Monash University Handbook 2011 Postgraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Synopsis

The aim of this unit is to equip students with the knowledge to understand and the capacity to manage innovation at the operational and strategic levels. Innovation drives sustainable competitive advantage in organizations. It requires integration of multiple organizational functions but particularly those that impact product and process development. The operations function, in particular, provides a key focus for innovation that is both economically and technologically sound. Modern innovation for competitive advantage reaches beyond organizational boundaries into the realm of customer, supplier and third party integration. Innovation through supply chain integration increasingly occurs at both the product and the process level. The objective of this unit is to examine the foundations of innovation in product and process for the organization and its supply chain. It explores innovation at the design, process and system level that is both user-led and technology-led. It explores concepts that include the nature of innovation and what drives it, new frontiers of innovation in operations and supply chains and future frontiers in social and environmental innovation.

Objectives

The learning goals associated with this unit are to:

1. understand the process for managing innovation at the operational and strategic level, specifically by recognizing the relationship between markets, technological change and organizational change
2. understand how innovation in products and processes contribute to competitive advantage in both operations and the supply chain and the effectiveness of other forms of organization
3. explore the innovation process and in particular the contributions of both user-led and technology-led innovation as well as knowledge management around these
4. analyse the process of innovation across a range of organizational, operational, technological and market settings and examples
5. expand the concept of innovation to include future frontiers such as social and environmental innovation for sustainable competitive advantage.

Assessment

Within Semester Assessment: 50%
Examination (2 hours): 50%

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Dayna Simpson

Contact hours

3 hours per week

Prerequisites

Students must be enrolled in the MBA program to undertake this unit

Co-requisites

Students must be enrolled in one of the following courses to undertake this unit: 3183, 3184, 3185, 3189, 3190, 3191, 3195, 3196, 3197, 3198, 3837, 3849 or 0028