Course-PM

TEK218 Idea evaluation lp3 (4 hp) lp4 (3.5 hp) VT23  [NB! 7.5 hp reported in lp4]

Course is offered by the department of Technology Management and Economics

Contact details

• Examiner: Karen Williams Middleton (karen.williams@chalmers.se)

  Additional primary teachers: Tobias Fredberg (tobias.fredberg@chalmers.se), Kristina Hejdenberg Sedström (kristina.hejdenberg.sedstrom@chalmers.se), Christoffer Hermansson (chrihe@chalmers.se), Anna Holmberg Borkmann (anna.holmberg.borkmann@gu.se), Kristoffer Brandin Enquist (kristoffer.brandin@chalmers.se)

  Course Administrator: Carina Jogevik (carina.jogevik@chalmers.se) 

• Additional guest lecturers announced in the calendar/at sessions

Course Schedule

The course has a TimeEdit schedule block B, but as the course extends across two LPs, the time allocations utilized will be Tuesday 13-15(16) (academic quarter) and Thursday 13-15(16) (academic quarter) as specified in TimeEdit AND the schedule provided in the Canvas Calendar.  Make sure to check the hours, as there are several occasions (for example when having presentations) that we will meet until 16. 

Purpose

The aim of the course is to provide students with skills to prepare and conduct idea/project evaluations of early-stage entrepreneurial and innovative developments, incorporating social, economic, environmental and sustainable perspectives, while learning in complex organizational dynamics.

Only students who are admitted to the Entrepreneurship and Business Design program are qualified to take the course, due to the strong integration with the laboratory-based pedagogy of the program.

Learning outcomes

1. Demonstrate knowledge and terminology about idea/project evaluation content and methodology
2. Demonstrate developed skills in describing, analyzing and making decisions about an idea/project in regards to e.g. artifact, stakeholders, and context
3. Develop demonstrated skills in determining value visions around future areas of use, including customer, societal, business utility and potential.
4. Develop demonstrated skills in formulating needs for further verification, including resource analysis, competence requirements, and potential trade-offs
5. Demonstrate ability to elaborate upon ethical as well as sustainable development aspects of idea/project evaluations, including how to relate professionally to different stakeholders in the entrepreneurial and innovative development process
6. Demonstrate ability to teamwork on multiple levels, incorporating perspectives and motivations of engaged stakeholders
7. Develop demonstrated skills in communication and presentation of idea/project feasibility and substantiation including academic communication.

Content

The course is structured around the components of the team and idea/project evaluation process with a special emphasis on sustainably framed entrepreneurial and innovative developments.

Themes dealt with include the following:

• Framework for idea/project evaluation
• Evaluation mechanisms (sustainability, brand, technology)
• Patent Innovation framework
• Scenario planning and backcasting
• Framework for collaboration
• Relationship management and work dynamics
• Stakeholder awareness and analysis
• Competence requirements
• Criteria development for decision making
• Verification and reflective assessment of decisions

Organization

Part 1 (LP3): Team-based idea evaluation – tools and frameworks

Criteria for evaluating ideas build upon previous knowledge gained through the Business Creation Lab fall (LP 1 & 2). This includes, for example, TEVA, degunkification, freedom to operate, etc. These, and new evaluation criteria, such as SDG associated sustainability analysis, scenario planning, patent innovation engineering, etc. are used to position idea cases in a positive solution space, and present recommendation for next steps through a packaging approach.

Contextual analysis is conducted on ideas to raise awareness of the specific situated position in a technical university entrepreneurial ecosystem with associated regional actors (taking into account benefits, expectations, governance, constituents, etc.). For CORP students, an additional perspective addressed is to consider how medium to large organizations’ work with internal and external ventures in relation to the core activities of the respective organization.  For TECH students, an additional perspective addressed is the different path trajectories of university researchers. Ideas are evaluated through workshops, tool application, and presentation/feedback sessions. Feedback and insights from tool application are to be incorporated into the learning in LP4. For the CORP students, tools and frameworks are to be iterated as the work continues on the cases, with additional consultation; for TECH students, learning is applied to evaluation of the future Encubation cases and stakeholder assessment.

Team dynamics are observed and evaluated to facilitate team development, including, for the TECH students, venture team formation. For CORP students, this includes an opportunity to test different roles and responsibilities in a team setting.  Groups cooperate through combined peer-team to peer-team constellations as a means to observe and provide feedback on team process and dynamics, as well as gain insight into one’s own workings in a team format.

NEW

Part 2 (LP4): For this period, the course organization is specifically aligned to the associated track process as follows:

CORP: Teams continue project work, with further deepening of knowledge towards the evaluated idea. Iterations give new insight into contextual aspects influencing the potential trajectories of the idea, as well as prioritized actions for best fit within the sponsor organization. Specialized consultations, for example within brand management, support further development. Teams present their final evaluation at the end of LP4, and deliver a recommendation report to the sponsor organization.

TECH: Teams evaluate ideas in order to select which will be incubated during the 2^nd year of the masters program. Teams develop their own team specific evaluation criteria for decision making. Pre-vetted ideas are introduced in 30-to-45 minute sessions, where teams assess interest relative to own criteria. For each idea, one or two student teams will be responsible for organizing initial questions and constructive comments, as well as delivering a summarization of information and answers presented. Sessions are supported with consultations with incubator staff as well as around specific subject areas, such as brand management. Once all ideas are presented, teams determine and substantiate their preferences in written documentation. Once teams and ideas are matched, teams evaluate next steps in preparation for incubation year.  NOTE: it is important to check-in with the canvas schedule on a regular basis, as presentation sessions and background material will be updated there relative to the in-flow of vetted ideas.  This is dynamic because of coordination with the idea providers' schedules relative to the course schedule.

Schedules are provided in Canvas.

 

Examination

General criteria for passing:

• Pass on the idea/project evaluation assignments (includes participating in the oral presentation)
• Pass on the group-based assignments including presentations and associated documentation
• Pass on individual reflective assignment
• Presence on mandatory scheduled events

The course is pass/fail.

For presentations, everyone in the team should be prepared to present upon request of the course leader (to assure proper integration and involvement of everyone in the group in the different presentation assignments).

Course literature

Alänge and Lundqvist (eds.) (2016) Sustainable Business Development, compendium Chalmers University of Technology, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg Sweden.

Sustainability tools: https://publish.obsidian.md/sustainable-entrepreneurship-and-innovation-tools-methods/

Additional literature provided on canvas.

Course Evaluation

The course will have several student course representative(s) for the TECH and CORP respectively. They act as eyes and ears of the student group and communicate with the course faculty. During and after the course they will participate in meetings with the faculty. Notes from these meetings will be published on canvas.

At the end of the course an online questionnaire will be sent out to all course participants. In order to have useful course feedback it is important that everyone respond to the questionnaire, and direct feedback relative to their specific track.

Course Development from previous year

The main structure of the course follows design of the previous year, but with newly integrated content regarding patent innovation and engineering and brand management, as well as developments in the sustainability assessment toolbox.  Additional emphasis has also been placed on providing consultation support as the ideas are evaluated.