Strategy & Innovation

• QST SI 860: Managing Corporate Innovation
  Graduate Prerequisites: QST SI750 or SI751 recommended but not required - This course will give students an understanding of the challenges of undertaking innovation within an existing corporate organization or other large institution such as governments or universities. Established industries are being disrupted by innovative products and services at an increasingly fast pace. Corporate leaders are confronting a dynamic shift from formal stage gate innovation approaches toward more entrepreneurial, iterative, fast-paced innovation processes such as agile development, design thinking, lean startup, rapid prototyping, and the business model canvas. To deliver innovative results, corporations must bridge ideas generated in the labs of tomorrow with current operations. This course aims to accelerate learning on corporate innovation by examining how corporate innovators can stay nimble and enable smart experimentation without risking the competencies that made them great. As the need to innovate becomes a matter of "life and death," how do large organizations successfully innovate' We will examine how techniques and frameworks developed in the startup world are being adapted for the corporate one and how established organizations select from a portfolio of options to foster innovation. 3 cr.
• QST SI 868: International Consulting Project
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTSI750 OR QSTSI751) - Have you ever dreamed of climbing the Great Wall of China' How about consulting to a Chinese firm in Beijing' The International Consulting Project is an MBA course that involves consulting work during the fall semester on campus, with a trip to Asia in to deliver the team's recommendation personally to the client at their offices. Examples of past projects and more background can be found on this link: http://www.bclob.com/icp-home/ Much of the past students' work over the years has both been implemented and widely published in the Chinese business press.
• QST SI 871: Strategies for Bringing Technology to Market
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTSI750 OR QSTSI751) - Strategies for Bringing Technology to Market is a unique course that guides student teams as they undertake commercial go-to-market strategy for scientific and engineering breakthroughs. By collaborating with faculty and graduate students in the University's research labs and mentors from the business community, teams will assess the economic and social prospects of recent technology innovations, outline the technical and market risks and the key commercial milestones and make recommendations for the most effective commercialization strategy. 

Project work is supported by lectures that focus on critical skills required. Guidance will be provided in assessing critical commercialization milestones by a combination of faculty and mentors from the business community.
• QST SI 895: Action Learning Directed Study in Strategy and Innovation
  ALDS: STRAT&INN
• QST SI 898: Directed Study: Strategy and Innovation
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - Graduate-level directed study in Strategy & Innovation. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST SI 899: Directed Study: Strategy and Innovation
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - Graduate-level directed study in Strategy & Innovation. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST SI 917: Research Seminar in Technology Strategy and Innovation
  This doctoral seminar serves as a survey course to the broad area of technology and innovation management. We will review and critique a large and diverse body of literature that can be considered "core" to the field. We will place emphasis on both classic theories and seminal contributions as well as on recent research that builds upon or extends the established theories. One key differentiator of this research seminar is that five professors actively doing research in the field will teach it. While having multiple instructors brings some coordination challenges (these are less critical in doctoral seminars than they are in masters level classes), it has one major advantage: it allows each faculty to lead those sessions that deal with topics of her or his direct research expertise. Students can expect to cover each topic with researchers that have been important contributors to the intellectual debate in the topic they teach. The seminar will cover key issues in the management of technology and innovation including innovation definitions and patterns (e.g. industry life cycle), entry timing strategies, platforms and standards, networks, dynamic capabilities, organizing for innovation, open and community-based innovation, licensing & patenting, technology diffusion, geography of innovation, and science and innovation policy. SI917 provides a solid base to critically explore many key topics of research in technology and innovation management. It is therefore aimed at doctoral students who plan to do research in technology and innovation management, or those who need a solid exposure to these topics to inform their research in related areas.
• QST SI 920: Organizations in Strategy and Economics
  This doctoral seminar will compare and contrast ideas about organizational design and the performance consequences of organizational decisions from the closely related fields of Strategy and Economics. The first half of the semester will focus on the role of organizations (typically firms) in several schools of thought within Strategic Management. The second half of the semester will cover similar topics from an economic perspective, which places more emphasis on incentives, formal contracts and specific kinds of information problems (i.e. moral hazard and adverse selection). At the end of this course, students should be able to explain how the role of organizations differs across several key theoretical lenses used in Strategic Management (e.g. the Knowledge Based View vs. Strategic Human Capital Theory). Identify the core incentive and informational problems that underpin most economic models of organization. Articulate areas where Strategy and Economics have reached a consensus on the key drivers of organization, as well as questions where the two fields make different assumptions and/or reach different conclusions and describe key empirical regularities and associations that have informed organizational theory-building efforts in both strategy and economics.
• QST SI 990: Current Topics Seminar
  For PhD students in the Strategy and Innovation department. Registered by permission only.
• QST SI 998: Directed Study: Strategy and Innovation
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - PhD-level directed study in Strategy & Innovation. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST SI 999: Directed Study: Strategy and Innovation
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - PhD-level directed study in Strategy & Innovation. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST SR 801: Social Impact: Business, Society, and the Natural Environment
  This course explores the relationship between corporations, society, and the natural environment. Specifically, it examines the ways in which governments, corporations and civil society (fail to) have positive impact and manage issues where the pursuit of private goals is deemed inconsistent with the public interest. There are two modules to the course: (1) The first module examines these issues and the tensions that arise between the different stakeholders. In particular, we will discuss different types of market failures (due to negative externalities, imperfect information, public goods, and market control) and their impact on the natural and social environment. (2) The second module explores how (non-profit and for-profit) organizations can take private actions to mitigate the previously identified market failures and respond to the increasing pressure to address environmental and social issues through the adoption of sustainable business practices. This course is ideal for any student interested in social impact such as corporate social responsibility, environmental sustainability, nonprofit & public management, sustainable finance & responsible investment, social entrepreneurship, global health, and clean technology & sustainable energy. It is open to all full-time MBA and PEMBA students, and it is the foundational course for students in the Social Impact MBA program.