General remarks
This course will be taught using traditional synchronous lectures with many guest speakers. The focus of the live sessions is on discussing real world cases and developing theoretically-based explanations. In addition, you will do an original research on a digital innovation case on your own (see assignment).
It is very important that you prepare yourself for every session. You either need to work through teaching materials in advance or prepare to present the deliverable of your own case (see Table 1).
Contents
This course offers you the possibility to learn about industry-specific challenges and how this influences the way of organizing, managing and communicating digital innovations, in particular:
- Specifics of industries (context, products, markets, obstacles, enablers)
- Industry-specific applicability and adaptations of innovation strategies
- Methods for discovering need finding, ideation and prototyping of digital innovations
- Case studies of digital innovation in industries
- Theories that explain the mechanisms of digital innovations
Learning objectives
During this course, you should advance your skills in the following areas:
- Knowledge of various industries and their special characteristics
- Understanding of the specifics of managing digital innovations in these industries
- Knowledge of theoretical models that help to explain and manage these innovations
- Ability to analyze specificities and complexities of different industries
- Capacity to adapt digital innovation management methods and tools accordingly
- Ability to clearly communicate conclusions and the underlying rationale
- Ability to evaluate new information and to question existing assumptions
- Expertise to develop independent contributions to practical and theoretical discourse
Effort
You will gain 5 ECTS for this course. This equals approx. 150 hours workload, of which you need most to pass the course.
- Classes (approx. 40 hours)
- Preparation for the live sessions (about 6 hours)
- Case research and writing (many hours)
Please prepare your schedule accordingly.
Grading
The grade is based on the evaluation of the written case study (see assignment).
Interim presentations are mandatory but will not be graded individually.
Schedule
It is very important that you work continuously on the case study. In addition to the interim presentations, you must also plan time for reading case studies in preparation for individual units. Please reserve time in your schedule accordingly.
| Date | Topic | Preparation |
|---|---|---|
| 25.03.2026 | Administrivia & Introduction | — |
| 02.04.2026 | Interim presentation Ideas | Presentation |
| 09.04.2026 | Guest Speech tbd | — |
| 16.04.2026 | Guest Speech tbd | — |
| 23.04.2026 | Interim presentation Industry & Company | — |
| 30.04.2026 | Guest Speech tbd | Presentation |
| 07.05.2026 | Excursion Week (no lecture) | — |
| 14.05.2026 | Public Holiday | — |
| 21.05.2026 | Guest Speech tbd | — |
| 28.05.2026 | Witsun Holidays | — |
| 04.06.2026 | Witsun Holidays | — |
| 11.06.2026 | Interim presentation Problem, Approach & Solution | — |
| 18.06.2026 | Guest Speech tbd | — |
| 25.06.2026 | Guest Speech tbd | — |
| 02.07.2026 | Interim presentation Discussion | Presentation |
| 09.07.2026 | Guest Speech tbd | — |
| 10.07.2026 | Deadline Assignment | Assignment |