This is the MOR 554 – Leading Innovation & Change course syllabus for summer 2010. This version captures the essence and general requirements of the class. However, I will be making a few revisions for the Fall semester in OC.
Fall semester begins Tuesday, Aug 24, and concludes with team presentations on Tuesday, Nov 30. There is no scheduled final exam for this class.
Prior to this summer, this class has not been offered in several years. The class is a unique opportunity in your MBA program of study. The class is fun, interactive, and highly engaging. I am certain you will find it both enjoyable and enriching.
Please note the required texts listed below. Also please note the required preparation prior to the first class session.
Texts are not available in the bookstore. You will have to obtain your own copy – presumably through Amazon or some other service (I have provided links for ordering these materials).
You are also required to complete the Learning Style Inventory. You can do this on-line at the link provided below.
In addition to the books, there is a set of required articles and case studies available through Harvard Business School Press. I will send out the link for you to order these materials in the next week or so.
Michalko, Michael. 2006. Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Business Creativity for the ‘90s, 2nd ed. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.
Moser-Wellman, Annette. 2001. The Five Faces of Genius: Creative Thinking Styles to succeed at Work. New York: Penguin.
Learning Style Inventory, Version 3. Boston, MA: TRG Hay/McBer. You can complete the LSI (LSI3) on-line (for a fee ) at the following site
I hope you find the description offered here suitably interesting and properly challenging. Please feel free to contact me with any questions
Terry
213.740-0765
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Su 2010 Syllabus 554-16700R
/ MOR 554 (Section 16700R)Leading Innovation and Change
ACC 201, Thursdays 6:00 – 10:00 pm
Terance J. Wolfe, Ph.D.
Email:
Office:Bridge 307-F
Phone:213.740.0765
FAX:213.740.3582
Office Hours:Tuesdays, before and after class
Course Overview
GOAL:
The goal of this course is to enhance participant understanding of the nature and the processes of innovative organizations, and what it takes to lead and manage them as a process of change.
Whether you read Business Week, Fortune, Fast Company,the Wall Street Journal, or Inc., they each have their own annual list of the most innovative companies. Innovation has been one of the most widely and consistently written about topics in the popular business press for the past fifteen years. While financial meltdowns and recessions/depressions are episodic in the nature of their press coverage, the coverage of innovation has been consistent across economic cycles.
Innovation is considered the wellspring of American competitive advantage, whether it be through entrepreneur- or intrapreneur-ship. It is seen as the source of industry development, vitality and renewal. As such, it is essential that we develop an appreciation for what it is, how to do it, and how to diffuse, spread or otherwise internalize it as a core organizational capability. When seen in this way, innovation is nothing short of “change”. Thus, we are interested in understanding the requisites of an innovative organization, and what it takes to lead one
Organizations are always in pursuit of competitive advantage – at least they should be! Most would argue that the root of competitive advantage is differentiation. Regardless of public sector or private, profit or non, organizations have a need to differentiate themselves. Differentiation is dependent upon creativity and innovation and, more fundamentally, the acceptance and diffusion of innovation – both within the organization as well as the marketplace. Sustained competitive viability is dependent upon creating and innovating in a continuous way.
This course will review approaches to strategic, organizational, product/service, and process innovations. A variety of influences on innovation and change will be examined including the role of creativity, leadership, motivation, organizational culture, resistance, problem-solving and decision-making. Using case studies, class exercises, and action research projects, participants will develop their understanding of innovation and the management of change. The course will also utilize guest speakers and videos.
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Su 2010 Syllabus 554-16700R
OBJECTIVES:
The objectives of this course will focus on creativity, innovation and leading change or diffusion. The major objectives for the participants in this course are to:
- Provide a knowledge base for understanding different types of organizational innovation.
- Understand the organizational and extra-organizational forces that influence innovation success.
- Develop an appreciation of the processes and challenges of leadership and change management as they apply to innovation effectiveness.
Instructional Philosophy
The key to acquiring knowledge is involvement. As a graduate student, you are expected to participate actively, responsibly, and competently. Involvement will be in the form of discussion, questioning, reports, analysis, and problem-solving. I have high expectations for your participation. This requires that you take the initiative to prepare adequately for each session through reading, exploring, and analyzing the assigned material.
Each student can achieve the course objectives through the following process:
- Competent preparation -- demonstrated by active participation in assigned activities, including case preparation, analysis, and discussion.
- Integration of subject matter -- demonstrated through oral and written reports.
- Professional approach -- demonstrated by reflecting a mature, responsible, and managerial perspective to the analysis and understanding of organizations and the concepts under review. This may be evidenced by respect for the thoughts and contributions of your classmates as well as the instructor.
- Punctuality -- demonstrated by timely arrival for each class session, as well as timely delivery of course assignments.
Course Values
Several values will be useful for orienting yourself to the attitude and approach of the course. These include the following:
- Attitude of experimentation
- Orientation towards risk
- Transcending boundaries and self-imposed limits
Course Format
The course will employ a variety of pedagogical approaches including lecture, discussion, in-class exercises, case analyses, videos, guest speakers and individual and team presentations.
Required Texts
Michalko, Michael. 2006. Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Business Creativity for the ‘90s, 2nd ed. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.
Moser-Wellman, Annette. 2001. The Five Faces of Genius: Creative Thinking Styles to succeed at Work. New York: Penguin.
Learning Style Inventory, Version 3. Boston, MA: TRG Hay/McBer. You can complete the LSI (LSI3) on-line (for a fee ) at the following site
A set of Harvard materials (articles and cases) to be purchased and downloaded through the HBS site. The specifics for these materials will be communicated during the first week of class. (The first of the Harvard materials will not be required until week 3 or 4).
Texts of Interest
Adams, J. Stacy. 2001. Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas. Perseus Books.
Christensen, Clayton. 1997. The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. Boston, MA: HarvardBusinessSchool Press.
Christensen, Clayton & Raynor, Michael. 2003. The Innovator’s Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth. Boston, MA: HarvardBusinessSchool Press.
Drucker, Peter. 1985. Innovation and Entrepreneurship. New York: HarperBusiness.
Gladwell, Malcolm. 2002. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. New York: Little Brown.
Kelley, Tom. 2001. The Art of Innovation. New York: Doubleday.
Kemper, Steve. 2003. Code Name Ginger: The Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen’s Quest to Invent a New World. Boston, MA: HarvardBusinessSchool Press.
Kubie, Lawrence. 1961. The Neurotic Distortion of the Creative Process. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Leifer, Richard, McDermott, Christopher, Colarelli-O’Connor, Gina, Peters, Lois, Rice, Mark & Veryzer, Robert. 2000. Radical Innovation: How Mature Companies Can Outsmart Upstarts. Boston, MA: HarvardBusinessSchool Press.
May, Rollo. 1994. The Courage to Create. New York: WW Norton.
Moore, Geoffrey. 2002. Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers. New York: HarperBusiness Essentials.
Pink, Daniel. 2005. A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. New York: Riverhead Books.
Robinson, Alan & Stern, Sam. 1997. Corporate Creativity: How Innovation and Improvement Actually Happen. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
Ray, Michael & Myers, Rochelle. 1988. Creativity in Business. Main Street Books.
Rogers, Everett. 2003. Diffusion of Innovations, 5th Edition. New York: Free Press.
Schwartz, Peter. 1991. The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World. New York: Doubleday.
Schwartz, Peter. 2003. Inevitable Surprises: Thinking Ahead in a Time of Turbulence. New York: Gotham Books.
Thackara, John. 2006. In the Bubble. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Toffler, A. 1970. Future Shock. New York: Bantam.
Tushman, Michael & Anderson, Philip (eds.). 1997. Managing Strategic Innovation and Change: A Collection of Readings. New York: OxfordUniversity Press.
Van Der Heijden, Kees. 1996. Scenarios: The Art of Strategic Conversation. Chichester, England: John Wiley.
Requirements & Grading
The following requirements are necessary for satisfactory course completion:
- Advanced preparation of class assignments
- Class participation15%
- Self-description project15%
- Research report30%
Subtotal Individual Evaluations 60%
- Group Project
Professor Evaluation 24%
Peer Evaluation16%
Subtotal Group Evaluations 40%
TOTAL100%
EVALUATIONS
Assessments of student performance fall into two broad classes of evaluation: individual contributions, and group analyses and presentations.
A.Individual Evaluations (60%)
Each student has direct and complete control over sixty (60) percent of her/his final grade. There are three basic components of this grade: class participation (15%), self-description project (15%), and research report (30%). Good performance on each of these is essential for overall individual success.
Class Participation (15%):
The primary instructional vehicle is discussion and engagement in classroom exercises and cases. The majority of class time will be devoted to these activities. Class participation is essential to course success. It is imperative, therefore, that students thoroughly prepare in advance of each class.
Self-Description (15%) – Understanding your personal creativity
Explore how your life experiences, thinking styles, imagination, attitudes and blocks to creativity (mental, emotional, cultural and organizational) influence your personal creative problem solving process.
- Apply inventories and readings. Analyze your “right brain/left brain” styles. How do they affect the way you meet challenges, solve problems, think things through, exercise imagination, etc. Consider successes as well as failures.
- Analyze influences (personal demographics, family, schools, employers, undergraduate major, career, sub-cultures, religion, etc.) on your creativity.
- Discuss your thinking styles and attitudes in light of pertinent inventories (e.g., Learning Style Inventory (required), MBTI, Conflict Management, 16PF, etc).
- Observe the way you approach creative challenges.
- How does all of this relate to your career and your work behavior, especially in regard to solving problems, realizing opportunities, expressing creativity and producing innovation?
- Action plans for further enhancing/developing your personal creativity.
In completing this assignment, you may find it interesting to visit the following sites:
This paper should be approximately 5 pages, double-spaced, Times Roman 12 font.
Research Paper (30%) – Understanding innovation:
Research Project (30%). Each participant will submit a 5-10 page, double-spaced, 12-point font paper on a personally selected aspect of innovation or change.
There are three options for this assignment.
Option 1 – Process Innovation
Goal – Propose a modification to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, satisfaction of a job or a work process.
Part I: Choose either a job or a process for analysis. Observe a work situation – either a job or a process – for 30-60 minutes. Write as much of the detailsof what you observe as possible. What do you understand about the nature of the job (the process) in terms of its purpose, goals, structure, flow, socio-technical interface, and outcomes. Include any observations or inferences aboutthe required duties, responsibilities, reporting relationships, level of authority/responsibility, etc as a result of your observations? Think about the elements of the job (or process), as well as the context within which the task or process is performed (setting, physical and social environment, structural/hierarchical context, etc). Return to the same work situation at another point-in-time (preferably time delayed – 1-5 days). Capture your impressions rather than your observations. How do you imagine workers engaged in this job (process) feel about what they are doing? What are your feelings as the observer?
Part II: After completing Part I, interview two or more participants in this work setting to better understand their experience of the job (process). What do they enjoy the most about what they do? What do they enjoy the least? If it were up to them to redesign the work (process), what would they do differently? What would they keep the same?
Part III: Taking into account details, impressions, feelings, and the experiences of those who actually perform the job (process), how might this activity be accomplished in a different way? Propose an alternative/innovative approach to the same work requirement.
Option 2 – Product or Service Innovation
Goal – Propose a product or service capable of disrupting the current market.
Part I: Identify an existing product or service of interest to you. What is the product’s (service’s) primary function? That is, what problem(s) does it solve? What are its distinguishing features or characteristics? Which features present the greatest market appeal? Why? Which features are less appealing? Why?
Part II: Identify two or more users of this product (service). Interview them about what they use the product for. What do they see as its most appealing features? Its least appealing features? What additional functionality, or other distinguishing features, would they like to see the product (service) do (or have) that it currently does not?
Part III: Brainstorm about alternative ways of providing the same (or enhanced) functionality or features. How might this product (service) be redesigned to enhance its functionality, its features, and to improve its market appeal? What potential do you see for a “disruptive” innovation, that is, an innovation that fundamentally alters the playing field in this product (service) category? What would be the characteristics of this disruptive innovation?
Option 3 – Business Concept Innovation
Goal - Propose a disruptive business model for satisfying an existing, or as yet unmet, need.
Part I: Identify an organization of interest – either an existent organization or one that you would propose. Identify that organization’s reason for being, that is, its mission. What is its primary purpose? What is its vision? What is its strategy? What need is it satisfying (or does it hope to satisfy) in the market? Who has that need? What do you estimate to be the market size for that need?
Part II: Brainstorm alternative strategies for meeting the market need. How might these strategies improve upon or enhance an organization’s ability to meet that need? How should the business model be changed in order for this strategy to be successful?
Grading of the research paper will be based on the following criteria:
Innovativeness!!!
Major concepts identified and appropriately discussed
Presentation to the class (reading earns fewer points)
Response to questions
How well the material was understood and communicated to the class
Research report presentations will be scheduled at various points throughout the term. Consult the syllabus for scheduled sessions.
B.Team Evaluations – Group Analysis and Presentation (40%)
Forty (40) percent of each individual’s grade is a function of her/his ability to work with others and make contributions toward collective analyses and presentations. An essential attribute of organizational success, and a quality often stressed by recruiters, is the ability to work effectively with others. This course allows you to develop your skills in contributing to task groups and collective performance. It does this through a written group project and oral presentation.
The purposes of the group project are to enable each student, through individual effort and group interaction, to (1) explore different aspects of the innovation process, and (2) apply that understanding to real-world situations. To achieve these purposes, students will form themselves into groups of four-five students each. Group projects will be jointly evaluated by the professor (60% of the project, 24% of the total grade) and group members (40% of the project, 16% of the total grade).
Requirements: The organizational and extra-organizational forces that influence the selected type of innovation should be identified and illustrated. Appropriate processes for the management of change should be proposed that address the role of leadership, motivation, organizational culture, resistance, problem-solving and decision-making.
There are two options for this assignment.
Option 1. Organizational Innovation
Explore and report on innovation within an organization of your choosing – preferably an organization that one of the group participants works for. Describe the process of how the organization does innovation. Where in the organization does responsibility for innovation reside? How does the company culture support or inhibit innovation? How does the organization employ prototypes (Serious Play) in its innovation process? What percent of revenue or resources goes into R&D/innovation? What are the “givens” – the unquestioned assumptions – that facilitate or impede innovation in the organization? How are innovations bought into and diffused? What are the cultural and political processes that impact successful diffusion? What is the role of leadership in bringing about and enculturating innovation as a core organizational process? Interview appropriate people about innovation in the organization (CEO, R&D Director, Product Managers, Process Innovators, etc). Be creative and innovative in your classroom presentation. Consider multiple forms of media, engagement, etc. Prepare a report and deliver a group classroom presentation.
Option 2. Innovation and Diffusion