Managing Innovation in Creative Organisations MSc

What you'll study

You will learn from the most influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators, exposing you to the latest theories and developments from across your discipline.

• Compulsory
• Optional

Creative Business Models

Creative Business Models

The module content will include: Market analysis and research, risk analysis, strategy and positioning, finance, marketing, competitor and cooperative analysis, supply chain analysis, staffing, legal (including IP), governance, value proposition and revenue sources.

The aims of this module are to develop students' awareness of the scope and diversity of business models within the creative industries and develop their understanding of the relationships between business model innovation, technological advancement and creative industry evolution.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module students should be able to:

• Critically reflect on and provide well-grounded analysis of the elements of a business model which contribute to success in the creative industries in the context of the wider business environment
• Identify the creative industries and what makes them distinct from other kinds of businesses, with a particular focus on creativity and technology
• Analyse the elements that constitute a business model through exploring the history of their development in the creative industries and subsequent innovation over time
• Critically assess a potential product or service
• Develop the strategic positioning of a novel business idea
• Evaluate and critically determine the likely commercial opportunities and risks for the business model in an intended creative commercial environment
• Identify key commercial drivers in different creative business models
• Evaluate the business model elements required for financial success in a specific creative commercial environment
• Apply critical analysis to existing creative industry business models and anticipate future relevant innovations due to marketplace trends
• Interpret complex commercial environments
• Demonstrate effective communication to persuade and influence stakeholders
• Evaluate business needs for expert intervention
• Demonstrate effective report writing skills
• Demonstrate good oral communication and presentation skills
• Demonstrate an ability to evaluate a commercial opportunity

Assessment

50% coursework

50% presentation

Design Thinking for Creative Enterprise

Design Thinking for Creative Enterprise

This module will develop your creative problem-solving and critical thinking skills through the application of design approaches and tools for identifying, analysing and implementing entrepreneurship and innovation opportunities for creative enterprises. Topics covered include visualisation, using imagery to envision possible future conditions, journey mapping, assessing the existing experience through the customer's eyes, using customer-oriented data collection techniques, value chain analysis, assessing the current value chain that supports the customer's journey, mind mapping, generating insights from exploration activities and using those to create user orientated design criteria for innovative solutions, brainstorming, generating ideas, rapid concept development, assembling innovative elements into a coherent user-focused proposition, rapid prototyping of innovative solutions, expressing a new concept in a tangible form for exploration, consumer testing, storytelling and further refinement by creative enterprises.

Learning Outcomes

• On completion of this module, student should be able to:
• Awareness of value chains specific to the creative industries and links to the wider socio-economic environment
• Insight into entrepreneurship and innovation needs and challenges of various kinds of creative enterprises
• Understand the scope and process of project development in creative enterprises
• Assessment and application of a range of design thinking tools to identify and pursue innovation opportunities for creative enterprises
• Familiarity with user-centred thinking
• Develop communication skills in diverse teams
• Develop a systematic approach to tackle complex problems and projects
• Apply creativity enhancing design thinking tools in a project context
• Work with variety of stakeholders
• Be able to deliver a succinct presentation to communicate key facts and solutions

Assessment

80% Coursework

20% Presentation

Foresight and Strategy for Creative Business

Foresight and Strategy for Creative Business

The aims of this module are to introduce you to the importance of foresight and forecasting, with a focus on creative organisations. Teaching will include insights related to the use of effective research methods for trends forecasting and the role of new media and technologies in creating future scenarios.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, you will be able to:

Understand the relevance of forecasting and market focus for the generation and management of innovation, particularly in creative businesses

Apply and critically reflect on research techniques for market analysis and future forecasting of market trends

Construct and critically reflect on conceptual solutions

Understand the roles of conceptual design concepts for the strategy formation of creative businesses

Apply key insights to conceptual solutions relevant for creative businesses

Develop and demonstrate creative presentation techniques and be able to critically reflect on their usefulness

Gather and analyse research material relevant to the future strategy of creative businesses

Develop and communicate insights gained from research in a credible and convincing manner

Anticipate future trends and generate market analysis to help inform business strategy for creative organisations

Engage in critique of the work of peers

Assessment

Coursework (60%)

Presentation (40%)

Collaborative Project

Collaborative Project

With a multi-talented group of students you will work on a brief from a real company looking to solve a real social or business problem.

Together with your student team, you will research and build solutions to a business problem, supported by our project tutors, clients and staff. Previous clients include Foster + Partners, Speedo, The London Legacy Development Corporation as well as many other companies, start-ups and charities.

The Collaborative Project provides a means for you to engage in critical enquiry and to be exposed to project-based teamwork in multicultural and interdisciplinary settings. By undertaking this module, you will strengthen your cooperative and collaborative working skills and competencies, whilst raising your awareness and appreciation of cultural and disciplinary diversity and differences.

The Collaborative Project aims to provide you with a hands-on experience of identifying, framing and resolving practice-oriented and real-world based challenges and problems, using creativity and appropriate tools to achieve valuable and relevant solutions. Alongside the collaborative elements of the module, you will be provided with opportunities to network with stakeholders, organisations and corporations, which will give you the experience and skills needed to connect to relevant parties and potentially develop future employment opportunities.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, you will be able to:

• Work effectively in diverse and interdisciplinary teams
• Undertake and contribute towards a project-based development process
• Apply critical enquiry, reflection, and creative methods to identify, frame, and resolve issues and problems at hand
• Identify user and stakeholder needs and value creation opportunities, whilst collecting and applying evidence-based information and knowledge to develop appropriate insights, practices and solutions
• Identify, structure, reflect on key issues and propose solutions to problems in creative ways
• Enhance your appreciation for diversity and divergent individual and disciplinary perspectives
• Be able to provide structured, reflective and critical feedback to peers and other stakeholders
• Plan and execute a project plan including scope, resources and timing
• Effectively communicate ideas, methods and results to a diverse range of stakeholders
• Use multiple, state-of-the-art date media and technologies to communicate with collaborators
• Make informed, critical and reflective decisions in time-limited situations

Assessment

100% Coursework consisting of:

• 20% Group project proposal
• 20% Individual reflection
• 30% Final Project Report
• 30% Project deliverables to the client

Dissertation

Dissertation

The Dissertation module will equip you with the relevant skills, knowledge and understanding to embark on your own research project.

You will have the choice of three dissertation pathways:

1. A desk based research project that could be set by an organisation or could be a subject of the student's choice
2. A project that involves collection of primary data from within an organisation or based on lab and/or field experiments
3. An Internship within an organisation during which time students will complete a project as part of their role in agreement with the organisation (subject to a suitable placement position being obtained)

By undertaking a dissertation at master's level, you will achieve a high level of understanding in your chosen subject area and will produce a written thesis or project report which will discuss your research in more detail.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module, you should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The importance of project planning;
• The importance of a clear hypothesis or research question;
• The ethical implications of research;
• The relevant empirical data and methodologies for data collection or knowledge assimilation for the subject area;
• Methods of data analysis and their suitability for the intended data;
• The areas of expertise or publications of the major individuals or organisations in the subject or business area;
• The previous research or current knowledge in the specific subject or business area;
• Theoretical perspectives relevant to your chosen topic;
• The most effective methods of presentation for data or knowledge;
• Developing a clear, coherent and original research question, hypothesis or business problem in a suitable subject area;
• Synthesising relevant sources (e.g. research literature, primary data) to construct a coherent argument in response to your research question, hypothesis or business problem;
• Analysing primary or secondary data collected by an appropriate method;
• Critically evaluating data collected in context with previously published knowledge or information;
• Engaging in critical debate and argumentation in written work;
• Applying principles of good scholarly practice to your written work;
• Performing appropriate literature searching/business information searching using library databases or other reputable sources;
• Planning a research project and producing a realistic gantt chart demonstrating your intended timelines;
• Synthesising information from appropriate sources;
• Demonstrating rational use of research method tools;
• Selecting and using appropriate investigative and research skills;
• Demonstrating effective project planning skills;
• Finding and evaluating scholarly sources;
• Engaging in critical reasoning, debate and argumentation;
• Demonstrating effective report writing skills;
• Recognising and using resources effectively;
• Successfully managing a project from idea to completion;
• Demonstrating commercial awareness or the impact of knowledge transfer in a business or research environment

Assesement

100% Coursework consisting of:

• 20% Literature review
• 20% Research proposal
• 60% Dissertation report/essay

Innovation Management

Innovation Management

This module will include: the innovation process and models for innovation; the importance of innovation to the economy; government support for innovation; and the importance of innovation in the contemporary business environment.

The module aims to equip you with an in depth knowledge of the innovation process, its importance to the economy and an understanding of the factors affecting its success.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module you should be able to:

• Explain the complexity of the innovation process
• Highlight the types and patterns of innovation
• Understand the interrelationship between an organisations environment and its innovative capability
• Relate innovation theory to the performance of organisations
• Interpret company performance in relation to the dynamic environment in which it operates
• Synthesise information from appropriate sources
• Demonstrate rational use of business and risk analysis tools to analyse company performance
• Select and use appropriate investigative and research skills
• Demonstrate effective report writing skills
• Demonstrate commercial awareness
• Recognise ethical dilemmas and corporate social responsibility issues

Assessment

100% Coursework consisting of:

• 5% Introduction Assignment
• 95% Report

Understanding Business Failure

Understanding Business Failure

You will look at the innovation process and risk assessment methods for avoiding failure. We will also look at the risk taking traits of entrepreneurs and the attitude towards failure in society.

The aim of this module is to equip you with a knowledge of the various factors that cause failure of organisations.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module you should be able to:

• Identify the multiple causes of failure and interconnectedness of these
• Identify the ways in which organisations and individuals can learn from failure
• Recognise the value of failure as a positive step
• Recognise the need for resilience in the case of failure
• Demonstrate rational use of business and risk analysis tools to analyse company performance
• Select and use appropriate investigative and research skills
• Demonstrate effective report writing skills
• Demonstrate commercial awareness
• Demonstrate problem solving capability

Assessment

• 100% Case Study

Applied Business Statistics

Applied Business Statistics

By the end of this module you will be able to make informed assessments of the design and construction of quantitative data sources and their implications for analyses in support of business decisions. You will learn how to appropriately prepare and analyse quantitative data using statistical software and will apply and interpret a range of forms of statistical analysis competently.

The module will focus on concepts, methods and skills central to quantitative analysis, including data collection approaches and concept operationalisation. Coverage of techniques will extend from bivariate to multivariate analysis approaches, but also include techniques relevant to specific analytical goals (e.g. factor analysis, principal components analysis and cluster analysis).

Teaching methods will include a combination of practical classes and workshops. Students will gain hands-on familiarity with relevant quantitative methods to support business decisions.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, you should have a critical appreciation of:

• Critically reflect on and provide well-grounded reflection on the appropriate type of quantitative analysis required for specific business decisions
• Understand the validity and robustness of the findings reported in analyses in support of business decisions
• Critically reflect upon the presented results and the extent to which these support conclusions drawn
• Identify parts of a business challenge that require quantitative analysis
• Develop an approach for the quantitative analysis in support of a business decision
• Perform and evaluate the results of basic quantitative methods (such as correlations, Chi-2, factor analysis, regression analysis)
• Be able to determine the extent to which analysis presented is appropriately researched
• Be able to challenge quantitative analysis presented, and suggest possible additional analyses
• Select and use appropriate quantitative research approaches
• Demonstrate effective understanding of decision-making underpinned by quantitative analysis

Assessment

30% assignment