This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.
Undergraduate Handbook 2025-2026 (archived)
Module BUSI2341: Innovation Management
Department: Management and Marketing
BUSI2341: Innovation Management
| Type | Level | Credits | Availability | Module Cap | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tied | 2 | 20 | Available in 2025/2026 | None. | Durham |
Tied To
- L103: Economics with Management
- L104: Economics with Management with Placement Year
- L105: Economics with Management with Study Abroad
- N201: Business and Management
- N203: Business and Management with Placement Year
- N204: Accounting and Management with Placement Year
- N206: Accounting and Management with Study Abroad
- N207: Business and Management with Study Abroad
- N302: Accounting and Finance with Placement Year
- N304: Accounting and Finance with Study Abroad
- NN42: Accounting and Management
- NN43: Accounting and Finance
Pre-requisites
- None
Corequisites
- None
Excluded Combinations
- None
Aims
- The module aims to:
- To develop students' knowledge and understanding of key issues relating to innovation management
- To encourage students to think critically and strategically about innovation, competition and the impact of innovation on firms and the wider economy
- To enable students to understand and apply different and diverging theoretical perspectives, concepts and debates arising in the management of innovation
- To provide students with tools, knowledge and skills for managing innovation in future employment
Content
- The module provides you with an understanding of the two contradictory natures of the innovation process – continuity with existing elements and radical change; the sources of innovation; and the processes of creativity and selecting ideas, transforming them into commercial products at the organisational level, and appropriating their benefits. Specifically, the following topics will be covered:
- What is innovation?; Product and process innovation
- Innovation and technology and their diffusion
- Standards, dominant design and network effects
- Intellectual property protection mechanisms
- Innovation and strategy
- Innovation and market structure
- Innovation and firm performance
- Innovation and entrepreneurship
- Sustainable innovation
- Innovation policy
Learning Outcomes
Subject-specific Knowledge
- Students will be able to:
- Have acquired an advanced contextual knowledge of innovation as a key organisational process in modern companies, and of how innovation can shape and determine new industries and markets
- Appreciate and explain the key drivers of innovation
- Explain the processes of innovation and industry dynamics
- Design innovation-based strategies and communicate how they work
Subject-specific Skills
- Students will:
- Be able to critically evaluate the impact of innovation on organisational strategy and the wider economy, with reference to both theoretical and empirical literature
- Be able to communicate an understanding of innovation management convincingly and concisely both verbally and in writing
- Be able to compare and contrast theories and models of innovation management with empirical evidence of management practice and firm performance, and form their own views
- Be able to effectively evaluate and use the evidence base as part of a strategy formulation process
- Be able to express critical awareness of policy issues relating to innovation, science and technology
Key Skills
- Have acquired an ability of critical thinking, analysis, evaluation and synthesis
- Be able to identify and address a range of problems
- Be able to develop cohesive and persuasive arguments
Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module
- The module will be delivered through a series of lectures, seminars, case studies, and independent reading.
- Formative assessment will be used as a key feedback mechanism, alongside in class feedback in seminars.
- This will be used to support the development of the summative assessment.
Teaching Methods and Learning Hours
| Activity | Number | Frequency | Duration | Total Hours | Attendance Monitored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 10 | Weekly | 2 hours | 20 | |
| Workshops | 4 | Fortnightly | 2 hours | 8 | Yes |
| Preparation and Reading | 172 | ||||
| Total | 200 | ||||
Summative Assessment
| Component | Component Weighting | Element | Length/Duration | Element Weighting | Resit Opportunity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written Coursework Assignment | 100% | Assignment | 3000 | 100% |
Formative Assessment
Positioning document consisting of an outline and plan of the summative assessment (up to a maximum of 1,000 words). Rationale: Students to receive feedback directly relevant for implementation into their summative assessment
Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods
and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative
assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress
procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be
required to leave the University.