Marketing 658

MKTG 658
Service and Product Innovation for Organizations

1. Catalog Entry

MKTG 658
Service and Product Innovation for Organizations

Credit hours (3)
Prerequisites: MBA Status

Examines practice and theory of service and product innovation in organizations with emphasis on novel or radical innovation and experimental approaches. Concepts such as design thinking, open innovation, lean innovation, agile innovation and co-creation will be discussed, applied, and contrasted to traditional new product development approaches.  

2. Detailed Description of Course

    1) Creativity – Leading concepts, facilitating, and exercises.
    2) Ideation – Strategic, technology or market projection, identifying problems or screening others’
        ideas.
    3) Deep user awareness – from ethnographic methods or experimentation.
    4) Group brainstorming – benefits and hazards
    5) Invention vs. Innovation – Steve Jobs did not invent the mouse, GUI, or touch screen but
        brought to market.
    6) Market Segmentation or Mapping as a tool: the Blue Ocean approach
    7) Traditional Staged Product Development vs. really innovative projects
    8) Incremental vs. significant innovation vs. “novel,” “disruptive,” or “radical” innovation
    9) Innovation for goods vs. innovation of service
    10) Open Innovation – all the smart people are not in one organization
    11) Scanning and Crowdsourcing
    12) Customer collaboration – Lead Users and/or co-creation
    13) Iteration and market validation (learning) – Probe and Learn, experimentation, rapid
         prototyping, extreme innovation
    14) Minimum viable product and Pivoting
    15) Lean Innovation, Effectuation and Agile innovation
    16) Design Thinking and Innovation

3. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course

This course will use leading texts of Product Innovation and Design Thinking, augmented by current research articles, videos, and guest speakers involved in innovation. Students should be exposed to classic approaches to innovation, current practice, and novel new approaches. Hands-on learning will be facilitated through cases, projects with organizations, and/or class projects.

4. Goals and Objectives of the Course

The primary goal is to train our MBAs to be effective participants in organizational innovation projects and to eventually lead innovation teams. The course should elevate a student’s ability to describe what innovation is and how it occurs. A student will demonstrate effective use of innovative skills and ideation in class projects.

5. Assessment Measures

Assessment will include quizzes and tests to measure ability to describe classic and new tools and approaches to product and service innovation; evaluation of participation in class discussion of theory and practice; and evaluation of skills employed in projects.

6. Other Course Information

None

Review and Approval

May 11, 2015