Innovation Systems and Processes

Course goals

Innovation studies is an interdisciplinary field. In this course, you will become familiar with the important classical theoretical contributions to innovation studies and learn how to apply these theories in the analysis of technology and innovation. More specifically,

• you will become acquainted with the classic readings in economic and sociological perspectives on technological change and innovation, i.e. the ‘canon’ of innovation literature,
• you will learn to compare different theories in terms of explanatory power (the kind of problems a theory is able to tackle), and
• you will learn how a careful choice of theory improves the quality of innovation analysis.

Content

In this course we look at how to analyze innovation processes and systems in order to improve their efficacy and usefulness. The analysis of innovation is more powerful when using theories of technical change, R&D and innovation. What theories are and do, however, is not straightforward. This course provides a fundamental basis for the use of theories in a sensible, logical and practical way. What are the fundamental theories of technology and innovation? What do they explain? What is a theory, what is theorizing? What does it mean to apply a theory? How can you test or improve a theory? This course provides an important preparation for performing independent research on innovation questions in the second year of the Innovation Sciences master, e.g. in the context of a master thesis. You will acquire the necessary expertise to make informed decisions about which theory to choose in order to tackle different kinds of innovation problems.

This course is an entry requirement for:

• Master’s Thesis IS (GEO4-2239X)
• Consultancy Project IS and SBI (GEO4-2007)