Studieplan - Master i innovasjon og leiing, samfunnsfagleg retning

Innhald

The master's programme in technology management is the social science alternative to the joint master's programme in Innovation and entrepreneurship offered by Western Norway University of Applied Science.

Vision and goal

The programme's focus is to train leaders for tomorrow’s challenges. The vision of the programme is to educate highly skilled managers who can integrate an understanding of technological innovations with business and administrative knowledge in economically viable, socially responsible, environmental and ethical ways. The master's programme in Innovation and Management (Master i innovasjon og ledelse, samfunnsfaglig retning) provides tailored education for candidates with a Bachelor's degree in business administration, organization theory and management or equivalent.

Students are given a good foundation in the various functional aspects of technology management, allowing them to pursue a management career or work as project managers in technology-based ventures. Our candidates are educated as managers for business development and leaders who can integrate technological knowledge with business knowledge in economically viable, socially responsible, environmental and ethical ways.

The master programme addresses this vision by providing a curriculum in technology management focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship, organizing technology development, business development, management strategy and organization theory, finance, marketing and corporate social responsibility. In addition to the coursework, all students are required to complete a 50-80 page thesis and internship in a science or technology-based company.

Learning outcomes

The main focus in the master programme is highly competent technology management and the process of transforming new knowledge into responsible management and to viable products and services in commercial markets and in the public sector. In order to do so, participants need to develop an understanding of the various functional domains of this process. The learning outcomes for the programme are as follows: a candidate who has completed his or her qualification should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge skills, and general competence

Knowledge

• The candidate has acquired advanced knowledge in management and organization theory with a special focus on managing innovation in technology enterprises.
• The candidate has acquired thorough knowledge of the process of bringing new products and/or services to the market and to the public sector.
• The candidate is able to combine and apply understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship with insights from management in business or public sector.
• The candidate has gained an up-to-date understanding concerning the process of assessing the commercial potential of new products, services and markets.
• The candidate has acquired a thorough understanding when it comes to identifying opportunities and challenges associated with organizing and financing new initiatives such as new business ventures.
• The candidate has acquired thorough knowledge on business ethics and corporate social responsibility concerning globalization, innovation and management within the technology field.
• The candidate has acquired thorough knowledge on the Nordic model of industrial relations and industrial democracy.

Skill

• The candidate has acquired advanced analytical skills in management of technology enterprises, with emphasis of innovation and operations.
• The candidate has developed the ability to assess the commercial viability of new ideas.
• The candidate can use various methods and tools for this purpose.
• The candidate has developed the ability to transform research-based ideas into feasibility- and business plans. The candidate can use (tacit and explicit) methods and tools for this purpose.
• The candidate is able to analyze ethical consequences of managing technology enterprises.
• The candidate is able to analyze and design technology based organizations, with an emphasis on management, organization and innovation strategies.

General competence

The candidates should be able to handle and analyze a broad spectrum of managerial challenges in technology enterprises. In that context, the candidates should be able to include reflections related to ethics and corporate social responsibility. The candidates should also be able to perform extensive, independent, analytical work, and be able to impart and communicate his/her findings.

Admission requirements

The master's programme in Innovation and Management is specifically tailored to individuals who are interested in combining their background in business administration, organization theory and management with technology management, innovation and entrepreneurial thinking. Candidates who have completed a bachelor's degree within the disciplines of business administration or organization theory and management are considered for admission. Applicants must have a minimum of 80 ECTS within the fields of organization theory and management. The minimum required average grade is C.

Ranking of applicants

Applicants are ranked according to their grade point average (GPA). Applicants who cannot be assessed according to their grade point average will be ranked on the basis of an individual assessment.

Admission to master programmes is subject to regulations by Western Norway University of Applied Science.

Teaching and learning methods

The master programme emphasizes group work, case learning as well as project work. Students will work on real cases to a large extent, and will also undertake internships as part of the programme.

The students will utilize their knowledge to implement a time-limited research and/or development project with help from a supervisor. Through the programme the candidate will acquire sufficient scientific and management expertise to be able to understand issues and possible solutions.

The master's degree shall give the candidate experience in working independently as well as being part of a research team. The teaching methods that are used provide the candidate with training in organizing and planning his/her work so that the project is carried out in accordance with the allotted resources and within clear deadlines. The programme will equip the candidate with skills in analyzing, evaluating and disseminating information, theories, ideas, problems and solutions in their own field of study both in writing and orally.

Form of tuition and assessment

Like most other studies for higher education, much of the tuition in the master's programme will include lectures, casework, seminars and group work. However, in addition to traditional forms of tuition, the programme highlights empirical learning through internships.

The students will be assessed on the basis of written and oral examinations, other forms of written reports such as individual papers, team based project reports and case analyses. Both individual and group assessment methods are employed.

In the final part of the programme, the students will write a master thesis worth 30 ECTS credits. The thesis should be an independent piece of scientific work with relevance to the context of technology management, organization theory, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Internationalization

Option 1: During second semester, the students may take a 3-month internship in Bergen.

Option 2: Students may take an exchange semester at the University of California Berkeley. They will have an internship 2-3 days a week in either San Francisco or Berkeley.

Option 3: Students may take an exchange semester at Gründerskolen Houston. The students will work in a local company approx. 5 days a week and take courses in the evening.

Option 4: Students may take an exchange semester at the University of Cape Town Graduate Business School. The students will work in a local company approx. 4 days a week and take courses 1 day a week.

Language

The courses will be taught in Norwegian or English.

Location

Bergen