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2016/2017  BA-BSOCV1004U  Entrepreneurship and Innovation in a Global Perspective. Concepts, Development, and Challenges

English Title
Entrepreneurship and Innovation in a Global Perspective. Concepts, Development, and Challenges

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Bachelor
Duration One Quarter
Start time of the course Second Quarter, Third Quarter
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Max. participants 60
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Business Administration and Sociology
Course coordinator
  • Alfred Reckendrees - MPP
Contact information: https:/​/​e-campus.dk/​studium/​student-hub/​aabningstider-og-kontaktinformation
Main academic disciplines
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Innovation
  • Sociology
Last updated on 31-01-2017
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors:
  • prove evidence of a comprehensive knowledge of the concepts and theories used in the course
  • demonstrate a high level of command of the concepts and theories used and of their theoretical and practical implications
  • prove evidence of empirical knowledge regarding the chosen case and the institutional, social, and political environment it is settled in
  • be able to evaluate a complex business case with respect to the theories of entrepreneurship and innovation used in the course
  • be able to find substantial literature and empirical material for the chosen project.
Course prerequisites
In order to reach the learning aims, students participating in the classes need to prepare at home and actively contribute to the discussions. Reading and preparation requires approximately 4-5 hours per class.
Examination
Entrepreneurship and Innovation in a Global Perspective:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Group exam
Number of people in the group max. 3
Size of written product Max. 20 pages
Individual assignments max. standard 10 pages;
group assignments max. 20 standard 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 Winter and Spring
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Students can chose an own project/case. The topic and the research question need to be approved during the teaching period by the course teacher the proposal needs to present motivation, research question and literature.
The topic must relate to the theme of the course and the chosen case must be analyzed using the theoretical concepts from the syllabus.
Description of the exam procedure

Students can chose an own project/case. The topic and the research question need to be approved during the teaching period by the course teacher the proposal needs to present motivation, research question and literature.

The topic must relate to the theme of the course and the chosen case must be analyzed using the theoretical concepts from the syllabus. 
Course content and structure

Entrepreneurship and innovation continue to change the world. But what do entrepreneurs do? What is innovation and how is it done? Is it possible to institutionalize entrepreneurship and innovation? How important is entrepreneurship for economic development?

 

The course will discuss these and other topics on two levels. On the empirical level, comprehensive cases are analysed, which are specifically written for the discussion of entrepreneurial activity and innovation. The cases cover different historical epochs, different national environments and companies in different markets and of different size. The international and historical perspective allows for a better understanding of the importance of innovation and how radical entrepreneurial activity changed the world (cases include: 3M, 7-Eleven, Better Place, Edison, General Electric, Grameen, HP, Samsung, Starbucks, Toyota, Wedgwood, Zara). On the conceptual level, the students reflect (1.) theoretical approaches to entrepreneurship and economic development, entrepreneurial behaviour, corporate entrepreneurship (etc.) and (2.) approaches to innovation (e.g. types of innovation, processes of innovation, organization of innovation). Finally, the relationship between entrepreneurship and innovation and the concept of the innovative firm will be critically discussed. Throughout the course empirical cases and theoretical approaches are discussed in close relationship to each other.

 

Discussing contemporary and historical cases case in connection with different theoretical approaches to entrepreneurship and innovation, the course provides the skills to better understand the dynamics of business development. The students acquire knowledge about entrepreneurship in changing contexts and in different types of business organizations. They develop an understanding of how complex relations between individuals, organizations, and institutions, and inner-organizational relations and technology, impact on entrepreneurial decision making and on the process of innovation. They learn how internationally different institutional arrangements and cultures influence both entrepreneurship and innovation. The course deepens the understanding why and how entrepreneurial activity is important for economic development and which type of economic activity can be regarded entrepreneurial.

 

On the practical level the students studying recent and historical cases of entrepreneurship and innovation in a global economy learn how entrepreneurs identify opportunities, how they overcome traditional markets and national borders, and how they create markets and business organizations in different national contexts.

 

The exam format of the course (the self chosen project which is analysed using the concepts of the course) prepares for the Bachelor exams.


This course is not an instruction in setting up new business ventures.

 
Teaching methods
The course will be taught in 8 weeks (2x2h each).
It is based on case discussions combined with group discussions and students’ presentations; only some aspects of the course will be lectured. In order to reach the learning aims, students must prepare before they come to class, and they need to actively participate in the discussions.
Student workload
Lectures 30 hours
Lecture preparation 90 hours
Group presentation, preparation 16 hours
Project 75 hours
Miscellanea 8 hours
Expected literature

Tentative Literature:
The literature and cases will be provided in a compendium. Some cases must be downloaded from the Harvard Business School homepage and paid for.

Cases

3M - Thomke, S. (2002) Innovation at 3M Corporation (A), HBS case 9-599-012.

7-Eleven Bernstein, J.R. (1997) ‘7-Eleven in America and Japan’, in: McCraw, pp. 492‑530 + notes.

BetterPlace -  Ofek, E. / A. Berkley Wagonfeld (2012). Speeding Ahead to a Better Place, HBS case 9-512-056.

Edinson - Hargadon, A.B./Y. Douglass (2001): ‘When Innovations meet Institutions: Edison and the Design of the Electric Light’, in: Administrative Science Quarterly 46, pp. 476-501.

Freddy - Lindh de Montoya, M. (2000): ‘Entrepreneurship and Culture: The Case of Freddy, the Strawberry Man’, in: R. Swedberg (ed.), Entrepreneuership. The Social Science View, (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 332-355.

General Electric - Immelt, J.R./V. Govindarajan/C. Timble (2009): ‘How GE is disrupting itself’, in: Harvard Business Review Okt. 2009, pp. 56-65.

Grameen Bank - Yunus, M. (1999) ‘The Grameen Bank’ in: Scientific American November 1999, 114-119. and Yunus, M. (2004) ‘Grameen Bank, Microcredit and Millennium Development Goals’ in: Economic and Political Weekly Vol. 39, no. 36, pp. 4077-4080.

HP - Burgelman, R. A. /P.E. Meza: Innovation at HP: The Role of the Innovation Program Office (IPO), Stanford Graduate School of Business case no. SM-172.

Music Industry

Starbucks - Koehn, N. F. (2005): ‘Howard Schulz and Starbucks Coffee Company’, HBS case no. 9-801-361.

Toyota - Bernstein, J.R. (1997) ‘Toyota Automatic Looms and Toyota Automobiles’, in: McCraw, pp. 398‑438 + notes.

Wedgwood - Koehn, N. F. (1997): ‘Josiah Wedgwood and the First Industrial Revolution’, in: McCraw, pp. 17‑48 + notes.

Zara - Ghemawat, P. /J.L. Nueno (2006): Zara: Fast Fashion, HBS case 9-703-497.

 

Concepts

Casson, M. (2010): 'Entrepreneurship: theory, institutions, and history. Eli F. Heckscher Lecture, 2009', in: Scandinavian Economic History Review 58, no. 2, pp. 139-170.

Kirzner, I.M. (2009): ‘The alert and creative entrepreneur: a clarification’, in: Small Business Economics 32, pp. 145–152.

Lazonick, W. (2005): 'The Innovative Firm', in: J. Fagerberg/D.C. Mowery/R.R. Nelson (ed.): The Oxford Handbook of Innovation (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 29-55.

Rosenberg, N. (2000): ‘Innovators and “mere imitators” ‘, in: N. Rosenberg: Schumpeter and the Endogeneity of Technology: Some American Perspectives (London: Routledge), pp. 58-78, footnotes, pp. 113-116.

Schumpeter, J.A. (1942): ‘The Process of Creative Destruction Capitalism’, in: J.A. Schumpeter: Socialism and Democracy (London: Harper & Brothers), pp. 81-86.

Schumpeter, J.A. (1947): 'The Creative Response in Economic History', in: Journal of Economic History VII: 2, pp. 149-159.

 

Additional texts

Eisenberg, Ivy (2011): ‘Lead-user research for breakthrough innovation’, in: Research Technology Management Vol. 54, Issue 1, 50-58.
Last updated on 31-01-2017