Strategic Thinking and Innovations (5 cr)

Objectives (course unit)

This course introduces the fundamentals of effective project management and how to connect them to the corporate strategy. Projects are here considered as tools to enable strategic change and business transformation. When the student has passed this course he/she will know and understand the following:
- core concepts of strategic management
- classical & contemporary tools for strategic management
- strategy creation in traditional and lean organizations
- how the strategic framework is connected to the project portfolio
- how to implement strategic change by using projects
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When the student has completed the course he/she can:
- choose appropriate strategic approaches for his/her business
- use strategic tools to analyze strategic position of his/her business
- analyze the strategic choices of his/her business
- create connection between the strategy and operations
- make use of BSC or Delta models
- create strategic plans by using business models
- design projects to implement the strategy and change programs
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When the student has passed this course he/she will be:
- a specialist to contribute to strategic planning in global environment
- a specialist who can bridge the strategy and operations
- a specialist who can implement strategic change by using projects

Content (course unit)

This course introduces the fundamentals of effective project management in the strategic framework of organizations. Projects are here considered as tools to enable strategic change and organizational development. During the course we will also discuss how to use strategic framework for selecting project to the portfolio.
The course will consist of the following modules (module does not mean a contact teaching session 1:1):
• The kick-off meeting
• Why strategic thinking is important?
• Core concepts of strategic management
• Classical & contemporary tools for strategic management
• Strategy creation in traditional and lean organizations
• How the strategic framework is connected to the project portfolio?
• How to implement strategic change by using projects?
• Closing the course and reflection of the lessons learnt.
During the course we’ll use participatory methodologies including:
• Contact teaching: interactive lessons, group work, and presentations
• Individual assignments and collaborative learning in between the contact teaching sessions
• Exploration of real cases: scouting and processing
• Tools: classroom facilities, Tabula, own computers and mobiles, the Internet
• Resources: selected books and articles, materials prepared by the teacher, the Internet

Teaching methods

This course introduces the subject of innovation management as a strategic process. It begins with analysing the industry dynamics of technological innovation, then moving to formulating the innovation strategy and finally concludes by implementation of an innovation strategy. We also introduce tools for innovation management, like "SRI NABC Model” (Stanford Research Institute).

When the students have passed the course, they will understand
- Main innovation concepts
- How and why innovation occurs in an industry and why some innovations rise to dominate others
- Where do great ideas come from? How to harness individual creativity?
- What are the different types and patterns of innovation
- Timing of entry
- Collaboration strategies for innovation
- How to protect innovations
- Best practises for implementing innovations. Role of innovation champion and innovation team.
- Innovation deployment strategies
The course consists of contact teaching, individual assignments and collaborative learning in teams from other team members. Selected articles for pre-reading are provided by teacher.