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

At the end of this course, students are expected to have developed theoretical and practical knowledge about entrepreneurship and innovation and to be able to apply those to real cases.

Credits: 3

Schedule: 04.11.2021 - 09.12.2021

Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):

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

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

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

CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):

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

Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English

CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD

Content
  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    The workload includes time preparing presentations about selected topics, peer-evaluatins, classroom teaching and preparing the exam.


    Topics:

    • Basics of entrepreneurship
    • Creativity, Idea Development & Innovation
    • Opportunity recognition & Business Model
    • Venture Funding
    • Venture Growth

  • 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 opportunity recognition, effectuation and business models, and iii) are able to apply those frameworks to a real case.

     

    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), accidental 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 business 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
  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    Individual assignments 70%

    Team assignments 30%

  • 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.

     

    Lecture module

     4.1 Process of the MC-Questions

    During the course, each student is asked to read the article 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 and to develop and upload three MC-questions (in line with the provided format) in the section “Assignment” section in MyCourses until 15.11. 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 research 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 18.11.2021, 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.

     

    4.2 Video self-study:

    The videos for self-study will be available in MyCourses in the section “Materials” from the first lecture on. They explain the essential knowledge of entrepreneurship and innovation management. The corresponding slide deck is also available in MyCourses in the section “Materials”. Consecutive watching of the videos is recommended. 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.


    4.3 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  09.11. 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. 


    Step 3: Evaluation phase

    After the development phase, the evaluation round starts. Each essay and presentation of one group from the development round is evaluated by one assigned group of the cohort. 


    Step 4: Presentation

    Finally, each group from the development phase will present is essay to its peers in the lecture on the 02.12.

Workload
  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    1. Classroom hours 14 h
    2. Preparation of individual assignments 42
    3. Preparation of group work assignments 24 h

  • applies in this implementation

    4.4 Final Exam on 09.12.2021 at 09:15-10:20

    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 a Re-Exam on the 13.01.2022.


    Exam Grading:

    50-59 points              1

    60-69 points              2

    70-79 points              3

    80-89 points              4

    90-100 points            5 (best grade)



      Assessment of the course

      The final grade will be calculated as follows:

       


      Group assignments


      Grade achieved in the development round


      30%

      Individual assignment

      Final MC-Exam


      70%


      Total:


      100%

    DETAILS

    Study Material
    • valid for whole curriculum period:

      The materials necessary for completing the course will be available on MyCourses. Students can also
      use the following textbook to support their learning:

      Zacharakis, Andrew, William Bygrave, Andrew Corbett, 2016. Entrepreneurship, 4th Edition. Wiley.
      For the chapter Creativity, Idea Development and Innovation.

      Bessant, John R., Tidd, Joe 2015. Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 3th Edition. Wiley.

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

       

      Recommended complementing literature

      • Zacharakis, Andrew, William Bygrave, Andrew Corbett, 2016. Entrepreneurship, 4th Edition. Wiley.
        For the chapter Creativity, Idea Development and Innovation.
      • Bessant, John R., Tidd, Joe 2015. Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 3th Edition. Wiley.


      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


    Substitutes for Courses
    Prerequisites
    SDG: Sustainable Development Goals

      8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

      9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

      12 Responsible Production and Consumption

    FURTHER INFORMATION

    Further Information
    • valid for whole curriculum period:

      The maximum number of students admitted to the course is 150. Students are admitted to the course in the following priority order: 1) BSc Electrical Engineering (Sähkötekniikan kandidaattiohjelma), 2) other students.


      Teaching Period:

      2020-2021 Autumn II, Spring IV

      2021-2022 Autumn II, Spring IV


      Course Homepage: https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/search.php?search=25C00200


      Registration for Courses: In the academic year 2021-2022, registration for courses will take place on Sisu (sisu.aalto.fi) instead of WebOodi.

      Registration via Sisu ends 7 days before the period starts.

    • applies in this implementation


      Navigation in MyCourses

      MyCourses is an essential part of this course, and students are required to use it frequently.

       

      Course Homepage

      • Table with submission deadlines
      • Group choice module
      • Final MC exam will be posted here
      • Results of the final MC exam will be posted here

       

      Section Materials

      • Article for MC Questions
      • Articles for Group Assignments
      • 4 lecture Videos in which the essential knowledge is ex-plained
      • Lecture Slides

       

      Assignments

      • Assignment Uploaded MC-Questions
      • Assignment “Development Phase”: essays and presentations and assessments
      • Assignment “Evaluation Phase”: assessments

      Practicing Exercises

      • Practice Questions (Basics, Creativity & Innovation, Opportunities)
      • Practice Questions (Business Models) 
      • Practice Questions (Venture Funding & Venture Growth)

      Details on the schedule
      • applies in this implementation


        Lectures, Formats, Content & Submission Deadlines



        Lecture date


        Format


        Content

        04.11.


        Zoom lecture

        (09:15-12:15)


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

        11.11.


        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

        18.11.


        Zoom lecture

        (09:15-11:30)


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

        02.12.


        Zoom lecture

        (09:15-11:30)


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

        09.12.


        MyCourses

        (09:15-10:20)


        • MC-Online Exam

        13.01.2022


        MyCourses

        (09:15-10:15)


        • Re-exam




        Deadlines


        Tasks to Pass the Course (details see below)


        09.11. at 23:59 pm


        Indicate team formation in Group Choice Module in MyCourses


        15.11. at 23:59 pm


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


        18.11. at 23:59 pm


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


        25.11. at 23:59 pm


        Submission of 1st evaluations: Review criteria + Grades on the essays and presentations + 3 suggestions for improving the presentation


        02.12. at 09:15 am


        Presentation of the Essay from the Development Round


        09.12. at 09:15 am


        Final exam


        13.01.2022 at 09:15 am


        Re-exam