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

Credits: 6

Schedule: 08.05.2021 - 12.06.2021

Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Arne Kroeger

Contact information for the course (valid 20.04.2021-21.12.2112):

Ass. Prof. Dr. Arne Kröger (arne.kroeger@aalto.fi)

Dr. Johannes
Gartner (johannes.gartner@aalto.fi)


CEFR level (applies in this implementation):

Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):

CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD

Content
  • Applies in this implementation:

    Objectives, relevance for practice and lecture topics

    At the end of this course, students i) are able to describe and discuss basic entrepreneurship and innovation tools, ii) are able to explain the central entrepreneurship frameworks about oppor-tunity recognition, effectuation and business models, iii) are able to apply those frameworks to a real case, iv) are able do understand the fundamentals of technology innovation management and v) are able to make rational adoption or rejection decisions of external innovations.

     

    Launching an enterprise has several advantages, such as being your own boss, realizing your own ideas and experiencing greater autonomy in general. However, entrepreneurship is more than founding an enterprise. It is a particular way of thinking and an approach of solving problems and can, therefore, also be practiced in large corporations (corporate entrepreneurship).

     

    This course investigates the entrepreneurship process in a consecutive order. It starts with the venture idea which emerges from receiving it from someone else (e.g., via open innovation), acci-dental discovery or the desire to start a business. The theory of effectuation developed by Saras Sarasvathy (2001) offers an approach how wanna-be entrepreneurs can generate a venture idea. Having created a venture idea, entrepreneurs enter into the process of developing a business opportunity (Vogel, 2017). Peter Vogel (2017) provides a comprehensive overview of attempts to conceptualize the development of business opportunities and develops his own framework that ends with the exploitation of business opportunities. A key contributor for the successful exploitation of a business opportunity is a business model. One of the first conceptualizations of the busi-ness model construct is provided by Raphael Amit and Christoph Zott (2001). This article can therefore be seen as a key article for understanding the sources of value creation that determine the success of a new venture. Furthermore, entrepreneurs need funding for growing their enterprise.

Assessment Methods and Criteria
  • Applies in this implementation:

    Didactic approach and organization

    The course comprises a lecture and a case module. The course will take place in MyCourses and will be complemented by Zoom lectures. It contains individual and group work and individual and group assignments and will build on a variety of methods:
    front teaching (Zoom), video self-study, group work (including peer evaluation), development of MC-questions, and audience response system and a voluntary practising exercise.

     

     

    Lecture module

     

    Process of the MC-Questions

    During the course, each student is asked to read the article Sarasvathy (2001)  and to develop and upload three MC-questions (in line with the provided format) in the section “Assign-ment” section in MyCourses until 15.05. at 23:59 pm.

    The upload of MC-Questions is mandatory for passing the course but will not be graded.


    The article of Sarasvathy, S. D. (2001) has gained a lot of traction in entrepreneurship re-search and practice because it suggested a new approach to starting a business. It therefore gave impetus for effectuation research and is the most frequently
    cited effectuation article in the entrepreneurship literature.

    In the lecture on the 22.05.2021, the students will be randomly assigned to a break-out room, discuss and apply the effectuation theory. Furthermore, 5 randomly chosen MC-Questions will be discussed. The final exam will also contain 3 MC-Questions of the total pool of suggested MC-questions.

     

    Video self-study:

    The videos for self-study and a corresponding slide deck will be available in MyCourses in the section “Materials” from the first lecture on.  Students will have several opportunities to ask questions about the content of the videos. It is highly appreciated if students e-mail their questions to the lecturer two days before the lecture.

     

    Group work (including peer evaluation):

    For the group work, all students will have the same submission deadline and are required to read two scientific articles. This task addresses the learning outcomes ii) and iii). The this purpose students need to familiarize with the two central concepts of Entrepreneurship of Venture Opportunity and Business Models. One approach to familiarize with a concept is to read an article and write an essay about it in which of the content of article is transferred to a real case. Another approach is to read an article and an essay and to judge the transfer of the content of article to a real case. The group work will cover both approaches. The group work will follow four consecutive steps.

     

    Step 1: Team formation

    Students are asked to form groups of min. 3 and max. 5 students themselves and to indicate their team formation in the Group Choice Module in myCourses until 11.05. at 23:59 pm.

    The groups will perform different tasks (see below for further details). They can connect with each other via MyCourses (General Discussion Module on the course homepage) and work on the tasks online or in face-to-face meetings.

     

    Step 2: Development phase

    Each group will be randomly assigned to one of two cohorts: Venture Opportunity or Business Models. Depending on the assigned cohort, the groups are supposed to answer one of the following questions:

     


    Cohort


    Article


    Task


    Venture Opportunity


    Vogel, P. 2017. From venture idea to venture opportunity. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 41(6): 943-971.


    Please illustrate the “Venture Opportunity Development and Exploitation stage” (as outline in Vogel, ETP 2016) for a freely chosen enterprise in Finland.


    Business Model


    Amit, R. & Zott, C. 2001. Value creation in e-business. Strategic Management Journal, 22: 493-520.


    Please explain the framework “Sources of value creation” (Amit & Zott, SMJ 2001) for a freely chosen enterprise in Finland.

     

    Depending on the assigned task, each group will prepare an essay of 1500-2000 words + 5 PPT slides (excl. cover page and references) in which the essay is visualized. Afterwards, each group uploads the essay and the PPT slides – if possible in 1 document – in a PDF for-mat in MyCourses in the section “Assignments” (max. size of the file is 10 MB).

    The deadline for uploading the essay and presentation is 22.05. at 23:59 pm.

     

    Step 3: Evaluation phase

    After the 24.05. at 23:59 pm, the evaluation round starts. In this round, each essay and presentation of one group from the development round is evaluated by one assigned group of the cohort. The lecturer will send the evaluation excel file and the essay and presentation of the group that is supposed to evaluate its peers.


    Afterwards, each group uploads their completed excel file in MyCourses in the sec-tion “Assignments” until 29.05. at 23:59 pm.

    The submissions and evaluations will be reviewed by the lecturer afterwards and the grades adjusted if necessary to assure fairness and comparability.

     

    Step 4: Presentation

    Each group from the development phase will present is essay in the lecture on the 05.06. to its peers.


    4.4 Final Exam on 12.06.2021 at 10:15-11:15

    The final exam of the lecture module will be a one hour open book online exam in MyCourses of 33 MC questions. It can contain questions about everything that has been uploaded in MyCourses.

    There will be re-exams on 28.08.2021. and on  28.10.2021, each at 10:15-11:15.


    Case Module

    The aim of the case module is to introduce the participants to the fundamentals of technology innovation management. The focus is on adoption or rejection decisions of external innovations and the successful implementation of these in a company. The following topics are dealt within the module:

    • Emerging vs disruptive technologies
    • Analysis of market development, market dynamics, trends and hypes
    • Innovation diffusion, adoption and acceptance Model
    • Methods for creating technology forecasts/assessments
    • Technology monitoring and potential identification


    Preparatory work

    • The course builds on the Harvard Bang & Olufsen case, which you need to study be-fore May 29th (download available here).

    Online lecture

    • You are required to participate in the online lecture and to be able to apply the B&O case in the in-class discussion.

    Groupwork assignment

    • You then need to write a full analysis of an emerging technology in groups with a length of 1500 words per student. Details are provided during the Zoom session on June 19
    • The groups will be the teams as in the lecture module.

Workload
  • Applies in this implementation:

    Assessment of the course

    The final grade will be calculated as follows:

     


    Group assignments


    Grade achieved in the development round


    15%


    Case lecture + Essay


    50%


    Individual assignment

     

    Final MC-Exam


    35%


    Total:


    100%


DETAILS

Study Material
  • Applies in this implementation:

    Literature

    Compulsory
    literature (uploaded in MyCourses in the section “Materials”)

    • Amit, R. & Zott, C. 2001. Value creation in e-business. Strategic Management Journal, 22: 493-520.
    • Austin, R. D. & Beyersdorfer, D. (2007). Bang & Olufsen: design driven innovation. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing (download).
    • Sarasvathy, S. D. 2001. Causation and Effectuation: Toward a theoretical shift from economic inevitability to entrepreneurial contingency. Academy of Management Review, 26(2): 243-263.
    • Swanson, E. B. (2012). The managers guide to IT innovation waves. MIT Sloan Management Review, 53(2), 75.
    • Vogel, P. 2017. From venture idea to venture opportunity. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 41(6): 943-971.

     

    Titles of relevant journals in the field

    • Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice
    • Journal of Business Venturing
    • Entrepreneurship & Regional Development
    • Academy of Management Journal
    • Academy of Management Review


FURTHER INFORMATION

Details on the schedule
  • Applies in this implementation:

    Lectures, Formats, Content & Submission Deadlines



    Lecture date


    Format


    Content

    08.05.


    Zoom lecture

    (10:15-13:15)


    • Practicalities
    • Basics of Entrepreneurship
    • Creativity, Idea Development &
      Innovation

    15.05.


    MyCourses, self-study, group work


    • Watching and understanding the videos about the essential entrepreneurship and innovation management knowledge
    • Preparation of intermediate
      assignment (group work, assigned cohorts/articles applied to a freely chosen Finish
      enterprise

    22.05.


    Zoom lecture

    (10:15-12:30)


    • Discussion of the effectuation model in smaller groups
    • 5 audience response system questions (randomly selected from the pool) + discussion afterwards
    • In-class practicing tasks
    • Opportunity to ask questions about the videos

    29.05.


    Zoom lecture

    (10:15-12:30)


    • Case Study: Technology & Innovation Management

    05.06.


    Zoom lecture

    (10:15-12:30)


    • Presentation and feedback of presentations à max. 20 minutes
    • Opportunity to ask questions about the videos and the exam

    12.06.


    MyCourses

    (10:15-11:15)


    • MC-Online Exam

    28.08.


    MyCourses

    (10:15-11:15)


    • 1st MC-Online Re-Exam

    28.10.


    MyCourses

    (10:15-11:15)


    • 2nd MC-Online Re-Exam


    Deadlines


    Tasks to Pass the Course (details see below)


    11.05. at 23:59 pm


    Indicate team formation in Group Choice Module in MyCourses


    15.05. at 23:59 pm


    Submission of 3 MC-Questions about the article “Sarasvathy, 2001”


    22.05. at 23:59 pm


    Submission of essays: 1500-2000 words + 5 PPT slides (excl. cover page and ref-erences)


    29.05. at 23:59 pm


    Submission of Evaluations: Review criteria + Grades of the essays and presenta-tions + 3 suggestions for improving the presentation


    05.06. at 10:15 am


    Presentation of the Essay from the Development Round


    12.06. at 10:15 am


    Final exam


    19.06. at 23:59 pm


    Submission of Technology – and Innovationmanagement group work.


    28.08. at 10:15 am


    1. Re-exam


    28.10. at 10:15 am


    2. Re-exam