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Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

Course developer

Course abstract

The aim of the course is to provide the doctoral student with theoretical knowledge and practical skills for development of their business idea in entrepreneurship or in public sector. The course provides the doctoral student with an overview on entrepreneurship and innovation management and prepares the doctoral student for becoming an entrepreneur and for commercialization of scientific research, incl. planning for business model and business plan, testing of business idea and for finding investors.

Learning outcomes and their assessment

KNOWLEDGE:
• Demonstrates in-depth knowledge and understanding of the business process and manages its various stages for the development of a business idea - test.
• Understands and is able to explain academic entrepreneurship and the role of universities in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and knowledge transfer – test, group work on commercialization cases.
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
• Can define innovation, different types of innovation and innovation management - individual work on innovation.
• Clarifies and evaluates the commercialization process and strategies of academic research - group work on commercialization cases.
• Can apply various methods for generating, developing and evaluating business ideas - individual work on business idea and business model.
GENERAL SKILLS:
• Able to work in a team and justify own opinion - group work on commercialization cases.
• Able to logically arrange various regularities and visualize the process - individual work on business idea and business model.
COMPETENCE:
Ability to prepare a business model and demonstrates readiness to create a spin-off company - individual work on a business idea and business model.

Course Content(Calendar)

1. Introduction. Research, innovation and knowledge. Latvia's innovation performance. Challenges of Latvia's competitiveness. The Academic Entrepreneurship Ecosystem. (2 h lectures, 2 h practical work)
2. Entrepreneurship, main definitions and concepts. Business opportunities. Entrepreneurship as a process. Test in e-studies. (2 h lectures, 2 h practical work)
3. Definition of innovation, relationship between innovation and business. Types of innovation. Managing innovation in academia. Individual work on innovations. (2 h lectures, 2 h practical work)
4. Analysis of the business environment. Product concept. Minimum Viable Product. Presentation of business ideas. Funding of business ideas and types of investors. Educational excursion to the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) Jelgava representative office. (4 h practical works)
5. Commercialization of research. Definitions, strategies. Intellectual property. Transfer of knowledge. Technology transfer. Group work on commercialization cases (2 h lectures, 2 h practical work)
6. Implementation of business models and development of the spin-off idea. Types of business models. Blocks of business models, use of Lean approach. Individual work on business idea and business model. (4 h practical works)

Requirements for awarding credit points

Formal test. In order to get formal test student must pass:
• Test in e-studies about academic entrepreneurship and ecosystem;
• Individual work on innovation;
• Group work on commercialization cases;
Individual work on business idea and business model.

Description of the organization and tasks of students’ independent work

1) Doctoral students familiarize themselves with and study the literature on academic entrepreneurship and the innovation ecosystem in the academic environment, preparing for the test.
2) Information is sought on the types of innovation and innovation management in the academic environment, preparing for individual work on innovation.
3) Information is being sought on research commercialization cases, types of intellectual property and their protection options, challenges in the field of technology transfer, preparing for group work.
4) Information is obtained and an understanding is formed about possible business models in the context of the topic of the thesis, which is necessary to prepare for the individual work on the business idea and business model.

Criteria for Evaluating Learning Outcomes

A doctoral student can get the grade "Passed" if all 4 tasks have been completed and at least the following evaluation has been received:
• At least 60% of the answers are correct for the test in e-studies about academic entrepreneurship and the ecosystem;
• At least 12 out of 20 points were obtained in the individual work on innovation;
• At least 12 out of 20 points were obtained in the group work on commercialization cases;
At least 24 out of 40 points were obtained in the individual work on business idea and business model.

Compulsory reading

1. Duening, T., Hisrich, R., Lechter, M. Technology Entrepreneurship Taking Innovation to the Marketplace. Academic Press, 2020. 395 p.
2. Tidd, J., Bessant J. Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organizational Change. 7th Edition. Wiley, 2020. 624 p.
3. Stam, E. 2015. Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Regional Policy: A Sympathetic Critique, European Planning Studies, 23:9, 1759-1769

Further reading

1. Baden-Fuller, C., Morgan, M. S. Business Models as Models. Long Range Planning, 43(2), 156-171, 2010.
2. Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y. Business Model Generation. A Handbook for visionaries, game changers and challengers. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2013. 279 p.
3. Romano, A., Passiante, G., Vecchio, P.D. The Technology-Driven Entrepreneurship in the Knowledge Economy. Passiante, G; Romano, A. Creating Technology-Driven Entrepreneurship Foundations, Processes and Environment, Palgrave. pp. 21- 48, 2016.
4. Brown, R., Mason, C. Looking inside the spiky bits: a critical review and conceptualisation of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Small Business Economics 49, 11-30, 2017.

Notes

Elective study course for doctoral study programs of LBTU Doctoral School