There is no final examination for this subject.

Assignments are required to be submitted in iLearn.

No extensions will be granted. Penalty may apply to late submissions except for cases in which an application for special consideration is made and approved.

Class participation and contribution

You are encouraged to participate during class discussions of topic content and cases, through responses to questions posed by the lecturer, syndicate group representatives, and contributing extra information which will enhance group learning. Please note that class “contribution” and not simply “participation” will be graded; there is a subtle but important difference between the two. I am sure that all of you have significant work experience to contribute to the class and to make the class a more productive learning experience for us all!

Assessment of group reports

Overall assessment of reports will be based on a group mark component (50%) and an individual mark component (50%).

Group and Individual assessments will be made by the lecturer according to the criteria listed in the unit outline. Further information about the assessment of reports will be provided in class. As part of the group project submission, the group is also required to provide, on one page, a statement of exactly what each member did for this task, signed off by each member of the group. An example of Group Project contribution is provided in iLearn outline and discussed in the first class. If there are sizable discrepancies concerning contributions within the group, the lecturer reserves the right to apportion marks unequally.

With your final submission, please provide me, on the first page, a clear, written indication of your group’s activity throughout this project as well as the contribution of each individual member to the assignment submission, i.e., by student name, exact contribution of each member (section and percentage contribution).  Your submission can be graded only if this page is provided (as per Macquarie University policies).

Required text

Schilling, M.A. (2016). Strategic Management of Technological Innovation, 5th Edition. McGraw Hill, ISBN: 9781259539060

Where to purchase textbook?

The Coop Bookshop: The Coop Bookshop is our main retailer for textbooks and other related academic material. For information on textbook prices and online ordering, please refer to The Co-Op Bookshop webpage at  http://www.coop.com.au

Disclaimer: MGSM does not take responsibility for the stock levels of required textbooks from preferred retail outlets and other book retailers. While we advise our preferred book retail outlet, The Co-op Bookshop, of our maximum expected number of students purchasing specific required text each term, The Co-op Bookshop and other book retailers will make their own judgement in regard to their physical holding stock levels. To prevent disappointment if a textbook is out-of-stock, we highly advise students to order their textbooks as early as possible, or if the required textbook is currently out-of-stock, place an order with the book retailer as soon as possible so that these book retailers can monitor demand and supply, and adjust their stock orders accordingly.

Unit notes

**All unit notes below are optional (but are very interesting and current). Also note that more unit notes may be provided during the course of this unit.

Session 1 The strategic management of innovation 

1. The World’s 50 most innovative companies 2018. https://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2018

2. The World’s most innovative companies 2018 - Forbes.  https://www.forbes.com/innovative-companies/#79a7b04b1d65

3. Kolko, J (2015), Design Thinking Comes of Age, Harvard Business Review, September, Reprint R1509D

4. De Meyer, A. (2011). Diving into the new innovation landscape. IESE Insight, [online] Third Quarter 2011(10), pp.21-29. Available at: https://www.smu.edu.sg/sites/default/files/smu/pdf/iese_insights.pdf

5. Brown, T. and Martin, R. (2015). Design for Action. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2015/09/design-for-action.

6. Mendonca, L. & Rao, H. (2008). Lessons from innovation’s front lines: An interview with IDEO’s CEO. The McKinsey Quarterly (Nov)

7. Kelley, T & Kelley, D (2014). Creative Confidence: The Path from Blank Page to Insight. Rottman Management, Winter

Session 2 Industry dynamics of innovation

8.  Capozzi, M. and Simpson, J. (2009). Cultivating innovation: An interview with the CEO of a leading Italian design firm. [online] McKinsey & Company. Available at: http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/cultivating-innovation-an-interview-with-the-ceo-of-a-leading-italian-design-firm. Also see interview on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYeV5UkP6RQ especially 43.44 – 49.57 minutes

9.  Mendonca, L. & Sutton, R. (2008). Succeeding at open-source innovation: An interview with Mozilla’s Mitchell Baker. The McKinsey Quarterly (Jan)

10. Amabile, T., Fisher, C. M. & Pillemer, J. (2014). IDEO’s Culture of Helping, Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb, Reprint R1401C

Session 4 Crowd sourcing

11.  Boudreau, K. & Lakhani, K. R. (2013). Using the Crowd as an Innovation Partner, Harvard Business Review, April Reprint R1304C

12.  Bughin, J. R. (2007). How companies can make the most of user-generated content. The McKinsey Quarterly (Aug)

Session 6 Disruptive innovation

13.  Christensen, C., Raynor, M. and McDonald, R. (2015). What is disruptive innovation? Harvard Business Review, [online] December 2015, pp.44-53. Available at: https://hbr.org/2015/12/what-is-disruptive-innovation.

14.  Moazed, Alex and Johnson, Nicholas L. (2016). Why Clayton Christensen is wrong about Uber and disruptive innovation. TechCrunch.  Available at: https://techcrunch.com/2016/02/27/why-clayton-christensen-is-wrong-about-uber-and-disruptive-innovation/

15.  Bradley, Chris and O’Toole, Clayton (2016).  An incumbent’s guide to digital disruption. McKinsey Quarterly May 2016.  Available at: http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/an-incumbents-guide-to-digital-disruption?cid=eml-web

16.  Dahlström, P., Ericson, L., Khanna, S. and Meffert, J. (2017). From Disrupted to Disruptor: Reinventing your business by transforming the core. McKinsey Quarterly Feb 2017. Available at http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/from-disrupted-to-disruptor-reinventing-your-business-by-transforming-the-core?cid=eml-web

17.  McKinsey Global Institute. (2013). Disruptive technologies: Advances that will transform life business, and the global economy.

18.  Battilana, J., Lee, M., Walker, J. and Dorsey, C. (2012). In search of the hybrid ideal. [online] Stanford Social Innovation Review. Available at: http://ssir.org/articles/entry/in_search_of_the_hybrid_ideal.

19.  Iansiti, M. and Lakhani, K.R. (2017). The Truth About Blockchain. Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb 2017

20.  Carson, B., Romanelli, G., Walsh, P. and Zhumaev, A. (2018). Blockchain beyond the hype: what is the strategic business value? McKinsey & Company. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/blockchain-beyond-the-hype-what-is-the-strategic-business-value

Session 7 Sustainable value

21.  Larson, A.(2010). Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign, Darden Business Publishing, University of Virginia, Jan 20 (UV4272)

22.  Nidumolu, R., Prahalad, C. K., & Rangaswami, M. R. (2009). Why Sustainability is now the Key Driver of Innovation, Harvard Business Review,Sep (Reprint R0909E)

MGSM iLearn

The web page for this unit can be found at: https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/MGSM

Technology

Access to a personal computer is required to access resources and learning material from iLearn.

Study requirements

It will be assumed that the assigned reading for each session has been done prior to class. Class time will be spent ensuring that you have understood this material and exploring new developments and extensions to the basic concepts.

General lecture content and case discussions, as well as project preparations will be used as methods for active participatory learning. The grade you obtain for them together with the participation grade will measure the effectiveness of the learning process. The primary output measures are the project assessment, case study report and discussion, tests and class participation and contribution. There is no final examination.

The mode of assessment will test your skills through a number of ways during this unit: situation investigation and analysis, report writing, verbal and written presentations, the ability to work effectively in teams, and participation in class discussions. 

If you are unable to attend a class session or have to arrive late or leave early, please let me know before the session concerned as this will have an obvious impact on class discussion contribution and planned syndicate work. If this situation occurs you should also arrange with a fellow class member to collect any handouts and other information for you.

Please be familiar with the contents of the MGSM Student Handbook on our MGSM Student Website and iLearn pages. Various search engines are also available through the Macquarie University Library and will provide valuable assistance in searches of journal articles through the internet.

Formal assessment for this unit is designed to recognise both individual and team effort. This is consciously done to reflect the business environment where effective teamwork is essential to the achievement of individual success. 

Teaching method

This unit is case study-oriented and, therefore, a large majority of the sessions comprise case-study discussions. The rest of the sessions are used to introduce, review and integrate conceptual material. Students are required to analyse and extensively discuss all cases in this unit. We will devote some time emulating “The deep dive” approach and this will be the basis of your group project.

The unit is broadly conducted with the following elements:

• Short introductory lectures to topics, guest presentations and discussions arising from these;
• Case study discussions, and occasional tests;
• A final group project and activities emulating an innovation process.

A note on analysing cases

A good analysis style includes problem definition, discussion of issues and conclusions, proposed alternatives, recommendation, and plan of action. Data analysis is almost always essential to good conclusions.  However, it is most effective if this is separated from the discussion. 

Problem definition

This statement is what your presentation is about.  It defines the business problem you believe needs to be addressed (e.g., situation improved, decision taken).  It defines what you are going to analyse and not your view of root cause, which follows later.  The problem may be stated as long and short-term problems, if appropriate.  

Issues

Each issue is a factor where a conclusion about it either supports your recommendation or plan of action.  In this section, identify each issue, define it if necessary, and state the conclusion.  Support it with minimal discussion that is required to make the point.  Do not repeat case facts except to make a point.  Issue titles or headings (in powerpoint) are helpful to a reader or observer.

Alternatives

Stated alternatives identify the primary management decision that must be made and the real choice facing management.  Together with the problem definition, alternatives define the business focus. Many decisions may be required; however, alternatives highlight the pivotal choice.  Lesser decisions can be included within the plan of action without identifying alternatives.  Credible alternatives must be real possibilities that show depth of understanding.  Arguments used here are most powerful if they reference issues fully discussed and conclusions already drawn.

Recommendation

The recommendation proposes the general decision to be taken, and usually represents the selection of one of the alternatives listed above.  Justification must also be provided for choosing that alternative.

Action plan

The action plan should flesh out the specific decisions or activities to be undertaken. This really identifies what the recommendation comprises. Generally, it is helpful if key actions have been included in the issues discussion.

Case analysis study questions

They will be used to guide class discussions.  As such, use these questions to help identify key issues, but do not allow them to become your only analysis. Rather, independently analyse each case from a business standpoint, using the tools you have learned as well as good business sense.

Students are required to attend all classes. This unit will be presented over 10 sessions as follows (The proposed program might be subject to some minor changes as the term progresses (TBA)).

Assessment tasks: Change in HBS cases

Delivery and resources: Updates in innovation articles

Unit schedule: Adjustments and updates in innovation topics

• Leadership: Develop skills to lead in innovative practices through design thinking, process approaches, and IT developments
• Global mindset: Assessment of the implications of innovation and entrepreneurial decisions from a whole of entity perspective, across a wide spectrum of stakeholders and diverse international contexts.
• Citizenship: Apply a true and fair view approach to innovation and entrepreneurial activities to encourage accountability, ethical practices, community welfare and social improvement
• Creating sustainable value: Be aware of the impact of innovation on business, environmental and social sustainability.

The interactive environment of the classroom is central to the MGSM experience. Students are required to attend the full duration of all classes for the units in which they are enrolled. We recognise that exceptional circumstances may occur, such as unavoidable travel on behalf of your organization or the serious illness or injury of you or a close family member.

Special consideration may be given for a maximum of 20% non-attendance for such circumstances as long as lecturers are contacted in advance, and supporting documentation provided, to request exemption from attendance. Failure to abide by these conditions may result in automatic withdrawal, with academic and/or financial penalty. The full Student Attendance Policy is published in the MGSM Student Handbook at https://students.mgsm.edu.au/handbook.

These unit materials and the content of this unit are provided for educational purposes only and no decision should be made based on the material without obtaining independent professional advice relating to the particular circumstances involved.