Seminar: Case Study Seminar in Managing Business Models, Growth, and Disruption

Course Description

Content

>> Please read the SYLLABUS (on TUM Online, the file will be updated regularly)

How do firms design new business models? What is a value proposition? Why do some firms use certain revenue models but not others? What are the implications of focusing on only certain revenue streams? What is a pivot? How and why do ventures change their business models? How do firms innovate their businesses without coming up with technological innovations? Is there anything we can learn about firms from the past that will help entrepreneurs design better business models to leverage future opportunities such as the Internet of Things, Blockchain, robotics, artificial intelligence, and so on?

This case study seminar introduces students to theories of business model design, business model innovation, growth, and disruptive innovation as well as their relevance to practice. Based on key readings in entrepreneurship, strategy, and innovation, newspaper and magazine articles, and case studies, students will learn about why and how business model innovations happen and how that might help firms grow, and use that knowledge to analyze firms and industries and showcase their versatility in dissecting firms in a poster competition. As a consequence, this course will equip students with a thorough understanding of how firms design and innovate their business models and how they grow. Hence, students will be able to comment and analyze on existing business models and ideally capable of becoming innovative business model designers.

Hence, topics include, but are not limited to:

• What is (not) a business model (innovation)?
• What do we mean by value creation and value capture?
• The role of industry, strategy, and organization structure for firm growth
• Theoretical approaches that explain business model innovation and firm growth
• When and why is disruptive disruptive?
• Innovation and growth management as search
• Imprinting and path dependency
• Disruption by/for start-ups vs. established firms
• Growing organizations and their challenges
• Open business models

 

Previous Knowledge Expected

While there are no formal perquisites to attend this course, we very strongly recommend that you have previously attended an introductory course on entrepreneurship (such as "Introduction to Entrepreneurship") and/or strategy/innovation (such as "Introduction to Strategic and/or Innovation Management”). These introductory courses should have given you some first insights into what business models are, how firms grow, and why innovation is important for growth. Understanding of the start-up scene, its terminology, and the strategic meaning of entrepreneurship to the economy, will be similarly helpful; courses on HR, marketing, or finance most likely not. While we will not block you from joining the course per se, we want to clearly point out that we will not go back to reexplain some of the first principles taught in such courses, but we will assume that you know them, or freshen up on them on your own time.

 

Objective

Knowledge Objectives
After the course, students will be able to:

• Define, explain, and apply in practice key theories related to business model design and innovation
• Interpret, classify, and assess the conduct and performance of any business model
• Describe, compare, and appraise different existing design solutions for a given situation
• Distinguish between business model, strategy, and organizational structure
• Evaluate how environmental change (customer needs, competitors, technologies) may affect existing business models designs
• Compose new business model designs

Skills Objectives

• Improve diagnostic and analytical skills (i.e., structured problem-solving)
• Build up critical thinking and interpretation skills
• Enhance verbal and argumentation skills via presentations and group discussions

 

Teaching and Learning Method

The largest share of this course will be co-developed by the course participants and the instructor(s) through discussions of course materials and newspaper articles, as well as short presentation. In such sessions, the lecturer(s) will help facilitate and guide the course discussion by taking notes on whiteboards. Students are strongly encouraged to take notes, to facilitate cumulative learning across sessions of class, which will also be faciliated by the instructure. Specific topics and definitions may be presented using PowerPoint slides. We will frequently use the hall in the Entrepreneurship Center for exercises, in which students will apply and inductively further develop content. Finally, a large share of learning will occur through students preparing individually and in groups for the in-class session. Techniques to do so will be introduced in the first session of class. Information on what materials to prepare will be provided for each course session.

 

Course Criteria & Registration

For registration you have to be identified in TUMonline as a student.

Note: Given the highly interactive nature of this course, and also the requirements this puts into finding a suitable classroom, this course is limited to 20 participants. Registration for this course will be facilitated via the online course registration tool, only. In order to keep your seat, attendance at the kick-off is mandatory (excused ab-sence, if communicated in advance, may be permitted for legitimate circumstances, such as health, family emergencies, or similar reasons. A conflict in your schedule is not a legitimate circumstance). If you are more than 5 minutes late to the kick-off, we reserve the right to re-allocate your seat to unregistered participants at-tending the kick-off, either by their position on the official course waiting list or by random allocation.

 

Further Information - Recommended Readings

For each week of class, students will need to prepare one readings. Those as well as an extensive list of voluntary additional readings are provided in the course syllabus "Further Information >> Online information >> course documents").