Process Innovation (Spring 2021)

Abstract

The goal of the course is to address how digital process innovation theories and methods can be used to redesign and digitize organizational processes and reconfigure internal and external resources to sense and respond to new opportunities.

Description

In today’s ever-changing business environment, organizations constantly need to respond to new requirements and opportunities to gain and sustain their competitive advantage. This course focuses on digital process innovation that exploits the potential of digital technologies, redesign organizational processes and their related architectures they are embedded in, and reconfigure internal/external resources to sense and respond to new opportunities and challenges.

The course will cover:

• The fundamentals of process-oriented management and the use of key tools at the operational level.

• How digital technologies and strategic mechanisms can be utilized towards supporting continuous and transformative process innovations at the tactical level.

• Theories, frameworks, and methods for both continuous and radical process innovation at the strategic level.

Formal prerequisites

This course is for 2nd semester DIM students.

Intended learning outcomes

After the course, the student should be able to:

• Discuss theoretical foundations (i.e. theories, frameworks, concepts, and methods) of understanding and managing digital process innovation.
• Analyze recent technological trends and explain the implications of technologies in conjunction with digital process innovation.
• Apply key theoretical foundations to practical cases on managing and organising digital process innovations.
• Critically reflect on similarities and differences of theoretical foundations covered in class and discuss advantages/disadvantages in different settings.
• Develop new digital process innovations for practical cases based on theoretical foundations.
• Critically reflect on possible intended and unintended outcomes (at the organizational and industry level) of applying theoretical foundations taught in the course.

Learning activities

The course will be taught through lectures, workshops, exercises, and casework. Approximately half of the course will support the students in forming a theoretical insight and deep understanding of the topic. The other half will support their learning of digital process innovation practices and applying the theories and methods to practice. 

As part of the learning, the students will carry out a digital process innovation case study (i.e., individual report). The individual report and the deliveries from it will form the base for the individual written exam, which has to be handed in. The individual report will be supervised and supported by the teaching staff of the course. The course manager strives to support learning by a diversity of engaging learning activities that can lead to good results but will demand active engagement and participation from the students.

Mandatory activities

The mandatory assignment is an individual report. The individual report applies, discusses and reflects on a digital process innovation case study. Furthermore, the individual report serves as a foundation for the individual written take-home exam. 

The individual report must be submitted by May 19th

The student will receive the grade NA (not approved) at the ordinary exam, if the mandatory activities are not approved and the student will use an exam attempt.

Course literature

 TBA

Student Activity Budget

Estimated distribution of learning activities for the typical student

• Preparation for lectures and exercises: 30%
• Lectures: 15%
• Exercises: 10%
• Project work, supervision included: 30%
• Exam with preparation: 15%

Ordinary exam

Exam type:
C: Submission of written work, External (7-point scale)
Exam variation:
C22: Submission of written work – Take home

Time and date