Aims

This module will deal with the contextual challenges of creating a technology venture. This is connected to the understanding of the impacts a new technology has on society, including its positioning within existing business and entrepreneurial ecosystems, and the understanding of the societal challenges associated to its sustainability. While new technologies tend to be developed in the ‘lab’, having a superior technology is no guarantee for being successful. Indeed, for a product or company to succeed, the technology brought to the market needs to be sustainable on the production side, and consider consumers’ attitudes, preferences as well as regulatory aspects across industries and countries. The module will guide students in understanding the challenges and strategies underpinning the creation and management of such ventures. A core objective will be to develop awareness of the mechanisms sustaining these processes, including issues of uncertainty/risk management associated to R&D, team building and market positioning, regulatory processes, and consumer preferences. These will be addressed by looking at dynamics occurring at the micro level (internal to the company) and the macro level (external environment where the company operates), as well as the interplay between the two (meso-level), to investigate the positive and negative spillovers that creating a new technology-based start-up might have on the society at large. In the lectures, students will learn about the different models adopted to recognize, exploit and manage technological opportunities and how these can be transformed into sustainable entrepreneurial ventures. In the seminars, students will focus on case studies and apply the insights gained in the lectures by working in groups and unpack the process of creation and management of a high-tech start-up

Outline Of Syllabus

•What is high-technology innovation and its links to entrepreneurship
•Markets for opportunities: entrepreneurial ecosystems and value capturing strategies (formal and informal property rights)
•Hight tech applications and their sustainability challenges
•The organisational dimension of venture creation
•The development of a responsible high-tech venture strategy
•Entrepreneurship within existing organisations (Intrapreneurship)

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The module will be delivered through lectures and seminars. Lectures will introduce the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of high-tech entrepreneurship. Seminars will focus on group discussion of case studies and academic papers as well as group presentations.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Group presentation on assigned case study (selected by the module leader). 15' presentation plus 10' Q&As from other groups plus feedback from module leader. The module leader will also organise drop-in surgeries post-presentation with each group to provide a thorough feedback focussing on strengths and weaknesses of the group-work.

Summative/other assessment: real-life business case. This will require students to critically assess main characteristics underpinning the success/failure of a high-tech venture, making use of data and of the academic theory learned during the module. The module leader will provide drop-in surgeries to provide individual feedback.