YSS-32306 Technology and Business Model Innovation

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

English

Assumed knowledge on:

MST-21306 Advanced Management and Marketing.

Continuation courses:

MST-31306 Advanced strategy and case studies management; MCB-31306 Creating frameworks for marketing and consumer behavior; INF-31306 Information systems for managers and engineers

Contents:

The objective of the course is to provide students with a multidisciplinary theoretical basis on how companies create value through technology management and business model innovation and to learn to critically evaluate innovation theories.
Social and technological developments create opportunities for new innovations that go beyond simple product innovations and that affect entire business models. In recent years, new business models emerged in among others green energy, food retailing (think of Starbucks and Hello Fresh), and agricultural financing and information-provision (think of e-choupal and M-Pesa). Such business model innovations have brought structural changes to the mature markets that they entered, have changed the lives of their customers, and/or the sustainability of the industry. This course will make clear that technological change and (business model) innovation are among the most difficult to understand phenomena in our modern economy. While trying to understand these phenomena from a wide range of theories coming from different business disciplines, students will develop a deep understanding of a particular business model innovation and draw lessons from it.

Learning outcomes:

The course aims at improving student’s understanding of, and to strengthen their competences in dealing with, innovation theories using the business model canvas as an organizing framework. After succesful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- understand how technological development may lead to innovation in products, services, and entire business models.
- use the business model canvas to map business model innovations in the food and agribusiness domains and identify the key drivers of the innovation.
- understand and evaluate selected innovation theories that pertain to specific business model components on their value of understanding a particular business model innovation.
- evaluate the usefulness of innovation theories and propose directions for future development based on their evaluation.

Activities:

- attending lectures and guest lectures;
- self-study of specified literature;
- preparation of lectures through individual assignments;
- group assignment.

Examination:

- written exam (65%);
- assessment of assignments (35%).

Literature:

Selected articles that are made available through Black Board, plus: Osterwalder, Alexander, Yves Pigneur and Tim Clark, Business model generation. A handbook for visionaries, game changers and challengers (self-published).