Course pre-requisite(s): This course is appropriate for undergraduate and master students with a foundation knowledge of economics; and with computer skills for browsing, researching, using social media, and managing productivity software tools.

Course Overview

A practical and enjoyable course targeted to develop an entrepreneurship mindset focused on value creation through innovation and technology. Students will learn about the possibilities that new technologies bring for the digital transformation process.  Students will also develop skills for the innovation process by applying Design Thinking techniques to create value and will learn to define the business model elements to increase the probability of success.

Through a team project, students will have fun as they practice and apply creativity tools giving life to a business idea. In each stage of the project, the students will produce relevant deliverables. The intention is to develop specific skills while learning and applying modern technologies including artificial intelligence tools to create powerful solutions that may shorten time to market and surpass customer expectations. With AI tools students may become more productive as they experiment with the business idea, producing and testing prototypes, research the marketing possibilities, design the business model, and the metrics to manage and control the startup.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will have developed a business model for an innovation. Students will also develop the prototype and validate the business idea powered by AI tools to assess the target market. Students may use AI tools to ease and improve the creation of landing pages, marketing materials, business models, and business prototypes.

 

Course Content

Project Phase	Lecture and Activities
Innovation opportunities and Digital Transformation	Digital transformation:  Blockchain, 3D Printing, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Data Science. Brainstorming: Decide on a Problem-Solution-Market The Six Thinking Hats Creativity Tool  Social Megatrends IDEO Innovation Process Competitors Research
Customer Centric Innovation	Design Thinking Market Segmentation Consumer Behavior Landing Page Development boosted by AI Marketing experiments, SEO strategy optimization and analytics in the Web
Prototyping and Pretotyping	A sample of what the business idea intends to be Is it the product built correctly or is it the correct product to build? Lean Startup Design of experiments The Minimum Viable Product
Value Proposal	The Blue Ocean Strategy Define the product features according to market segment
Metrics: Manage your business towards success	Design the set of measurements that show you which experiments are working. Define a dashboard with the metrics to monitor routinely during startup.
Industrial Property Protection Plan and Licensing	Find the type of ownership rights related to your innovation Use the PATENTSCOPE search system to see if your invention has already been protected by someone else Browse the WIPO Website to learn you possibilities
Business Model Canvas	Define how to create, deliver, and harvest value from your innovation. Develop your hypothesis.
Business Model Validation	Identify hypothesis, assumptions, and risks
Establish the Roadmap	Project Management Perform your Gannt Chart with the activities required for your Startup. Include: validation, product development, financial resources. Consider task assignments for team members.
The Pitch	Describe the business idea to potential investors or other interested parties. The challenge is to frame the business idea and message clearly and consistently within the designed timeframe. The main goal  is to illustrate a business opportunity.

 

Bibliography

Dodgson, M., Gann, D. M., & Salter, A. (2008). The management of technological innovation: strategy and practice. Oxford University Press.

Recommended Reading

Copeland, P., Savoia, A. (2013). Entrepreneurial Innovation at Google. Retrieved Oct 30 from http://www.albertosavoia.com/uploads/1/4/0/9/14099067/entrepreneurialinnovationatgoogle_publishedversion.pdf

D'Andrea, K. (2013). Lean startups on the rise. Long Island Business News, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1267168021?accountid=458

Daniel, A. (2007). A MAN OF BIG IDEOS. ASEE Prism, 16(6), 34-37. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/236211914?accountid=458

Denning, P. (2013). Design Thinking. Communications of the ACM, ISSN 0001-0782, 12/2013, Volume 56, Issue 12, pp. 29 – 31

Johnson, E. J. (2012). Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers - By Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 29(6), 1099-1100. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5885.2012.00977_2.x

Kerr, W.R., Nanda, R., & Rhodes-Kropf, M. (2014). Entrepreneurship as Experimentation. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 28(3), 25-48. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/10.1257/jep.28.3.25

Kumar, S., T.N. (2008). Blue ocean strategy: How to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant.South Asian Journal of Management, 15(2), 121-124. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/222727705?accountid=458

Powell, S. (2007). Spotlight on Edward de Bono. Management Decision, 45(6), 1058. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00251740710762080

 

Instructional Method

Project Oriented Learning, collaborative teamwork, support videos, handouts, team oral presentations, discussions, Web and AI research, articles and readings from major journals.

Required Course Materials

A laptop computer is required with Internet connection for browsing and Office or any productivity tool.

Assessment

Team project 70%

Classroom activities and quizzes 20%

Exam 10%