• Ability to understand basic concepts (models, processes, sources and methods) of (Open) Innovation Management and their relations
• Ability to apply these basic concepts to own organization or other chosen empirical context
• Ability to demonstrate skills in making informed decisions on (Open) Innovation project design

The ability to drive innovation is a critical factor in developing and maintaining a company’s competitive edge. Innovation involves change - whether it’s creating new products, adopting advanced manufacturing processes, or implementing transformative business models. This course places innovation and its role in generating competitive advantage at its core. Not all companies have dedicated research and development departments - instead, many foster innovation through informal structures where employees across various roles contribute.

Additionally, external collaboration - such as engaging with users, universities, or other organizations - plays a vital role in the innovation process. As challenges become more complex, like those encountered in the green transition, inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration becomes essential for developing innovative solutions. Furthermore, the rise of artificial intelligence is revolutionizing innovation efforts, creating new opportunities and reshaping industries worldwide. In this course, we aim at providing participants with an overview of the most important aspects of understanding innovation management and we will do a deep dive on important elements of mastering innovation: strategizing innovation, organizing for innovation and developing innovation projects.

Key themes in the course

• Distributed sources of innovation
• Innovation models and processes
• Balancing exploration and exploitation in generating innovation
• Organizational designs for innovation
• Intellectual property and innovation
• Industry and technology dynamics and innovation
• Open and collaborative innovation
• Artificial intelligence (AI) and innovation
• Governing innovation projects
• Innovation project design

Learning flow and pedagogical design

The course follows an interactive, problem-based learning approach, delivered in full-day, workshop-style sessions. It integrates:

• Mini-lectures for foundational concepts
• Case studies to analyze real-world innovation challenges
• Ad-hoc group work to apply learning in a hands-on way
• Discussions and presentations to foster critical thinking
• Guest speakers from industry
• Innovation project design – practicing the development of innovation projects

• Classic and basic theory
• New theory
• Teacher’s own research
• Methodology
• Models

• Development of research questions
• Data collection
• Analysis
• Discussion, critical reflection, modelling
• Informed by existing research, students make project-design decisions and use them for developing their own innovation projects (i.e., projects they can implement in their companies in the future)