Rethinking Innovation and Entrepreneurship
| Module title | Rethinking Innovation and Entrepreneurship |
|---|---|
| Module code | BEP3005 |
| Academic year | 2025/6 |
| Credits | 15 |
| Module staff | Miss Hollie Kirk (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 10 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 50 |
|---|
Module description
This module is within the With Proficiency in Entrepreneurship Pathway and no curricular pre-requisite or co-requisite modules are required. This module is designed for non-specialist students from any subject discipline and is intended for interdisciplinary pathways.
Innovation creates futures and this module equips you to shape those futures. The innovation studies space is dominated by mainstream innovation thinking, but innovation is not just technological innovation, not just profit and markets. We are facing a multitude of challenges – climate change, poverty, biodiversity loss, resource use, and wealth re-distribution, to name just a few – and society pins much hope on innovation to address these challenges. We explore the transformative potential of innovation to contribute to a sustainable, just and equitable future through cutting-edge approaches to innovation such as ‘responsible innovation’, ‘inclusive innovation’, ‘reverse innovation’, ‘social innovation’, and ‘sustainable innovation’.
Relatedly, we consider the ‘heroic individual’ conception in entrepreneurship to be simplistic, individualistic and certainly not realistic. For entrepreneurship to generate impact and help address the abovementioned challenges, we also need to move beyond the successful entrepreneurial cases that break the news and raise millions in Initial Public Offerings. Entrepreneurship might be about promoting important causes, breaking free from dependencies, serving a community, and preserving the cultural heritage, among others. It can be individual and collective, pro-social, pro-environmental and profit-oriented, and in some cases it might even be accidental. Therefore, to better understand entrepreneurship and its transformative potential, it makes sense to revisit what it really means and the different ways it manifests in practice.
The module’s core component is delivered online and accompanied by a series of practical workshops that enable students to engage with and think critically about the material. This module aims to provide the concepts, frameworks, and tools needed to rethink innovation and entrepreneurship in new ways – asking questions about power, relations, place, community, socio-ecological systems and politics, among others, that have not traditionally been at the centre of innovation and entrepreneurship scholarship, and challenging assumptions about where, when and how both take place.
Module aims - intentions of the module
This module aims to provide the concepts, frameworks, and tools needed to rethink innovation and entrepreneurship beyond the mainstream, business-as-usual understandings. It is intended to showcase the ambitious boundaries of innovation and entrepreneurship studies through exciting and engaging cases and prepare and inspire students to view themselves as potential innovators and entrepreneurs. It is designed for students from any discipline, encouraging, recognising, and valuing their contributions to rethinking innovation and entrepreneurship.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Discuss the urgent need to rethink innovation and entrepreneurship and current efforts to align both with challenges facing society
- 2. Identify and describe new and underdiscussed approaches to transformative innovation and entrepreneurship
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 3. Critically evaluate assumptions about where, when and how innovation and entrepreneurship take place
- 4. Apply the concepts, frameworks, and tools needed to rethink innovation and entrepreneurship
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. Apply theory to explain contemporary case studies
Syllabus plan
The module is structured to introduce theoretical concepts at the cutting edge of innovation and entrepreneurship studies. It begins by explaining how and why there are growing calls to rethink both. The module then introduces new approaches to innovation and entrepreneurship. When it comes to the former, some of the topics explored are the following: ‘responsible innovation’, ‘inclusive innovation’, ‘reverse innovation’, ‘social innovation’, and ‘sustainable innovation’. In these weeks we delve into how these approaches aspire to be transformative but can also slip back to business-as-usual, showing that they are ‘in the making’ through various case studies and examples. We also delve into entrepreneurial topics such as ‘collective entrepreneurship’, ‘community-based entrepreneurship’ ‘entrepreneurship as emancipation’, ‘sustainable entrepreneurship’ and others. Lastly, we explore the future potential and direction of travel for rethinking innovation and entrepreneurship.
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 28 | 122 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 10 | Asynchronous Lectures |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 18 | Workshops |
| Guided Independent Study | 40 | Preparing for workshops |
| Guided Independent Study | 82 | Reading, exercises, preparation for formative and summative assessments |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| In class group discussion to support the summative essay | 15 min | 1-5 | Verbal from tutor and class |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual assignment | 70 | 2000-word assignment | 1-5 | Written |
| Group presentation | 30 | Equivalent to 1000 words | 1-5 | Written |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual assignment | Individual assignment, 2000-word, 100% | 1-5 | Referral/deferral period |
| Group presentation | Individual reflection, 1000-word, 30% | 1-5 | Referral/deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you have been deferred for any assessment you will be expected to submit the relevant assessment. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be expected to submit the relevant assessment. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will be capped at 40%
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Core textbook:
- Katie Ledingham, Sarah Hartley, and Richard Owen. 2024. Rethinking Innovation: Alternative approaches for people and planet. Palgrave.
Indicative learning resources - Other resources
Indicative additional reading:
- Bacq, S., Hertel, C., & Lumpkin, G. T. (2022). Communities at the nexus of entrepreneurship and societal impact: A cross-disciplinary literature review. Journal of Business Venturing, 37(5), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2022.106231.
- Blok, V., Hoffmans, L. and Wubben, E.F. (2015). ‘Stakeholder engagement for responsible innovation in the private sector: Critical issues and management practices,’?Journal on Chain and Network Science,?15(2), pp.147-164.
- Georgiou, A. & Arenas, D. (2023). Community in Organizational Research: A Review and Institutional Logics Perspective. Organization Theory, 4(1), 1-22.
- Heeks, R., Foster, C. and Nugroho, Y. (2014). ‘New models of inclusive innovation for development,’?Innovation and Development,?4(2), pp.175-185.
- Hickel, J., Kallis, G., Jackson, T., O’Neill, D.W., Schot, J.B., Steinberger, J.K., Victor, P.A. and Ürge-Vorsatz, D. (2022). ‘Degrowth can work – here’s how science can help,’ Nature, 612, pp.400-403
- Immelt, J.R., Govindarajan, V. and Trimble, C. (2009). ‘How GE is disrupting itself,’?Harvard Business Review,?87(10), pp.56-65.
- Irwin, A. (2002). ‘Open Up the Business School! From Rigour and Relevance to Purpose, Responsibility and Quality,’ Global Focus: Annual Research, 1, pp.39-43.
- Ledingham, K. and Hartley, S. (2021). ‘Transformation and slippage in co-production ambitions for global technology development: the case of gene drive,’?Environmental Science & Policy,?116, pp.78-85.
- Montgomery, A. W., Dacin, P. A., & Dacin, M. T. (2012). Collective social entrepreneurship: Collaboratively shaping social good. Journal of business ethics, 111, 375-388.
- Pansera, M. and Owen, R. (2018a). ‘Framing inclusive innovation within the discourse of development: Insights from case studies in India,’?Research Policy,?47(1), pp.23-34.
- Schot, J. and Steinmueller, E.W. (2018) ‘Three frames for innovation policy: R&D, systems of innovation and transformative change,’ Research Policy, 47(9), pp.1554-1567.
- Tracey, P. and Stott, N. (2017). ‘Social innovation: a window on alternative ways of organizing and innovating,’?Innovation,?19(1), pp.51-60.
- Vedula, S., Doblinger, C., Pacheco, D., York, J. G., Bacq, S., Russo, M. V., & Dean, T. J. (2022). Entrepreneurship for the public good: A review, critique, and path forward for social and environmental entrepreneurship research. Academy of Management Annals, 16(1), 391-425.
Key words search
Innovation, Management, Entrepreneurship, Policy, Responsible innovation, Social innovation, Inclusive innovation, Sustainable innovation, Reverse innovation, Collective Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Entrepreneurship
| Credit value | 15 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 7.5 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 6 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 20/01/25 |
| Last revision date | 20/01/25 |
