MSc Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship / Course details

The course will cover:

Different forms of entrepreneurship from history to today; how society shapes technology and technology shapes society; new approaches to responsible innovation; the (networked) organisation of innovation in modern societies and the idea of sociotechnical systems; how innovations spread through society and how they become embedded in everyday life; how (inferior) innovations become 'locked-in' and create resistance to innovation; who owns knowledge? public and private domains of knowledge and innovation; the entrepreneurial state; the geographical unevenness of innovation and the contemporary importance of urban innovation; hope, hype and visions for sociotechnical futures; technological transitions and the gales of creative destruction.

BMAN61001 Programme Req: BMAN61001 is only available as a core unit to students on MSc IME

The purpose of this course unit is to introduce students to a range of foundational concepts in understanding relationships between innovation and society. It will explore the characteristics of knowledge, the processes and institutions that generate progress in knowledge and the development of innovations, and the spread of innovations throughout society. The course tackles key approaches and theoretical perspectives from the sociology and history of science, technology and innovation to build a view of how economies are transformed through successive gales of creative destruction.

After completing the course, students will be familiar with:

1.    A range key conceptual approaches for understanding the modern knowledge economy and relationships between innovation and society
2.    A sample of in-depth case studies of major innovations, exemplifying the key perspectives
3.    Recent and emerging debates and controversies about social influences over the direction of innovation and impacts of innovation on society
Students will also develop the following skills:
1.    Group working
2.    Presenting critical arguments in seminars and through the written papers
3.    Basic research skills.
 

Individual essay (70%)
Group presentation (30%)
 

Informal advice and discussion during a lecture, seminar, workshop or lab. Written and/or verbal comments on assessed or non-assessed coursework. Written and/or verbal comments after students have given a group or individual presentation.
Generic feedback posted on Blackboard regarding overall examination performance.

 

Volti, R. (2001) Society and Technological Change, 4 edition, Worth, New York (good introductory text)
Mazzucato, M. (2015).The entrepreneurial state: Debunking public vs. private sector myths
(Vol. 1). Anthem Press.
MacKenzie, D. and Wajcman, J. eds., (1999) The Social Shaping of Technology, 2nd ed., Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Mokyr, Joel (1990) The lever of riches: technological creativity and economic progress Oxford University Press.

 

Informal contact methods

Office hours