As a ‘capstone’ module this module addresses one of the most important topics that reflects a subject that will increasingly occupy students' time as they progress in their careers and are called upon to respond to the challenges posed by uncertain, complex and dynamic business environments. This module is therefore designed to have an integrative role across the MBA programme, creating systemic bridges to other mission critical modules. Equipping managers to make a difference will engage them in a learning experience that will explore and develop the competencies and capabilities managers need to demonstrate.

This module aims to develop a critical and interdisciplinary understanding of innovation within contemporary organisational contexts. Specifically, it seeks to:

Foster a sophisticated conceptual understanding of innovation, critically examining its diverse forms and the mechanisms through which organisations cultivate, acquire, and implement inno vative practices;

Analyse the processes and structures through which organisations generate, manage, and leverage knowledge, with particular emphasis on the role of organisational design in shaping knowledge creation and dissemination;

Evaluate how organisations interact with dynamic external environments to foster innovation, including their ability to identify, integrate, and commercialise knowledge sourced from competitors, universities, customers, and suppliers;

Examine how organisations appropriate and capture value from technological advancements, with a focus on the strategic management and enforcement of intellectual property rights;

Critically interrogate conventional assumptions about the intrinsic value of innovation, exploring its unintended consequences and the broader implications for natural, social, and economic systems;

Reflect on the epistemological limitations of traditional analytical approaches in managerial practice, challenging the o ver-reliance on calculative rationality and standardised frameworks that may constrain rather than enhance creative and strategic thinking.

(LO1) Students will be able to critically evaluate and synthesise key theories of innovation and entrepreneurship, demonstrating the ability to assess their strengths, limitations, and applicability in diverse organisational contexts.

(LO2) Students will be able to analyse and critique the processes and mechanisms through which organisations generate, manage, and leverage knowledge, with particular attention to the role of organisational design in shaping knowledge creation and dissemination.

(LO3) Students will be able to evaluate how organisations engage with their external environments to foster innovation, including the strategic identification, integration, and commercialisation of knowledge from diverse sources such as competitors, universities, customers, and suppliers.

(LO4) Students will be able to critically assess the mechanisms through which organisations appropriate value from technological advancements, with a particular focus on the strategic management and enforcement of intellectual property rights.

(LO5) Students will be able to demonstrate critical reflection on prevailing assumptions regarding the intrinsic value of innovation, interrogating its unintended consequences and evaluating its broader implications for social, ecological, and economic systems.

(S1) People Focused
Students will work with multiple stakeholders within the MBA programme and externally. This will be done through challenges posed in the curriculum and outside the curriculum, working and networking with businesses locally and internationally. In doing so students will demonstrate people-focused leadership by prioritising human agency and well-being in a dynamic, disruptive world. Develop inclusivity, transparency, and reflection through teamwork and decision-making exercises, while leveraging innovation to drive personal, organisational, and societal advancement in the digital age.

(S2) Authenticity
Students will develop emotional intelligence through coaching to enhance self-awareness and awareness of others in achieving long-term, purposeful goals. This will permeate with all modules, cultivating accountability by mastering time, resources, and relationships to problem-solve and take actions. In doing so students will act with integrity, foster trust, and engage in respectful challenge and debate.

(S3) Agility
Students will have opportunities to thrive in turbulence and uncertainty. Actively build personal and organisational resilience to embrace disruption, find solutions and keep learning in dynamic environments. Informed, relevant, forward-focused mindsets stemming from constant challenges inside and outside the classroom. Provide clear direction for people and organisations to navigate effectively through simulated and real work problem solving.

(S4) Digital
Students will use a number of digital tools and develop a mindset to confidently embrace new knowledge and technologies, leverage its future potential to inspire, to enhance connectivity, decision making and learning. To bring wisdom in leadership to navigate the new digital revolution and make positive impact. Innovate. Engage in respectful debate.

(S5) Global Perspective
All modules will indulge and challenges students to think globally and consider how they drive the wider global ethical, sustainable and environmental agenda, taking a purposeful approach to aligning people, planet and profit. Experience and appreciate how building partnerships to deliver innovate solutions to economic, environmental and societal challenges are needed to solve wicked problems, improve co-operation globally and be an agent of change.

Lectures (12.5 hours)
Lectures will introduce, explore, and critically assess key concepts, ideas, and practices relevant to the subject. A variety of resources, including journals, textbooks, online videos, media articles, and opinion pieces, will be provided in advance for further reading and application across different contexts. The lecture will also outline expectations for the seminar by providing necessary guidance.

Seminars (17.5 hours)
Seminars will create an interactive environment where participants engage individually or in groups in activities such as case studies and scenario analysis. These sessions will encourage the practical application of concepts introduced in the lectures.

Peer-to-Peer Learning (3 hours)
Peer-to-peer learning fosters a collaborative approach where participants learn from and teach each other through active discussions, idea exchange, and feedback. This method enhances critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills while building a sense of community and mutual support among learners.

Self-Directed Learning (67 hours)
Participants will be expected to review a range of materials, including core and recommended readings, reports, and articles available through libraries and open-access sources. Additionally, they will conduct independent research using both academic and non-academic sources to support their learning and assessment. Lecture notes will provide guidance, and suggested answers or solutions will be available for seminar activities. Participants should complete seminar tasks as instructed before progressing to the next topic.

2.5 hour lecture x 5
3.5 hour seminar x 5
36 mins asynchronous or peer to peer directed learning x 5
67 hours self-directed learning

Managing Innovation
The first half of this session introduces the module team and the assessment strategies, including group allocation and submission deadlines. This first half of this session also reflects on the purpose of management education, riffing on the distinction between ‘analysis’ and ‘synthesis’. The second half of this session explores the various different forms that innovation takes. It introduces a number of conceptual frameworks that may be helpful for mapping the innovation landscapes of firms. It also introduces the theory of disruptive innovation and interrogates what is actually meant by the notion of ‘disruption’.

Creating and Managing Knowledge
This session explores the relationships between organisational characteristics and firm innovation performance. To do so, it considers the different forms of knowledge that underpin innovation and explores the processes through which these are integrated . It also explores the role that top-management teams play in shaping innovation outcomes. The session concludes by emphasising the importance of ‘ambidexterity’ for firm innovation and discusses the ways in which ambidexterity might be accomplished.

Innovation and the Environment
This session focuses on how the world beyond the boundaries of the firm can have an influence on firm innovation. In this session we will explore how firm leverage external sources of knowledge and technology to drive their innovation efforts through ‘open innovation’. We will discuss the different modes of inter-organisational collaboration and explore some of the specific challenges of managing university-industry research partnerships. We will also consider how firms can establish, participate in and strategically orchestrate innovation ecosystems.

Commercialising Novelty
Having considered the organisational antecedents of innovation, and the complexities as sociated with managing the process of innovation, this session moves on to consider how firms can capture value from their innovation efforts. In this session, we will explore the role of intellectual property (in its various forms) in commercialisation. This will entail a consideration of the different IP strategies that firms might adopt to maximise the value of their technological breakthroughs. This session also considers the process of corporate venturing as an alternative mechanism of commercialising innovation and examines some of the challenges associated with ‘intrapraneurship’.

Responsible Innovation
This session attempts to move beyond firm-level analysis to consider the complexities and challenges associated with practically managing innovation. Broadly, this session will consider the limitations of linear models of innovation management (such as the stage-gate model), highlighting instead the primacy of situational coping. This session also conside rs some of the ethical complications that entailed in the development and commercialisation of new products/ services. Highlighting the role that ‘responsible innovation’ might play in addressing societal grand challenges. The session concludes with a return to the distinction between analysis and synthesis, emphasising that whilst there is value in breaking complexity down (i.e. analysis), the truncation of complexity inherent in analytical procedures may leave us exposed to surprises with potentially catastrophic (commercial and environmental) consequences.