MST-23806 Introduction to Management and Life Sciences

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

English

Continuation courses:

MST-21306 Advanced Management and Marketing; MST-30306 Technology, Innovation and Strategy; MST-24806 Supply Chain Management; ORL-20306 Decision Science 1.

Contents:

This course is intended for students with a Bèta-background who have chosen for the specialization MME-D. It is the starting course for the MLS specialization where all MLS students of that year are together. Improvements in healthy food, a clean environment and in the combat against diseases, become possible through a successful integration of Life sciences and Management sciences. Life sciences provide a collection of tools and techniques to produce new products and develop new processes based on organisms or parts of organisms. Thus, Life sciences provide important contributions to innovative products and processes. Management sciences provide the instruments that enable design, implementation and support of innovative organizational and business processes. Bèta-engineers are pressured by their working environment to develop their communicative skills; they have to work in multi-disciplinary teams, cooperate in innovative business processes and production processes, and manage different forms of knowledge in various networks. Béta-engineers may adopt a management role in academic environments, in production facilities or in various supply chains. From this professional perspective, Bèta-engineers apply their knowledge within settings in which people with different backgrounds, different interests, different positions in the chain and knowledge institutions are represented. Integration and satisficing use of each contribution makes a successful completion of complex processes such as product innovation, market launches and managing a supply chain, possible. Bèta engineers with a Gamma specialization can play an important, initiating and binding role in such processes. Bèta-Gamma engineers should not only be able to produce and/or understand technical designs but also to take into account a wide range of contextual variables such as market variables and enterprise variables.

Learning outcomes:

After completion of this course the student is expected to be able to:
- comprehend technical and managerial aspects of decision making and decision support approaches for innovation processes at a strategic and operational level;
- comprehend approaches for the development and implementation of technology that take into account non-technological variables such as contextual variables of a business-and consumer driven environment;
- identify relevant principles and methods used in research regarding three themes: (1) management of innovations, (2) innovation in decision support and economics, (3) innovation in operations management;
- demonstrate and apply such knowledge in a case study on a 'real life' challenge.

Activities:

- lectures;
- study and cases/assignments.

Examination:

- written exam with open questions (50%);
- case study report group (50%).
To pass a minimum of 5.0 for each component is required.

Literature:

Reader.