Innovation is one of those words that suddenly seems to be all around us. Today tech giants (Apple, Google and Microsoft) and most famous companies (Tesla, Amazon…) are based on technological and organizational innovations. Firms care about their ability to innovate, on which their future allegedly depends and many management consultants are busy persuading companies about how they can help them improve their innovation performance. Politicians care about innovation, too: how to design policies that stimulate innovation has become a hot topic at various levels of government. The European Commission, for instance, has made innovation policy a central element in its attempt to invigorate the European economy. The lectures discusses the basics every manager needs to know to organize successful technology-driven innovation in both entrepreneurial and established firms. We start by examining innovation-based strategies as a source of competitive advantage and then examine how to build organizations that excel at identifying, building and commercializing technological innovations.

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to
- (level 3) provide an introduction to a management approach to innovation
- (level 1) describe the changing views of innovation over time
- (level 1) identify identify the factors organisations have to manage to achieve success in innovation
- (level 4) examine the different forms of protection available for a firm’s intellectual property
- (level 1) recognize the importance of innovation and the role of key individuals within the process
- (level 4) analyze the innovation management practises of a firm
- (level 2) discuss the technical, financial and organisational obstacles that have to be overcome to bring an invention to the market