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2014/2015  KAN-CCMVI2016U  Engineering entrepreneurship – a practical internship on innovation for sustainability

English Title
Engineering entrepreneurship – a practical internship on innovation for sustainability

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration Summer
Course period Summer
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for MSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Course instructor - Dr. Jerry Schaufeld, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
    Patricia Plackett - MPP
Main academic disciplines
  • Innovation and entrepreneurship
  • Management
  • Corporate and Business Strategy
Last updated on 12-02-2014
Learning objectives
At the end of the course the student should be able to:
  • Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of key concepts and theoretical perspectives related to innovation and entrepreneurship presented in the course.
  • Demonstrate a strong comprehension of methods that are used in the process of creating new products and services that can offer greater sustainability to society.
  • Explain methods that can be used to identify, evaluate, and exploit entrepreneurship opportunities.
  • Recognize the formal and informal sources of capital for exploiting a venture opportunity.
  • Understand the value of specific activities that entrepreneurs undertake to develop their opportunities (business concepts and models) into viable businesses.
  • Articulate the process, activities and format of a feasibility analysis of an entrepreneurial concept.
Course prerequisites
No formal academic prerequisites required, but students should have a strong interest in multidisciplinary approaches to innovation and entrepreneurship and in sustainability issues in society.
Prerequisites for registering for the exam
Number of mandatory activities: 1
Compulsory assignments (assessed approved/not approved)
Mandatory Mid-term Assignment: The Mandatory Mid-term Assignment will be based on group projects requiring a solution to an innovation and entrepreneurship problem related to sustainability to be presented in class.
Examination
Home assignment:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual
Size of written product Max. 15 pages
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer Term
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Course content and structure
In the modern competitive and global world confronting today’s engineers, innovation and entrepreneurship are increasingly important. Gradually more business students are becoming aware of the importance of an understanding of engineering perspectives on innovation and entrepreneurship. .An overarching theme in the course is the importance of engineering entrepreneurship – it provides a unique competitive advantage to students to have proficiency in innovation and entrepreneurship related to the engineering of sustainability solutions. This course provides the foundation for developing such proficiency by examining the functional roles of the business/commercial aspects of engineering disciplines as well as establishing a basis for innovative thinking. Specific cases in which innovation and entrepreneurship have led to new product innovation and new enterprise development will supplement course materials. This course will provide engineering and business students with an understanding of effective ways in which to formulate and develop creative and innovative solutions to sustainability challenges in society.
Global technology and the markets they represent are moving at an ever increasing rate. Product life cycles are diminishing at an accelerating rate. This situation creates both problems and opportunities for individuals and to corporate organizations’ ability to deliver performance returns to investors and stakeholders. The perspectives and methods gained from this course will enable students to discern opportunities and also to improve their ability to succeed with them.
This course is built on a significant experience base at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a small technology-based university that attracts extraordinary students from around the world, with this course that has now been offered successfully a number of times. It is clear that there is a larger context that reaches into the world of commerce and global competition and an additional focus of this course will be environmental concerns and issues of sustainability. The course will present the various functional elements of entrepreneurship in a manner that raises the awareness of the issues associated with moving ideas forward. It is not an attempt to mold entrepreneurs, but rather is a framework designed to increase the “entrepreneurial mindset” of students.
There will be both a Preliminary Assignment and a Mandatory Mid-term Assignment in this course. The Preliminary Assignment will require students to work individually to produce a solution to a problem drawing on specified readings from the curriculum with the solution summarized on three slides for classroom presentation in Class 3. The Mandatory Mid-term Assignment will require students to work in groups to prepare a solution to an innovation and entrepreneurship problem related to sustainability with solutions presented by student groups in Class 5.

Class Schedule
ClassTopic
Class 1Entrepreneurship – Looking for the Opportunity
Class 2Organizational Models … Functional Platform for Success
Class 3Preliminary Assignment
Class 4Start up or Not……the Critical Decision
Class 5Mandatory Mid-term Assignment
Class 6Numbers as the Driving Force 
Class 7The Numbers…..Driving the Results
Class 8Innovation …the Art and Science
Class 9Innovation … Best Practices in a Sustainable Environment
Class 10Global Competition….Problem or Opportunity?
Class 11Comprehensive Review
Teaching methods
Teaching will include lectures, exercises, case study discussions, and group project work.
Further Information
Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings or video clips to be read or viewed before the start of classes with a related task scheduled for class 3 in order to 'jump-start' the learning process.
Expected literature
Course Texts: (Required)
Innovationby Curtis Carlson & William Wilmot, Crown Business Press
The Innovator’s Dilemma,Clayton M. Christensen, Collins Press
Selected articles and HBR Cases:
Last updated on 12-02-2014