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2014/2015  KAN-CSCBO1100U  Generating and Managing Creative Ideas

English Title
Generating and Managing Creative Ideas

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Course period Autumn
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for MSc of Social Science
Course coordinator
  • Kristina Vaarst Andersen - Department of Innovation and Organizational Economics (INO)
Main academic disciplines
  • Innovation and entrepreneurship
Last updated on 14-08-2014
Learning objectives
After having completed this course students should be able to:
  • identify and leverage company internal and external sources for creative ideas
  • choose between and apply appropriate search strategies with point of departure in state of the art research on open innovation and entrepreneurship
  • demonstrate knowledge of the respective literature for sources of innovation, new product and service development, distributed innovation processes, entrepreneurship, and use that literature in the exam paper
  • link a theoretical question or problem with a concrete application/illustration
Prerequisites for registering for the exam
Number of mandatory activities: 2
Compulsory assignments (assessed approved/not approved)
An individual 3 page mid-term essay, graded pass/fail by the teacher. A pass is required in order to participate in the regular exam.

Requirements about active class participation (assessed approved/not approved)
An individual 3-page review of a peer essay, graded pass/fail by the teacher. A pass is required in order to participate in the regular exam.
Examination
Generating and Managing Creative Ideas:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual
Size of written product Max. 15 pages
Assignment type Project
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period December/January
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
If the student did not pass the regular exam, he/she must make a new revised project (confer advice from the examiner) and hand it in on a new deadline specified by the secretariat.
If the student was ill at the regular exam, he or she will have to hand in a new paper.
Description of the exam procedure
Project report (written exam):
The project report must deal with the case on an idea developed by the student either prior or during the course.

In the exam paper the student will demonstrate her or his ability to analyze the literature and theories of the course and based on that develop their own innovation project within the creative industries. Thus, the exam is based on theory but also includes a practical application and the analysis of data the students find and generate out of specific fields of the creative industries.

The theoretical part of the paper includes one or more specific aspects of the following points (to be specified in more detail in the course):
 
  1. overview of relevant literature for the report
  2. an analysis of how standard innovation theory applies to specific aspects of creative industries
  3. an overview of what search methods can be used for identifying ideas in creative industries
  4. reflections on the entrepreneurial process related to bringing the idea to marke
  5. The case or practical part of the paper includes one or more of the following points (to be specified in more detail in the course)
     
  6. the concrete idea
  7. the methods and tools used to identify distributed ideas/innovators
  8. an analysis of the search process and the results of it (including the mapping of individual and team personal and professional competences)
  9. the entrepreneurial decisions related to the creative idea
 
The report will normally be based on a case that the student has identified during the course and which has been developed and discussed during the individual modules of the course. The project report thus represents the final work, summarizing the tools and theories learned and applied during the course.
 
Exam paper literature:
Course literature plus literature identified by the student
Course content and structure

The course will supply central skills and tools needed to identify good ideas, creating opportunities, and manage distributed innovation systems. Students will be introduced to the fields of open innovation and entrepreneurship, learn about the origin of good ideas, and employ different tools to explore and exploit creative ideas. The overall goal of the course is to enable students to systematically manage early innovation stages using both internal and external sources of ideas and to feed later stages with the respective results. 
 
More specifically, students in this course will be able to develop their own ideas within the creative industries. They will
 

  1. identify the sources for the creative input needed,
  2. gain understanding of the application of own personal and professional competences
  3. evaluate what they find
  4. learn about the innovative and entrepreneurial process

 
The course is thus a theoretical preparation and practical application for specific situations the students will find and have to manage after having finished their studies. The course is divided into two major parts: During the first part (class one to five) the students will get an introduction to the course and the literature on open innovation and entrepreneurship (see class schedule below). In the second part of the course (class six to eight), we will have workshops where we jointly develop the projects of the students, in groups and individually. The course finishes with a final class on writing style and expectations with regards to the written exam.
 
 
Teaching methods
Teaching includes lecture-style classes and in-class workshops with students presenting and actively participating in discussions. Lecture-style classes will introduce literature and main theoretical concepts. The lecture-style classes will demand a high level of active student participation. Students will be requested to identify and discuss current literature on the topic of the course.

The in-class workshops will equally call for high participation. Students will have the opportunity to apply course literature, personal and professional competences in relation to creation and development of own ideas. Students will throughout these workshops be demanded to take action and be reflective upon the specific presented methods.
Expected literature
Please note that the litterature list is guiding

Ronald S. Burt (2004),“Structural Holes and Good Ideas”American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 110, No. 2 (September 2004), pp. 349-399
ChesbroughH. W., Why Companies Should Have Open Business Models MIT Sloan Management Review, Jan 2007
Clark, K. B., & Henderson, R. M. (1990). Architectural innovation: the reconfiguration of existing product technologies and the failure of established firms. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35 , 9-30.
Cohen, W.M. und D.A. Levinthal (1990), „Absorptive Capacity: A New Perspective on Learning and Innovation,“ Administrative Science Quarterly, 35, 128–152.
 
Hargadon, A. and R. Sutton (1997), „Technology Brokering and Innovation in a Product Development Firm,“ Administrative Science Quarterly, 42 (4), 716–749.
 
Huston, L. and N. Sakkab (2006), „Connect and develop. Inside Procter & Gambles’s new model for innovation,“ Harvard Business Review. March 2006, 58–66.
 
Lakhani, K. R. and E.von Hippel (2003). „How Open Source Software Works: "Free" user-to-user assistance,” Research Policy 32 (6), 923-943.
 
Jeppesen, L. B. and L. Frederiksen (2006), „Why do users contribute to firm-hosted user communities? The case of computer-controlled music instruments,“ Organization Science, 17 (1), 45–64.
 
Katila, R. and G. Ahuja (2002), „Something Old, Something New: A Longitudinal Study of Search Behavior and New Product Introduction,“ Academy of Management Journal, 45, 1183–1194.
 
Mullins, J. & Komisar, R. (2009) Getting to Plan B., Harvard Business Press
Networking for innovation - managing through networks. Published in: Strategic Networking in Small High Tech Firms, Samfundslitteratur, 2003
 

Osterwalder, A. and  Pigneur, Y (2010), „Business Model Generation: 

A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers“
 
Pisano, G. P. and R. Verganti (2008), „Which kind of collaboration is right for you?” Harvard Business Review, 86 (12), 78-86.
 
Rosenkopf, L., & Nerkar, A. (2001). Beyond local search: Boundary-spanning, exploration, and impact in the optical disk industry. Strategic Management Journal, 22 , 287–306.
 
Sarasvathy, S. D. (2001),“What makes entrepreneurs entrepreneurial”, Harvard Business Review, 2 – 9  
 
Sarasvathy, S. D. (2001), “Causation and effectuation: Toward a theoretical shift from economic inevitability to entrepreneurial contingency”,  Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 243-263
 
Sawyer, K. (2007) Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration, Basic Books, New York
Last updated on 14-08-2014