This is an introductory course combining innovation strategies and technology and marketing, emphasizing the use and marketing of innovation for development. This course emphasizes both innovation technology and marketing theory and practice. The lecture sessions introduce proven solutions to problems in the innovation field, especially in the development area, the case sessions illustrate the application of these techniques , while the practice sessions provide an opportunity for you to develop a concrete plan for an innovation.

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

 • select the right target market for an innovative product

• target that market effectively

• position the product or service for maximum success

• combine analytics, frameworks, and research for maximum potential.

As this this is a highly interactive course regular attendance is mandatory. You should view class participation as an opportunity to both ask questions to enhance your understanding of the material and suggest examples that demonstrate such understanding. You learn by attending classes and your peers learn from your participation. However, emergencies do happen. One missed class is excused but be aware that class participation makes up a considerable stake of your final grade and, therefore, an absence may affect your grading. 

The course is designed to be interactive, practical and relevant. We will cover examples from a range of different disciplines. Each class will include a lecture, development of new tools and techniques, and practical application to specific cases and examples. We will have industry visitors who will share their experiences in a way that complements the specific topics of the class. The class will also have interactive “in-class labs” focusing on developing hard skills for management and marketing of technology projects and startups.

The assessment of the students' performances and their aggregation towards final grades will be based on the following elements of appraisal:

Class participation - 20% (individual): Given this highly interactive course, active participation is inevitable. It is imperative that you prepare course materials, particularly case studies and readings, and come to class with a series of comments that you think will be interesting to the class. Your colleagues are counting on your insight.

Case write-up - 30% (team): In addition to discussing the cases in class, your team will submit a write-up on one of these cases. The case write-up is due at the beginning of the class when that case is to be discussed. Each case write-up should consist of approximately 5 pages of text (space-and-a-half, 11- or 12-point font) and should address the discussion questions posted on learn@WU.

Final case- 40% (team): Each team selects an innovation and uses the marketing techniques learned in the course to develop a marketing plan for it. The project deliverables are as follows and they are equally weighed in project grading.

• A written marketing plan for your Action-Learning project

• An in-class presentation of your marketing plan at the end of the semester

Peer rating -10%: Each team member will be assessed by peer group members.

valerie.herzog@wu.ac.at