MSc Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship / Course details

Society is facing a number of pressing sustainability challenges including climate change, dwindling biodiversity, and the degradation of air, water and soil quality.  Many business leaders already recognise that commercial organisations must play a key role in addressing these problems. In this context successful managers are moving beyond the mind-set of limiting harm and managing risk, to proactively driving innovation to address these problems. In addition to the pace of innovation, sustainability-oriented innovation must take into account the directionality of change. This requires the identification and conceptualisation of key sustainability problems and potential solutions, as well as understanding how to communicate the need to drive change. The course will introduce students to key concepts, frameworks and exemplar cases to develop understanding of sustainability-oriented innovation as a multi-actor process involving the development and diffusion of environmentally sustainable and socially responsible products, services and practices.

BMAN70372 Programme Req: BMAN70372 is only available as an elective to students on MSc IME

The aim of the module is to introduce students to key concepts, frameworks and exemplar cases to develop understanding of sustainability-oriented innovation as a multi-actor process involving the development and diffusion of environmentally sustainable and socially responsible products, services and practices.

At the end of this course unit students should be able to:

Knowledge and understanding.

•           understand critically the challenges associated with environmental sustainability and (specifically) climate change for firm competitiveness;

•           appreciate the role of innovation in responding to these challenges

Intellectual skills.

•           appreciate different perspectives on environmental sustainability and sustainable innovation

•           apply a holistic and systemic approach to investigating complex, "messy" open-ended problems

•           apply the common approaches, frameworks and analytical techniques used in the assessment of sustainable innovation, which is often complex, multi-faceted and uncertain

Practical skills.

•           Apply and develop self-directed learning and information literacy skills.

Transferable skills and personal qualities.

•           acquire research, analysis and organisational skills through the enquiry based coursework including formulation, implementation and write-up of a substantive management report.

•           work both individually and collaboratively as a member of a team, contributing to the development of effective team dynamics and project management processes.

•           Demonstrate skills in communicating ideas and making arguments in writing and verbally.

 

 

 

50% individual report

50% group presentation and poster

 

 

Informal advice and discussion during a lecture, seminar, workshop or lab.

Responses to student emails and questions from a member of staff including feedback provided to a group via an online discussion forum.

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.

You are not expected to have any specialist technological or sustainability knowledge. We will take time to introduce you to issues related to sustainability and some of the main technologies that firms need to get to grips with at the start of the 21 century.

There is no core text for the lectures. All relevant readings will be posted on Blackboard or can be obtained through links via the annotated lecture slides.  The Handbook of Sustainable Innovation (2019), edited by Boons and McMeekin, captures up to date expert knowledge on different topics across the field of sustainable innovation, and will form the basis for several of our seminar sessions. A full list of readings to be presented and discussed during seminar sessions is available on Blackboard. Sustainable Business by Kopnina, Padfield and Mylan (2023) gives an overview of some key themes in relation to sustainability.

Informal Contact Method

Office Hours