How do innovation and entrepreneurship shape the creation of new businesses and the renewal of existing organizations? This core course in the MSc in Business Administration specialization Innovation and Entrepreneurship explores how entrepreneurial behavior and innovative practices are always embedded in their broader context—characterized by social relationships, stakeholders, and opportunity structures.

Students examine the actors and processes that drive innovation, from the spark of creativity to the challenges of gaining legitimacy, building entrepreneurial identities, and managing organizational development. We explore how entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs alike transform opportunities into ventures, how organizations foster and manage innovation, and how collaboration across ecosystems contributes to long-term value creation.

The course combines interactive lectures with case-based teamwork. Students work in teams to conduct an in-depth case study of an innovative company, engaging directly with entrepreneurs and innovation managers. By linking theory with real-world data, they learn to analyze how creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation unfold in practice.

Assessment is split between a team assignment (including presentation and peer review) and an individual written exam. By the end of the course, students will be able to critically understand and analyze innovation and entrepreneurial processes in context, and connect these insights to their own experiences, professional ambitions, and societal developments

Lecturers

• Dr. Caroline Essers (Course Coordinator)
  Associate Professor of Inclusive Entrepreneurship and Leadership
• Dr. Simone Ritter
  Associate Professor Marketing and Innovation / Founder & Co-owner ACT VR-Supported Training Programs
• Dr. Stefan Breet
  Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship / Founder of Alter Analytics

Lectures

1. Introduction to the course and explanation of the team assignment (Caroline Essers)
2. Creativity: the fuel of innovation (Simone Ritter)
3. How to flex your creative brain (Simone Ritter)
4. Setting up a business: competence development and identity construction by entrepreneurs Caroline Essers)
5. Opportunity structures and networking of entrepreneurs (Caroline Essers)
6. Gaining organizational legitimacy and reputation management (Caroline Essers)
7. Workshop: the team case-study (furthering the interview guideline, discussion of the case-study, feedback on the approach etc) (Caroline Essers))
8. Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Organizational Context (Stefan Breet)
9. Cultivating Creativity: Idea Generation and Elaboration (Stefan Breet)
10. Bringing Ideas to Life: Idea Championing and Implementation (Stefan Breet)
11. Organizing for Innovation: Social vs. Human Resource Management (Stefan Breet)
12. Guess Lecture: Entrepreneurial Motivations to Improve (Ruben Brave, Business Incubator and Internet Pioneer)
13. Presentation of the team assignment, using a pecha kucha format; assigned team takes notes and gives feedback after the presentation, on BS (Caroline Essers)