your interests and motivations, develop knowledge of the job market, receive peer feedback on application materials, learn to love networking, or attend an interactive alumni career panel or workshop.

See this page for more details.

This course is overseen and guided by Dr Maciej Szymanowski and Lisanne Keir.

This is an Honours class. Students will need to apply with a motivation statement and will be selected based on their motivation and grades.

MSc Management of Innovation program provides world-class and state-of-art knowledge in innovation management. The Innovation clinic course offers a unique opportunity to translate that knowledge into practice, building valuable personal experience of innovation in the field. You will pro-actively use the knowledge you gain during the MSc program to deliver innovation hands-on that is to the benefit of society particularly in relation to sustainability. You will generate, develop and implement ideas to meet business, societal and environmental needs. This goal is also in line with the RSM mission statement – a force for positive change. 

The Innovation clinic is a great opportunity to put theoretical knowledge into practice of your own initiative. Design thinking and lean start-up methods are provided to help. Short clinics / workshops and focused discussions provide students with check-ins, tools and expert coaching as they creatively work through challenge definition, ideation, ideas selection and implementation phases.

Taught by Dr G. Cross.

In modern organizations, employees are continuously expected to learn and improve themselves. One of the core aspects employees are expected to develop in order to advance in a company are their leadership skills. The aim of this course is to establish a solid foundation of the key principles of leadership development based in the state of the science. The focus will be on both developing your own leadership potential and your ability to develop other’s leadership.

Together we will explore different approaches to leadership development such as 360 degree  feedback,coaching, mentoring, and learning from experience. The basis of the course will be an understanding of leadership development based in the scientific literature. You are expected to actively participate during the lectures both in discussions and through in-class exercises. In addition to active in-class participation, you are expected to complete a number of assignments outside of the classroom, both individually and in small groups.

Taught by Dr T. Davidson.

What do Internet of Things (IoT), 5^th generation networks, service platforms, the circular economy, energy transition and fair-trade products have in common? These are all drastically changing the way firms are innovating because products and services offered by different companies get integrated in complex systems. Therefore, not only these products and services but also the interfaces between them and the entire system are to be innovated. In their innovation process, companies have to cooperate with other firms because products and services offered by different companies get integrated in complex systems. This provides managerial challenges. Even more, these innovative systems have societal implications. Negative externalities should be mitigated. Or even better: companies and other stakeholders can become a force of positive change by seeking positive societal impacts. Modern innovation management is responsible: ‘success’ includes both commercial and societal impacts. These relate to multiple stakeholders, with deviating stakes. Therefore, this elective is a necessary extension of the core courses to prepare for a next generation of innovation management.

Within complex systems, system elements are interconnected by means of interfaces. In general, such interface specifications should remain stable during a certain period in order to enable innovation at the level of the products, services or system elements they interconnect, so standards are essential. Though change is inherent to innovation, such stability via standards is needed as well, until this interface itself needs to be replaced by a substantially better one. Other standards set requirements for system elements or systems as a whole. Therefore, standardisation is a core element of this module. It includes negotiation and decision-making processes within different cooperative and competitive settings.

Taught by Prof. Dr Ir H.J. de Vries.

For several years, firms have embraced the idea that innovation activities should reflect an open system instead of following the typical vertically integrated model. In nearly every sector, the ideas and technologies that generate products and services emerge from an increasing number of firms that participate in the value chain. Getting multiple partners to collaborate in innovation projects, thus, seems to offer benefits that are difficult to achieve by a single firm. While this “open” approach to innovation appears promising, its adoption entails challenges. To reap the benefits of such approach, organizations need to understand whether and how “open innovation” initiatives fit their strategy and culture. Furthermore, organizations need to recognize whether they are already part of or are able to develop an ecosystem that supports collaboration and what the best tools to solve their specific “innovation problems” are. Finally, organizations need to understand how to overcome the challenges that result of trying to put it all together. This course provides the opportunity to study these issues and to develop a skill set that allows navigating through typical open innovation challenges.

This course is taught by Dr J.P. Madiedo Montanez.

“But why can’t I patent in Europe just because I talked about the invention at a conference?” “But I thought the claims in my patent would stop my competitor marketing that!” “I invented an improvement! So why do I have to get a licence from them before I can market my own invention?” “So I would have been better off just keeping this process secret rather than patenting it?”

Intellectual property is a vital asset for firms today, and patent portfolios can be extremely valuable. Yet all too often managers know little about patent law and patent strategies. This ignorance can be costly, because a naïve manager is like a lamb going to the slaughter-house. Skilful competitors will slice and dice a poorly worded patent that is in their way, or use a variety of other patent strategies to hinder the goals of their less knowledgeable and less experienced counterparts.

The course will commence with an overview of all forms of IP, as managers need to be able to identify all the different sorts of IP that can attach to one product. After a short, basic introduction to US and European patent law, we will look at how patents have increasingly become a strategic weapon rather than just a means of protecting an invention from imitation. With Sun Tzu’s ‘Art of war’ as a guide, we will look at the different strategies businesses use. Patenting is not, however, always the best option. Alternatives to patenting will also be examined.

Taught by Dr H. Gubby, barrister. 

With the Circular Economy elective, you are taking the next step in sustainability strategies.

Where most sustainability strategies today still focus on reducing a company’s negative footprint, in this course we will also look at making a pósitive footprint.
Academically, this can be referred to as ‘regenerative sustainable development’. For business it means: instead of adding a burden to doing business as usual, we’re implementing a positive agenda to company strategies, business partnerships and customer relationships.

An exiting and existing example is paint that cleans the air (produced by AkzoNobel), and during this course, we will look at several other examples in the market today and discuss concepts for the future. We will look into the business benefits ánd obstacles of implementing these alternative project and/or company strategies.

Would you prefer to make a great business out of contributing to society and the environment, rather than just postponing the damage a company has on the environment or people? Then you are welcome to step into the Triple Top Line paradigm; the core of our theories and practice.

You are happily invited to step forward with a daring proposal for your roadmap assignment, fiery debates in the lectures and bold ideas during the exercises.

Taught by D. den Held. 

Social entrepreneurship is an emerging field of academic study and real-world practice. At its core, social entrepreneurship pertains the combination of market-based and nonprofit approaches to solve social issues, a feat social entrepreneurs achieve by combining the knowledge and skills used in traditional business with a passionate commitment to having a meaningful and sustainable social impact. By combining insights from the academic literature with real cases and scenarios, the course will introduce students to both theory and practice of social entrepreneurship.

Each week, the course will focus on one important aspect or theme of social entrepreneurship, through two types of lectures: a “theoretical” lecture and a “workshop”.

• “Theoretical” lectures will compose the first appointment of each one of the six weeks of the course. These lectures will take the form of traditional frontal lectures where the lecturer will cover the material related to the week’s topic.
• “Workshop” lectures will instead compose the second appointment of each week and will focus on interweaving the theoretical content covered in previous lectures with real case scenarios and practical exercises. Such lectures will be interactive in nature, with in-class exercises (both individual and in groups), case-studies, and contributions from guest practitioners.

The six weeks of the course will cover the following topics

• Week 1. Social Entrepreneurship: definition and characteristics
• Week 2. Social entrepreneurs and opportunities recognition
• Week 3. Hybrid business models for social enterprises
• Week 4. Scaling impact in social entrepreneurship
• Week 5. Evaluating social impact
• Week 6. Group projects final presentations

Taught by Dr P. Versari.

Social networks and relationships play a key role in the generation, implementation, and diffusion of innovations. They are not only critical to access and exchange information and resources but also imperative to organize support and to market innovative ideas. In this elective, you will learn where to source good ideas in online and offline social networks and how to take advantage of the relationships and interactions that spur breakthrough innovations.

The learnings of this elective are especially relevant for prospective consultants and innovation managers who need to analyse and shape change processes and intra- or inter-organizational collaboration projects. For students interested in examining, understanding, and optimizing their network position and structure, the learnings are of equal use.

Taught by Dr S. Tasselli. 

Organizations are in a continuous hunt for the next blockbuster design, product, or service to gain or sustain their competitive edge. Throughout the management of innovation program, you have learned scientific theories, models, and frameworks. However, the reality is likely to be different than the stylized case studies and academic studies. The innovation journey is full of roadblocks for ambitious and visionary innovators. This course will provide you a unique opportunity to see the rollercoaster journey of innovation management in real life.

This course will be co-taught by Ivo Rutten and Murat Tarakci. Ivo was Vice President and Head of Global Strategic Alliances at Signify (previously known as Philips Lighting). Ivo will walk you through his innovation journey spanning six countries and several executive positions. We will zoom in a particular innovation project he initiated and developed. Murat Tarakci is Associate Professor of Innovation Management. Murat will complement the practical insights with a theoretical understanding. Thereby, this course will offer you to combine and excel in both theoretical and practical knowledge of innovation management.

Taught by Dr M. Tarakci and I. Rutten.

People often prepare long and detailed business plans when they want to implement new ideas. This takes a lot of time and resources and since customer preferences can change pretty quickly, a business plan might be obsolete by the time it is done. How can you approach innovation in a more flexible and agile way and develop innovations that are truly customer-centric?

During this course, you will learn how to shift your mindset and embrace a different approach to developing new products, services and processes. Using design thinking to develop innovations will help you to see the value of an offering from a customer’s perspective. This structured approach means empathizing with the user to match their real needs, and stimulates creativity and innovation. You will learn to define, interpret, and reframe problems, and how to involve others in your project. You will focus on iterative solutions to get to a final product through prototyping and trial and error.

Taught by Dr D. Deichmann.

Coaching is a key factor for successful innovation. At the same time, the innovation context places unique as well as challenging demands on leaders and coaches. For example, different innovation contexts require specific behaviors and techniques. To prepare you to successfully lead innovation during your career, how to lead and coach innovation teams is one of the central themes of this course.

This hands-on course will equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills to become a successful innovation leader and coach. The course learnings will be delivered in an interactive way, with a focus on experiential learning. You will be able to take note of relevant theories and understand how these may work in practice, through exercises and role-plays. Moreover, the course will include multiple sessions of coaching training. The objective of these sessions is to equip you with the necessary skills to coach and manage multidisciplinary project teams. After the weekly lectures and the coaching training in Block 3, you will apply your new coaching skills in Blocks 4 and 5, by coaching multidisciplinary teams of Bachelor students (BSc BA/IBA and BSc Applied Physics) who follow the course Technology Management. By taking part in this unique opportunity, you will be able to practice leading teams for innovation in a safe learning environment.

Taught by L. Gross.

Most students from RSM will be confronted with new business development at some stage in their careers. This course aims to serve as a pilot test for you, assessing your strength and weakness in entrepreneurial practices. To do so, this course will collaborate with multiple companies and provide tangible business projects for you, with the aim to address real business challenges related to new business development. As a result, you will face the full complexity of new business development. To assist you navigate the project, a reference contact from the company will actively work with you during the six weeks of the course.

Taught by Dr Z. Wu.

Students that would like to gain some practical experience during the Master program, can do so by means of an internship. Students can use one of the elective blocks to do a full time internship.

Instead of an elective a so-called business project can be carried out. This business project will be shorter than a regular internship. The advantage is that such a project can be carried out during one of the three elective blocks. A student can come up with a business project at a company of his or her choice. At the end of the internship the student will hand in a report.

The business project can be related to the thesis. However, this is not a requirement. Please not that even the two are linked, the business project will be assessed separately from the thesis itself and should contain another focus than the thesis. Please consult your thesis coach in case you want to combine your internship with you thesis.

THIS ELECTIVE COUNTS AS A FREE ELECTIVE FOR MI STUDENTS ONLY. IN OTHER WORDS: in order to graduate you MUST complete at least two MI programme electives!

Taught by S. Langeveld, MSc.