• Create and analyze the value of an idea through the application of various types of value proposition and prototyping procedures.
• Acquire knowledge, insights, and methods from social constructionist and process perspectives for the creation of value through the formation and evaluation of ideas.
• Develop concepts and prototypes of products and/or services and undertake iterative testing and revision of these through participatory design.
• Gain some facility in the use of various presentation modalities for bringing ideas into concrete realities that others can experience, as well as reflect on the conundrum of collaborative processes through group activities.

This course offers theories of value creation from social construction and process perspectives. It utilizes various frameworks (value proposition and prototyping) and processes (i.e., concept development and testing; feasibility; product, service and participatory design) for developing ideas into concrete business concepts and organizational forms. The class is taught in a studio format. Based on knowledge gained from: assigned readings, short lectures and cases, class discussions and group exercises; the class develops, modifies and refines a series of business concepts and product/service prototypes that will serve as inputs for evaluating the feasibility of a particular idea. Students (either alone or in teams) will be responsible for developing and refining a business concept and a prototype for a specific idea during the term.

The outcome of this process will be the Mandatory Assignment. The Mandatory Assignment is graded as “Pass/Fail” on an individual basis. Students must receive a “Pass” before being allowed to take the Final Exam. The Final Exam will be a 10-page take home assignment. 

Required Books to Purchase:

Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Bernarda, G., Smith, A. & Papadakos, T.  (2014). Value Proposition Design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. (Listed as VPD in Course Schedule)

Latour, B. (1987).  Science in Action.  Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.  (List as SIA in Course Schedule)

Articles:

Ellie, C., Adams, T. E. & Bochner, A. P. (2011).  Autoethnography: An Overview.  Forum: Qualitative Social Research. 12 (1), Art. 10.  

Wall, S. (2006).  An Autoethnography on Learning about Autoethnography.  International Journal of Qualitative Methods.  5 (2): 1-12. 

Bernd W. Wirtz, Adriano Pistoia, Sebastian Ullrich, Vincent Göttel (2016) Business Models: Origin, Development and Future Research Perspectives, Long Range Planning 49, 36-54  

Magretta, Joan. (2002) Why business models matter. Harvard Business Review. 80 (5): 86-92.

Blank, S. (2013). Why the lean start-up changes everything. Harvard Business Review, 91(5): 63-72.

Morris, M., Schindehutte, M., & Allen, J. (2005). The entrepreneur's business model: toward a unified

perspective. Journal of business research, 58(6), 726-735.

Pentland, A. (2012). The new science of building great teams. Harvard Business Review, 90 (4), 60-69.

Helgesson, C.F. and Kjellberg, H., 2013. Introduction: Values and valuations in market practice. Journal of Cultural Economy, 6(4), pp.361-369.

Stark, D. (2011) What’s valuable? In: The Worth of Goods: Valuation and Pricing in the Economy, edited by Patrik Aspers and Jens Beckert (Oxford University Press, 2011).

Steyaert, C. (1998) A Qualitative Methodology for Process Studies of Entrepreneurship, International Studies of Management and Organisation, 27(3): 13-33.

Hackman, J. R. (2009). Why teams don't work. Interview by Diane Coutu. Harvard Business Review, 87 (5), 98-105.

Sánchez-Fernández, R. and Iniesta-Bonillo, M.Á., 2007. The concept of perceived value: a systematic review of the research. Marketing Theory, 7 (4): 427-451.

Koptytoff, I. (1986) ‘The cultural biography of things: commoditization as process’. In: The social life of things: Commodities in cultural perspective. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

Fletcher, D. E. (2006). Entrepreneurial processes and the social construction of opportunity. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 18 (5): 421-440.

Fletcher, D. (2007). ‘Toy Story’: The narrative world of entrepreneurship and the creation of interpretive communities. Journal of Business Venturing, 22 (5): 649-672.

Rehn, A. and S. Vachhani. (2006). Innovation and the Post-Original: On Moral Stances and Reproduction. Creativity and Innovation Management 15 (3): 310-322.

Gersick, C. J. (1988). Time and transition in work teams: Toward a new model of group development. Academy of Management journal, 31(1): 9-41

Selden, P., & Fletcher, D. (2010). “Practical Narrativity” and the “Real-time Story” of Entrepreneurial Becoming in The Republic of Tea. An Issue about The Republic of Tea, 51.

Garud, R. Schildt, H. A. & Lant, T. K. (2014) Entrepreneurial storytelling, future expectations and the paradox of legitimacy.  Organization Science. 25 (5): 1479–1492.

Kelly, J. R., & Barsade, S. G. (2001). Mood and emotions in small groups and work teams. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 86 (1), 99-130.

Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (2005). The discipline of teams. Harvard Business Review, 83 (7): 162.

Supplemental Books and Materials:

You will gain some experience in visualisation and presentation methods. For further reading and exercises we suggest:

Roam: D. (2009).  Unfolding the Napkin.  New York: Penguin Books.  (Listed as NAPKIN in Course Schedule)

The class can’t cover all of the ways that one might use design thinking to solve problems.  A good book to widen your sense of design methods and ideas is:

Lidwell, W., Holden, K., & Butler, J. (2010). Universal principles of design: 125 ways to enhance usability, influence perception, increase appeal, make better design decisions, and teach through design. Rockport publishers.

If you don’t have some knowledge of accounting and finance, then, you should read this book:

Berman, K., & Knight, J. (2013). Financial intelligence for entrepreneurs: what you really need to know about the numbers. Harvard Business Press.