Please note! Course description is confirmed for two academic years, which means that in general, e.g. Learning outcomes, assessment methods and key content stays unchanged. However, via course syllabus, it is possible to specify or change the course execution in each realization of the course, such as how the contact sessions are organized, assessment methods weighted or materials used.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After completion of the I&E Study course, students:

  • have the ability to apply, synthesize, and evaluate prior I&E learning within a specific innovation or entrepreneurial project setting and a specific innovation area.
  • have the ability to conduct a business analysis, make decisions and formulate recommendations or justify actions in a real environment.
  • have the ability to choose and apply relevant concepts/methods and/or tools and collect relevant data for conducting a business analysis and making decisions in a real environment.
  • have the ability to apply concepts, methods and tools pertaining to identifying and assessing the impact/value of a technology in an industry, market and/or organization and the innovation / business opportunities it creates.
  • have the ability to produce a professional writing on a business analysis topic.
  • other locally defined ILOs contributing to optimal coverage of the EIT OLOs.

 

Credits: 6

Schedule: 17.09.2020 - 31.01.2021

Teacher in charge (valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022): Mikko Heiskala, Olli Mutanen

Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Mikko Heiskala, Olli Mutanen

Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):

CEFR level (applies in this implementation):

Language of instruction and studies (valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022):

Teaching language: English

Languages of study attainment: English

CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD

Content
  • Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:

    The course is composed by two components: 1) The online work part, where students will go through online content on assessing a technology and its business analysis; 2) Group work part, where you and your team will work addressing a real-life case for a partner company conducting the business analysis, providing recommendations and potential solutions. More specifically:

    • The (individual) online work includes three online modules: 1) Assessing the impact of technology; 2) Business research methodology; 3) How to make a market entry / grow on a new market. The online work is finalized with two individual online assignments: a) peer-to-peer (P2P) review assignment to evaluate students’ performance on the online modules; b) Final Individual Assignment, evaluated by the teacher, where you analyse in a brief report, current and future business potential technology, which can either be selected by you, based on your interest, or otherwise you can draft the report on the technology of the company case of your group work.
    • The group-work where students will work in teams of 4-5 students to prepare a group-report to address a business challenge based on a case offered by a company and the team-dynamics related to that process. Student is expected to implement a robust business 4 steps analysis methodology consisting in: a) framing the business challenge with you; b) choosing appropriate business analysis tools; c) collecting data; d) interpreting, critically discussing, making recommendations and reporting. 

    Value elements of the I&E Study course are the following:

    Interaction with a company: your goal is to tackle a company business challenge, make recommendation, and do your best to have an impact! This is neither an internship, nor a pre-recruitment.

    Robust business analysis: you will develop your analytical skills on economic and social matters; you will learn more about how to handle a business analysis and make recommendations, using qualitative and/or quantitative research methods and reflecting upon the conditions for sound analysis.

    Tech-based innovation: you will learn to employ analytical tools to assess the impact of a technology at a macro (industry, sector) or micro level (business, market).

Assessment Methods and Criteria
  • Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:

    The final grade is based for approx. 2/3 (or 65%) on the Group work and 1/3 (or 35%) on the Online work grade.

    • Online work grade is split into two components: Online Module Assignment (P2P evaluation) and Final Individual Assignment (teacher evaluation). Each counts 50% in the online work grade. Peer reviewers are selected by the online platform and a feedback of no less than 250 words is expected by reviewers. If not conducting the P2P review, students are penalized by 30% of points in the overall evaluation of the online module (max 7 out of 10). The evaluation criteria of Final Individual Assignment report seek to assess students’ ability to ‘explain’ and/or ‘apply’ the concepts and models contained in the online modules, in the selected technology (cf. table below).
    • Group work grade. The assessment is based on a written group report. Beyond the company recommendations and potential solutions, the report includes a description of the challenges faced by students, the decision-making points and the ways they addressed them. It also describes the team organization and the specific contributions of the team members. The report should be 10 to 15 pages long + annexes.

    Specific assessment criteria will be presented at the beginning of the course.

Workload
  • Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:

    This is a 6 ECTS course (162 hours). In the EIT Digital Master School I&E Minor the I&E Study course counts for 6 ECTS distributed among the individual online work 2 ECTS (54 hours) and the group-work 4 ECTS (108 h). Amount of onsite lectures is approximately 30 hours

DETAILS

Study Material
  • Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:

    Lecture and online learning materials, selected journal and practitioner articles and complementary materials. Materials are announced during the lectures.

Substitutes for Courses
  • Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:

    CS-E5420 ICT Innovation I&E Thesis.

Prerequisites
  • Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:

    According to general prerequisites for EIT Digital Master School programs; attendance to the I&E Basics, BDLab and EIT Digital Summer School modules.

SDG: Sustainable Development Goals

    9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure