COMM 382 - The Economics of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

This course is intended for third or fourth year Sauder undergraduate students interested in innovation-driven industries. It examines the fundamental economic trade-offs faced by entrepreneurs who want to commercialize innovations within start-ups and established firms. We study the entrepreneurs’ strategic decisions of disrupting existing market environments, and their internal challenges of building new organizational capabilities. The course draws on fundamental concepts from microeconomics, strategic management, and related disciplines, but takes a highly applied managerial perspective. The course involves extensive class room discussions on the basis of business case studies. There is no student business plan or other group project. Individual assignments focus on case study memos and interactive blog-based discussion forums. Students will benefit from (but not formally required) having taken COMM 280 (Entrepreneurship). This course also prepares business students for COMM 466 (New Venture Design).

Learning objectives

This course is intended to provide students with conceptual frameworks and applied tools for managing innovative ventures. Among other things, students will learn to

• Analyze the underlying economic forces that generate entrepreneurial opportunities.
• Design competitive strategies for introducing innovations into markets.
• Differentiate the distinctive roles played by start-ups and established firms in the process of commercializing innovations.
• Appropriately plan for the protection of intellectual property.
• Define the responsibilities of founders, managers, employees and directors within a dynamically evolving organization.
• Negotiate roles and rewards within founder teams.
• Learn to apply conceptual thinking for the process of entrepreneurial venture creation.