DA5073 - Innovation

You will learn through workshops, tutor guidance and feedback and independent directed and self-directed learning. Importantly, you will also learn at work, through reflecting on your experiences and applying your knowledge from the module to your practice in the workplace. The workshops will introduce you to theories and concepts and allow you to discuss with the tutors and your peers how these relate to your own work based experiences and practice. The workplace provides an opportunity for you to put your own knowledge and skills into practice and review your learning with your manager/mentor and your guidance tutor.

Your learning is supported by a Teaching and Learning Plan, offering guidance on reading to prepare for workshops and help with the completion of the assessment. Within this plan there are also suggested learning activities, which guide you in your independent learning. These activities allow you to reflect and evaluate your knowledge and skills and in this area.

You will also be given work-based assignments and projects which will support your learning by providing an experientially based opportunity to apply your learning and evaluate your own practice in this area.

The Teaching and Learning plan will provide a number of prompts and guidance to support you academically. Support will also include opportunities to gain feedback from workshop tutors, guidance tutors and peers.

Your module is also supported by an e-learning portal, which houses all the module learning materials, workshop resources, interactive activities, assessment details and various other support facilities which are provided by the University.

In addition, in order to assist you in developing knowledge, you will have access to the University’s library facilities, including extensive electronic resources, eBooks and electronic academic journal articles.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge & Understanding:
To develop an understanding of the opportunities and challenges of approaches to innovation and engaging stakeholders in product, process, and service innovation (re)design (ML01)


Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
To develop skills to contribute to the innovation process to enhance business performance. (ML02)

To develop your ability to use a range of creativity tools integral to the innovation process (ML03)


Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
Develop an understanding of ethical and cultural issues impacting on approaches to innovation for individuals and organisations in a diverse society (ML04)


Mapping to CMDA Outcomes
Knowledge
4.3 The need for innovation in product and service design.
4.3.1 Explain the importance of innovation in product and design
4.3.2 Analyse approaches to innovation employed by own organisation making recommendations as appropriate

Skills – be able to:
5.3 Identify service/ organisational improvements and opportunities for innovation and growth, using qualitative and quantitative analysis of information and data and benchmarking against others.
5.3.1 Demonstrate the use of qualitative and quantitative analysis of information to identify service/ organisational improvements and opportunities for innovation and growth
5.3.2 Analyse information and data to benchmark against others.

Formative assessment: As part of the workshop programme, you will regularly receive feedback on your progress. This will involve delivery of presentations and engagement in workshop activities.

Summative assessment: The assessment is designed to develop your skills in the application of various concepts and approaches to innovation to practical scenarios, and also to develop your ability to critically engage with academic research in the area. The assessment will be structured as follows:

• Individual /Group presentation (15 minute) on ethical and or cultural issues relevant to an innovation in service, process, or product (re)design (worth 30%, submitted mid-semester). This will address MLO4

• 2,000 word business report on a practical application of innovation approaches to a service, process, or product improvement within your organisation, including analysis of relevant challenges and opportunities, sources of data, and role of stakeholders, concluding with a range of recommendations for implementation. (Worth 70%). This will address MLO1 – MLO3.

NX9536 Digital Business

None

You will be provided with the knowledge and skills to understand innovation processes, and opportunities to explore associated real-world practices. Specifically, you will explore theory and concepts around new product, new process, and new service development, diffusion, enablers and barriers, sources of knowledge and data, and approaches to initiating, leading and driving service improvements within organisations. You will also look at the role of varied stakeholders in the innovation process (co-creation), with a particular focus on understanding and delivering creative solutions to stakeholders’ needs (and potential/future needs). Importantly, you will explore the influence and impact of ethical and cultural issues on designing and implementing innovation processes and practices. Ultimately, this will be linked to the impact of innovation on organisation performance.