| Learning objectives |
After having followed the course, the students
will be able to:
- Explain the fundamental link between innovation and firms’
competitiveness as well as the challenges large and established
firms face in response to disruptive technological change.
- Analyse how multinational companies make strategic decisions
about the location, governance, and organisation of R&D and
innovation.
- Explain theoretical frameworks and concepts governing how
multinational corporations manage R&D, innovation, and
technological change across corporate, business unit, team, and
individual levels of analysis.
- Assess how contemporary megatrends, geopolitical tensions, and
global disruptions are reshaping the boundaries, flows, and
strategic logic of firms’ international R&D and
innovation.
- Synthesise theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence from
the course to develop well-reasoned positions on R&D and
innovation strategy in the international business
context.
|
| Examination |
|
Innovation and
Disruptive Technologies in International
Business:
|
| Exam
ECTS |
7,5 |
| Examination form |
Written sit-in exam on CBS'
computers |
| Individual or group exam |
Individual exam |
| Assignment type |
Written assignment |
| Duration |
2 hours |
| Grading scale |
7-point grading scale |
| Examiner(s) |
Internal examiner and external examiner |
| Exam period |
Summer and Summer |
| Aids |
Closed book: no aids
However, at all
written sit-in exams the student has access to the basic IT
application package (Microsoft Office365 (minus Excel), document
camera and paper, 7-zip file manager, Adobe Reader DC, PDF24,
Texlive, VLC player, Windows Media Player – ATTENTION no sound
allowed), and the student is allowed to bring simple writing and
drawing utensils (non-digital). PLEASE NOTE: Students are not
allowed to communicate with others during the exam. |
| Make-up exam/re-exam |
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
The number of registered candidates for the make-up
examination/re-take examination may warrant that it most
appropriately be held as an oral examination. The programme office
will inform the students if the make-up examination/re-take
examination instead is held as an oral examination including a
second examiner or external
examiner.
|
|
| Course content, structure and pedagogical
approach |
|
Content
Novel technologies and radical innovations are reshaping the
global business landscape. Todays's rapid advances in ICT, AI,
computing, biotech, or material sciences are transforming
industries worldwide; understanding technological disruption and
innovation processes is essential for international business
practitioners.
Therefore, this courses addresses first the fundamental
link between innovation, technological change and
firms' competitiveness:
-
Innovation: What is innovation? What are key inputs
into the innovation process? How can we differentiate innovation
strategies?
-
Technological change: How does technological change
evolve in industries over time? What is disruptive technological
change?
-
Competitiveness: How do different innovation
strategies link to firms' competitiveness? Why do large and
established firms face challenges in coping with disruptive
technological change?
Our central focus is on multinational corporations (MNCs) and
how they strategically drive innovation or respond to technological
disruption. Therefore, we analyse MNCs R&D and
innovation strategy from four internal perspectives:
-
Corporate level: How do firms steer global R&D and
innovation across the entire organisation, in response to global
trends in technologies and markets?
-
Business level: How do individual business and R&D
units optimise their innovation performance in the context of their
parent MNC?
-
Team level: How do teams deliver innovation when
geographically dispersed across different time zones, cultures, and
organisations?
-
Individual level: How do individual innovation
managers, entrepreneurs, and innovators contribute to global
innovation and knowledge sharing?
MNCs' R&D and innovation does not happen in isolation
from the national and international institutional and political
environment. Therefore, we address R&D and innovation
strategy in theinternational business
environment:
-
Open and cooperative innovation: How do MNCs reach
beyond internal resources and engage with competitors,
collaborators, customers, and universities in transnational R&D
and innovation?
-
Location decisions: Where and why (not) do MNCs
establish an R&D and innovation presence in foreign markets and
geographies?
-
Reverse innovation: How do MNCs leverage R&D and
innovation in emerging and developing countries and reverse the
flow of technology and innovation?
-
Geopolitics and global disruption: How does
geopolitics reshape the boundaries, flows, and strategic logic of
MNCs' R&D and innovation?
Pedagogical Approach
The teaching is based on a combination of online and in-class
lectures, case-based exercises, and structured group
work.
|
|
| Research-based teaching |
|
CBS’ programmes and teaching are research-based. The following
types of research-based knowledge and research-like activities are
included in this course:
Research-based knowledge
- Classic and basic theory
- New theory
- Teacher’s own research
- Models
Research-like activities
- Data collection
- Analysis
- Discussion, critical reflection, modelling
- Students conduct independent research-like activities under
supervision
|
| Description of the teaching methods |
1) We start with a set of foundational in-class
lectures introducing the students to the core concepts, terminology
and overarching themes relevant to the course.
2) Subsequently, we deal with one specific analytical perspective
during one teaching week combining online lectures, in-class
lecture and exercises:
- Podcasts introduce the relevant terminology, concepts and theory
for each teaching week, providing the conceptual foundation.
- In-class lectures build on this input through student-led
activities: groups present and discuss selected academic papers and
prepare interactive element to test peers' understanding of the
material. This creates opportunities for elaboration, clarification
and feedback.
- Case-based exercises. Each session covers one case, with student
groups being co-lead in the case discussion directed by the
teacher. This helps develop the competence to link theory with
empirical observations, apply analytical rigour.
3) The final teaching session is dedicated to a workshop for exam
preparation. It is facilitated by student groups, each leading a
segment focused on a specific topic area. |
| Feedback during the teaching period |
Students receive feedback through multiple
structured channels embedded across the teaching activities
throughout the course.
1) Feedback on group assignments is provided by the teachers in
response to written submissions and presentation (Mini-lecture) by
student groups. An advance submission ensures that teacher feedback
can be integrated into the session itself.
Feedback through the quiz format in the mini-lecture sessions
provides real-time diagnostic information to all students. Quiz
results are displayed and discussed collectively.
2) Feedback during exercise sessions is continuous and
multi-directional. Student groups receive immediate responses to
their presentations from the teacher and are actively challenged by
peers during the class discussion. Participating students receive
feedback structured pair work and small group debate that surfaces
gaps in their own understanding.
3) Written self-assessment feedback is formalised through two
mechanisms: Students complete an individual reflection sheet at the
close of each exercise session, identifying what they understood
better, what challenged their thinking, and what remains
unresolved. Student groups functioning as co-leads in case
discussion submit a one-page group reflection within one week of
their session, addressing what surprised them, what they would do
differently, and what the discussion left open.
4) Feedback at the exam preparation workshop is very direct in its
exam relevance. Students sketch answers to mock exam questions
under timed conditions and immediately compare their reasoning
against a prepared model answer, making visible any structural or
conceptual gaps before the written examination.
5) Peer feedback is built into the session structure at multiple
points: through direct challenges to co-lead presentations, through
the polarising question debates in exercise classes, and through
the exam preparation workshop
|
| Student workload |
| Class |
27 hours |
| Workshop |
11 hours |
| Exam |
72 hours |
| Preparation |
130 hours |
|
| Expected literature |
- Ambos, B. & Schlegelmilch, B.B. (2004). The use of
international R&D teams: an empirical investigation of selected
contingency factors. Journal of World Business, 39, 37–48.
- Belderbos, R., Leten, B. & Suzuki, S. (2013). How global is
R&D? Firm-level determinants of home-country bias in R&D.
Journal of International Business Studies, 44(8), 765–786.
- Berry, H. (2018). The influence of multiple knowledge networks
on innovation in foreign operations. Organization Science, 29(5),
917–934.
- Beugelsdijk, S. & Jindra, B. (2018). Product innovation and
decision-making autonomy in multinational subsidiaries. Journal of
World Business, 53, 529–539.
- Chesbrough, H. & Euchner, J. (2011). The evolution of open
innovation: an interview with Henry Chesbrough. Research-Technology
Management, 54(5).
- Choudhury, P. & Kim, D.Y. (2019). The ethnic migrant
inventor effect: codification and recombination of knowledge across
borders. Strategic Management Journal, 40, 203–229.
- Christensen, C.M. & Bower, J.L. (1996). Customer power,
strategic investment and the failure of leading firms. Strategic
Management Journal, 17(3), 197–218.
- Dachs, B., Amoroso, S., Castellani, D., Papanastassiou, M.
& von Zedtwitz, M. (2024). The internationalisation of R&D:
past, present and future. International Business Review, 33(1),
102191.
- Damioli, G., Jindra, B. & Kristiansen, A. (2024).
International inventor teams and technological variety in
multinational enterprises. Journal of Technology Transfer, 49,
1660–1695.
- Demirbag, M. & Glaister, K. (2010). Factors determining
offshore location choice for R&D projects: a comparative study
of developed and emerging regions. Journal of Management Studies,
47(8), 1534–1560.
- Gassmann, O. & von Zedtwitz, M. (1999). New concepts and
trends in international R&D organization. Research Policy, 28,
231–250.
- Gassmann, O. & von Zedtwitz, M. (2003). Trends and
determinants of managing virtual R&D teams. R&D Management,
33(3), 243–262. *
- Kuemmerle, W. (1997). Building effective R&D capabilities
abroad. Harvard Business Review, 75(2), 61–70.
- Minbaeva, D. & Santangelo, G.D. (2018). Boundary spanners
and intra-MNC knowledge sharing: the roles of controlled motivation
and immediate organizational context. Global Strategy Journal, 8,
220–241.
- Santos, J., Doz, Y. & Williamson, P. (2004). Is your
innovation process global? MIT Sloan Management Review, 45(4),
31–37.
- Sternberg, R.J., Ohara, L.A. & Lubart, T.I. (1997).
Creativity as investment. California Management Review, 40,
8–32.
Please note: these reading materials are only tentative
and changes may occur. Final literature lists will be uploaded on
Canvas before the begining of the course
.
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