Management > Leadership > Managing Innovation: Emerging Trends

Managing Innovation: Emerging Trends posted by duggu on 12/27/2007

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Courseware/Lectures

Test/Tutorials

Course Highlights

This course features a full set of lecture notes and a link to the online version of the class textbook in the readings section.

Course Description

Important emerging trends in innovation are identified, and their implications for innovation management are explored. Major topics to be discussed include the trend to open information ("open source") rather than protected intellectual property; the distribution of innovation over many independent but collaborating actors; and toolkits that empower users to innovate for themselves.

Syllabus

Introduction

This course is intended for students who want to know what is going on at the leading edges of innovation practice. Important trends in innovation are identified and their implications for innovation management explored. Major topics include: the trend to open information ("open source") rather than protected intellectual property; distribution of innovation over many independent but collaborating actors; and toolkits that empower users to innovate for themselves.

Readings

All assigned readings are available in the course reader. The main text for the class is:

von Hippel, Eric. Democratizing Innovation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005. ISBN: 0262002744.

Note that it is available free in electronic format from the MIT Press Web site, for reproduction for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution.

Assignments and Grading

Your course grade will be determined primarily on the basis of the quality of two 7-page papers (1.5 line spacing, please). Both papers are due on the last day of class. Detailed suggestions will be made to you with respect to desirable paper content and methods as the term progresses. You are, of course, expected to prepare for classes by doing the assigned readings, and the quality of your class participation will be used as a supplementary input to the grading process.

Calendar

Calendar Table
Lec #	Topics	Key dates
1	Introduction and Overview
2	Many Users Innovate: Maybe Even You!
3	Innovate or Buy? Each User has a Low-cost Innovation Niche
4	Dr. Nat Sims, Medical User-Innovator
5	How Open Source Software Works
6	User Innovation Communities	If you want mid-course feedback on a paper, please turn in your first 7-page paper today.
7	Why Users Often Freely Reveal Their Innovations
8	How Can Manufacturers Make Money if Users are the Innovators?
9	Finding Lead User Innovations and Giving Customers Toolkits
10	How Manufacturers Can Benefit from Distributed Innovation: The Story of InnoCentive
11	Design and Manufacture of "Mass Customized" Products
12	Resistance to Innovation is the Norm: Things will Change - But Slowly, If Incumbents have a Choice!	Both 7-page papers due today unless an extension has been given.

Readings

All assigned readings are available in the course reader. The main text for the class is:

von Hippel, Eric. Democratizing Innovation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005. ISBN: 0262002744.

Note that it is available free in electronic format from the MIT Press Web site, for reproduction for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution.

Course readings.
Lec #	Topics	readings
1	Introduction and Overview	von Hippel, Eric. Chapters 2 and 3 in Democratizing Innovation.
2	Many Users Innovate: Maybe Even You!	von Hippel, Eric. Chapters 2 and 3 in Democratizing Innovation.
3	Innovate or Buy? Each User has a Low-cost Innovation Niche	von Hippel, Eric. Chapters 4 and 5 in Democratizing Innovation.
4	Dr. Nat Sims, Medical User-Innovator
5	How Open Source Software Works	Raymond, Eric. The Cathedral and the Bazaar. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Press, 1999, pp. 27-78. ISBN: 0596001088. (The chapters in this book are not numbered - but the one assigned here is entitled "The Cathedral and the Bazaar.") "Why Hackers Do What They Do: Understanding Effort and Motivation in Open Source Projects." (PDF)
6	User Innovation Communities	von Hippel, Eric. Chapter 7 in Democratizing Innovation. Mollick, E. "Innovations from the Underground: Towards a Theory of Parasitic Innovation." Master's Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004.
7	Why Users Often Freely Reveal Their Innovations	von Hippel, Eric. Chapter 6 in Democratizing Innovation. von Hippel, Eric. "Cooperation Between Rivals: Informal Know-How Trading." Research Policy (1987): 291-302.
8	How Can Manufacturers Make Money if Users are the Innovators?	von Hippel, Eric. Chapters 8 and 9 in Democratizing Innovation. Raymond, Eric. The Cathedral and the Bazaar. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Press, 1999, pp. 137-193. ISBN: 0596001088. (The chapters in this book are not numbered - but the one assigned here is entitled "The Magic Cauldron.")
9	Finding Lead User Innovations and Giving Customers Toolkits	von Hippel, Eric. Chapters 10 and 11 in Democratizing Innovation.
10	How Manufacturers Can Benefit from Distributed Innovation: The Story of InnoCentive	Please go to the Web site Innocentive to browse. Learn about what the firm does, what its business model is, and read case examples.
11	Design and Manufacture of "Mass Customized" Products	Zipkin, Paul. "The Limits of Mass Customization." Sloan Management Review 42, no. 3 (Spring 2001): 81-87. Thomke, Stefan, and Eric von Hippel. "Customers as Innovators: A New Way to Create Value." Harvard Business Review 80, no. 4 (April 2002): 74-81.
12	Resistance to Innovation is the Norm: Things will Change - But Slowly, If Incumbents have a Choice!	Morrison, Elting. "Gunfire at Sea." Chapter 2 in Men, Machines and Modern Times. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN: 0262630184. Henderson, Rebecca M., and Kim B. Clark. "Architectural Innovation: The Reconfiguration of Existing Product Technologies and the Failure of Established Firms." Administrative Science Quarterly 35, (1990): 9-30.

Discussion Group

Educators, students, and self-learners interested in "Course 15.352: Managing Innovation: Emerging Trends" are invited to interact with others utilizing these materials in their teaching and learning through the Discussion Group for this course.

This service, offered by MIT OCW and hosted by the Open Sustainable Learning Opportunities Research Group in the Department of Instructional Technology at Utah State University, offers individuals around the world the opportunity to connect with each other, collaborate, form study groups, and receive support for their use of MIT OCW materials in formal and informal educational settings.

OLS is a research project that is focused on building "social software" that enables informal learning communities to form around existing open educational content. The fundamental premise of OLS is that full educational opportunity requires a user to have the social access to other people who can answer questions and provide support. Since the sponsors of free and open Web-based materials cannot typically provide this access, the social support must come from other users. Therefore, OLS:

Operates independently of MIT OCW
Requires users to register and login to participate
Is not a degree-granting or certificate-granting program
Does not provide formal access to MIT or Utah State University faculty

Connect to the Discussion Group for Course 15.352: Managing Innovation: Emerging Trends now.

Open Learning Support is funded by a grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.