Module Overview

summer & winter term

Get to know and understand ‘the trade’ of innovation management
Develop a basic understanding of innovation management as the practice of organizing and handling highly complex and uncertain situations
Starting with fundamental concepts, join us in a voyage through the most significant barriers of innovation processes toward the best managerial practices to address them.
Apply the conceptual knowledge gained in the lecture to one case study, and complement your solutions with selected seminal research papers to better understand how knowledge is developed

summer & winter term

Develop a comprehensive understanding of managing projects from defining the project organization to planning and implementation
Understand the challenges of building high performing project teams
Contrast the classic waterfall with the agile project management approach
Learn how to execute projects with tools and methods used by professional project managers and consultants
Engage in project analysis and development of deliverables with peers in interdisciplinary groups
Explore and understand the potentials of project management for career paths within your field

summer & winter term

Write your bachloer thesis in the context of one of our research projects.
Get structured and systematic supervision from our research fellows.
Learn the basic rules and methods of scientific work.
Acquire competences in systematic literature analysis.
Benefit from the feedback of your peers in success teams.

winter term

Understand innovation management as a corporate task defining and managing the corporate innovation system
Gain insights into the factors that shape innovation in established firms, such as strategies for innovation, business models, organizational culture, and collaboration for innovation
Join in for active group discussions, linking conceptual models, empirical research results, and a practice-oriented tool approach
Apply your knowledge to practical case studies, develop abilities to translate research into practical advice, and engage in active discussions

summer term

Discover innovation management from a process and project perspective
Understand how innovation processes are embedded in central elements of the organizational structure and how they interact
Understand the role of actors and teams, as well as their functions in different phases of the innovation process
Apply your knowledge in a real-life assessment of innovation management practices with selected corporate partners

winter term

Learn about enterprise-wide project landscapes and their strategic and operative aspects
Understand and discuss tasks, contents, and challenges of strategic project management
Discuss the main project management concepts emphasizing (digital) transformation with a specific focus on agile organizations
Integrate advanced management elements to embrace successful digital initiatives
Apply each concept to a practical case for understanding the complexities of implementation

summer term

Gain insights into strategic and operational tasks of technology management
Learn how organizations can actively manage existing and emerging technologies
Understand technology development trajectories and their interplay with corporate innovation
Explore possibilities to conduct technology foresight and analyze technology life-cycles
Develop skills in evaluating concrete technologies through own research by using patent databases etc.

summer & winter term

Develop new research perspectives and questions based on existing innovation research literature
Learn to digest literature in order to develop convincing conceptual models supporting specific research questions
Evaluate different empirical approaches and develop empirical research designs to address your research question
Engage in productive research discussion with your peers
Explore and develop possibilities for master theses

summer term

Work with a real-life case from corporate practice
Apply advanced project management skills to solve a corporate challenge
Understand and dissect the complexities of innovative projects
Learn to integrate sustainability as a central objective for projects and corporate development
Develop concrete management solutions and become challenged by experienced project and corporate managers

winter term

Explore a specific innovation management approach through a real-life case
Learn how converging technology portfolios and R&D synergies drive decision-making
Understand how corporate tactics are developed and implemented and how the firm interacts with relevant stakeholders in innovative endeavors
Discuss with managers actively involved in shaping corporate innovation endeavors, understand how organization culture is created and reflect upon career options with experienced managers