Seminar for undergrads at Parsons New School.
How does one identify opportunities to create new things, services, experiences? Are all innovations good? What is the history of innovation and how are innovative ideas and practices integrated in cultural practices? This course explores classic texts on entrepreneurship and innovation while also considering the role of the artist and design as an agent of change, and the nature and promise of technology in the creation of our possible future(s).
1. Departmental Seminar III: Innovation
PUDM 2100, CRN2502
Department of Design and Management
Parsons School of Design
Fall 2004
Wednesdays, 12pm-2.40pm, Room L809
Instructor: Ian White Office Hours: By appointment
Office: Room 825, 66 5
th
Ave. E-Mail: whitei@newschool.edu
Office phone: 212-229-5391
Course Description
What makes something new or original? How do you spot new opportunities to
create new things, services or experiences? How do you determine whether another
innovation is actually a good thing? What is the history of innovation and how are
innovative ideas and practices integrated in cultural practices? This course explores
classic texts on entrepreneurship and innovation while also considering the role of
the artist and design as an agent of change, and the nature and promise of
technology in the creation of our possible future(s).
Innovation seminar is a required course for students in the Department of Design &
Management. This course will help you understand the role of innovation in society
from a multidisciplinary perspective. Over the semester, we will examine various
models of innovation and their impact across different markets and groups, with
particular emphasis on management decision making. By the end of the course, you
will have acquired the tools to critically analyze discrete topics and ideas within the
larger sea of thought.
Classes will be a combination of lecture and discussion designed to engage
students. Reading assignments will serve as the basis for class discussions. Writing
assignments will act as a means to synthesize material. An oral presentation will
foster further collaboration in the classroom setting. During the course of the
semester, several guest lecturers will join our section, or in conjunction with other
sections of this departmental seminar.
Date Theme Readings/Due
September 8 Intro
September 15 /Guest
Speaker
“Fast, Focused and Fertile”
“The Discipline of Innovation”
"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
Reproduction"
“Spark Innovation through Empathetic Design”
September 22 Models of
Innovation
Diffusion, Ch.1
Innovator’s, Ch.1
September 29 Models of
Innovation
Innovator’s, Ch.2
October 6 Creativity “Creativity and Innovations in Organizations”
“Continuous Learning: The Creative Journey…”
“Creating the Conditions of Creativity”
“Eureka! Scientists Map the Moment”
**Paper Due**
October 13 Intellectual “The Early Development of Intellectual Property
2. Innovation Seminar Page 2
Property I Institutions in the United States”
“Introduction to Patents & Trade Secrets”
“Inventing a Better Patent Law”
“The Future of Ideas”
“Patently Absurd?”
October 20 Intellectual
Property II
“Rembrandts in the Attic”
“Leading the News: Drug Study Finds Little
Innovation”
October 27 Linkages to
Design
“Innovation: What’s Design Got to Do with It?”
“Why These Ideas Work, But Seem Weird”
November 3 Adoption of
Innovations
Diffusion, Ch. 6, 7
Innovator’s, Ch.3
“The Science of the Sleeper”
“An Investigation of the Diffusion of Online…”
November 10 Innovations
within
Organizations
Diffusion, Ch.10
Innovator’s, Ch.7
“Wyeth is Upbeat About Innovation…”
“Flop Factor…”
What’s the BIG Idea? (Case)
**Paper Due**
November 17 /Guest
Speaker
“Prototyping is the Shorthand of Innovation”
November 24 *Thanksgiving – No Class*
December 1 Business
Innovation
Innovation at 3M Corp.
Kikkoman
December 8 Business
Innovation
IDEO Product Development
“The Pencil”
“Sticky Fingers?”
“Handles Help Paper Bags Hold On”
December 15 /Presentations Rogers, Ch.11
December 22 /Presentations TBD
Materials
Required texts are widely available and can be purchased from Amazon.com (seems
to be the cheapest), bn.com, and bookstores. Texts are approximately $50. To access
your CoursePack, students will need to do the following:
1. Open the XanEdu "Login/Register" page at:
http://www.xanedu.com/login?PackId=217482
2. If you have previously registered at XanEdu, log in. If you are new to XanEdu,
click the "Student Registration" button under "New Users Register Here". Complete
and submit the registration form.
3. Confirm your CoursePack Selection, and complete the purchase form. Choose one
of these options for your CoursePack delivery:
Option 1: Digital access plus packaged print copy
Price: $ 87.75 (includes all printing, shipping and handling costs)
You will have immediate access to your Digital CoursePack
Your personal print copy will be shipped to you within five business days
from purchase of your CoursePack.
3. Innovation Seminar Page 3
Shipping of a print copy is for valid U.S. addresses only. If you are outside the U.S.,
choose Option 2 below.
Option 2: Digital access with desktop printing
Price: $ 61.05
You will have immediate access to your Digital CoursePack. You will not receive a
printed copy of the CoursePack. You can print your CoursePack yourself, if your
system hardware and connectivity supports downloading and printing very large
files from the Internet. If you are not sure if your system supports this, we
recommend that you select option #1 above.
4. After completing the purchase, you will be taken directly to "My XanEdu" where
you can access your digital CoursePack.
Questions? Please contact XanEdu Customer Service at 1-800-218-5971.
Required Texts
Christensen, Clayton and Michael Raynor. The Innovator’s Solution. Boston: Harvard
Business School Press, 2003.
Rogers, Everett. Diffusion of Innovations. 5
th
ed. New York: The Free Press, 2003.
Course Reader (Required)
Amabille, Theresa. “Creativity and Innovations in Organizations.” Harvard Business
School Note #9-396-239. 5 Jan, 1996.
“An Investigation of the Diffusion of Online Games in Taiwan: An Application of
Roger’s Diffusion of Innovation Theory.” Journal of American Academy of
Business September 2004
Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." in ed.
Hannah Arendt, Illuminations (Glasgow: Fontana, 1973).
Bounds, Gwendolyn. “Sticky Fingers? How Avery Found an Office Problem to Solve”
The Wall Street Journal 13 July, 2004.
Brown, John Seely. “Research That Reinvents the Corporation (HBR Classic).”
Harvard Business Review. 1 August, 2002
Burton, Tim. “Flop Factor: By Learning from Failures, Lilly Keeps Drug Pipeline Full”
The Wall Street Journal 21 April, 2004
Cheskin and Fitch: Worldwide. Fast, Focused & Fertile: The Innovation Evolution.
2003
Drucker, Peter. “The Discipline of Innovation” Harvard Business Review
1 August 2002
Gladwell, Malcom. “The Science of the Sleeper.” The New Yorker
“Handles Help Paper Grocery Bags Hold On” The Wall Street Journal
16 March, 2004
Hensley, Scott “Wyeth is Upbeat About Innovation At Its Drug Labs.”
The Wall Street Journal 3 June, 2004
Khan, Zorina and Kenneth Sokoloff. “The Early Development of Intellectual
Property Institutions in the United States.” Journal of Economic Perspectives
Vol. 13 No. 3: Summer 2001
Kelly, Tom. “Prototyping is the Shorthand of Innovation.” Design Management
Journal Summer 2001
4. Innovation Seminar Page 4
Kumar, Vijay and Patrick Whitney. “Faster, Cheaper, Deeper User Research” Design
Management Journal Spring 2003
Leonard, Dorothy and Jeffrey Rayport. “Spark Innovation through Empathetic
Design.” Harvard Business Review 1 November 1997
Lessig, Lawrence. The Future of Ideas. New York: Vintage Books, 2002. Pgs 205-233
Long, Jim. “Continuous Learning: The Creative Journey…” Design Management
Journal Spring 2002
McGinley, Laurie. “Leading the News: Drug Study Finds Little Innovation.” The Wall
Street Journal. 29 May, 2002
“Patently Absurd” The Economist 23 June, 2001
Radford, Tim “Eureka! Scientists Map the Moment” The Guardian 13 April, 2004
Reinhardt, Andy Business Week. “Inventing a Better Patent Law”
22 December, 2003
Rivette, Kevin and David Kline,. Rembrandts in the Attic. Boston: Harvard Business
School Press, 2000. Pgs 1-27
Robinson, Rick and James Hackett. “Creating the Conditions of Creativity.” Design
Management Journal Fall 1997
Sutton, Robert. “Why These Ideas Work, But Seem Weird.” Design Management
Journal Winter 2004
“The Pencil: Too Good to Replace” The Salt Lake Tribune 21 November, 1993
von Stamm, Bettina. “Innovation: What’s Design Got to Do with It?” Design
Management Journal Winter 2004
Cases
“Kikkoman Corp.: Consumer Focused Innovation.” Harvard Business School Case #
9-504-067. January 5, 2004
“What’s the BIG Idea?” Harvard Business School Case # 9-602-105.
November 14, 2001
“IDEO Product Development.” Harvard Business School
Case # 9-600-143. June 22, 2000
Suggested Texts
Christensen, Clayton, ed. Harvard Business Review on Innovation. Harvard Business
School Publishing: 2001.
Drucker, Peter. Innovation and Entrepreneurship. New York: HarperBusiness, 1993.
Kelley, Tom, et. al. The Art of Innovation. New York: Currency, 2001.
Lessig, Lawrence. The Future of Ideas. New York: Vintage Books, 2002.
Peters, Tom. Re-imagine! New York: DK Publishing, 2003
Petroski, Henry The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks
and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are. New York:
Vintage Books USA, 1994
---------. Invention by Design. Boston: Harvard University Press,1996.
---------. Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design. New York:
Knopf, 2003
---------. To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design. New York:
Vintage Books USA, 1992.
Van Dulken, Stephen. American Inventions: A History of Curious, Extraordinary and
Just Plain Useful Patents. New York: New York University Press, 2004
5. Innovation Seminar Page 5
Final Grade Calculation
Attendance/class participation 30%
Final presentation 40%
Essays (2) 30%
Essays
Written assignments should be 4-6 typed pages in length and not less than 1,000
words. These assignments will allow you to explore material to a greater degree
than is possible in class. You are expected to consult with sources other than those
required for this course. It is strongly encouraged that you refer to recommended
texts (listed above) and perform your own research based on your own interests.
You must adhere to MLA style. Topics will be discussed and assigned during class.
Essays must be submitted in printed form at the beginning of class. Electronic
submissions are not permitted unless you have received prior authorization from
me.
Presentations
Developing a point of view and orally sharing it with an audience is an important
practice. Doing so will help you assimilate material, develop a cogent argument and
persuasively present your position. For this course, presentations will help you
accomplish three objectives: working collaboratively (presentations will be given by
teams of 2-3 students), clearly and concisely presenting a point of view and defend
that position to your peers.
Presentations will take place during the final two class sessions. Each presentation
will be 25 minutes in total length. This includes 15 minutes of presentation time
and 10 minutes of question and answer. Presentations will be oral and
supplemented with visual aids, where useful. It is expected that you will use design
and presentation tools learned in other areas of your curriculum. PowerPoint, Flash,
Illustrator, etc. are some of the tools you may wish to use. Please note that this is
not designed as a multimedia presentation to showcase your design/technology
skills. Rather, these tools are designed to help support your presentations. Order
will be determined by the instructor.
Reading
Please note that assigned material has been developed with you in mind; this
means simply reading will not ensure adequate preparation. You must critically
read and prepare articles for class discussion. It is presumed you have the ability to
summarize an article or reading. To ensure proper preparation, it is suggested you
use a pen to jot notes in the margins. After reading articles, construct a narrative
from your notes. Then seek to form your own opinion—do you agree with the
author? Why? What examples from your experience stand contrary to the author’s
point of view? Stepping back from the material, thinking about it in a new light
and then re-approaching it may often yield useful insights.
Grading Criteria
Work that does not adhere to the minimum terms (length, due date, etc.) set out in
the assignment will not receive a passing grade. Failing papers may also include
those that are incoherent, or that consist almost entirely of quotations from outside
sources.
6. Innovation Seminar Page 6
For the purposes of evaluating your class participation, papers and oral assignment,
the distinctions between the various passing letter grades should be based on the
following:
D – Adheres to all of the general guidelines of formatting, page-length, and the
minimum terms of the assignment. Written work receiving a “D” grade may be a
simple restatement of fact or commonly-held opinion. Work at this level tends to
put forward obviously contradictory or conflicting points of view. “D” grades may
also have serious organizational and grammatical errors in evidence, which may or
may not impede the reader’s ability to understand the author’s point.
C – These are average grades. They will demonstrate some success in engaging with
the assigned readings or material. The work will show that the student can identify
and work with key terms and passages in a text and apply them to ideas and
examples found in other texts, or other outside material. Additionally, the paper
and presentation will demonstrate effort in the areas of analysis and critical
thinking by posing an interesting problem or question. Typical of a C, however, is
that the original problem or question, once asked, does not move the paper
forward. Often, there is no real solution given, or there is a variety of possible
solutions put forward without a clear sense of where the author’s commitment lies.
This grade may also have significant organizational, grammatical and/or editorial
errors in evidence. These errors may periodically impede the reader’s ability to
understand the author’s point, or may lead to a paper that seems repetitive or
circular.
B – These are above average grades. The B grade does everything a C does, but
offers a sustained and meaningful structure to a critical endeavor that is more
complex than a paper at the C level. What also distinguishes a B paper is the
author’s ability to offer a unique insight, to ask questions of primary or secondary
source material, and/or to set up a debate between texts or points of view. The
author’s point of view is clear and an argument is sustained fairly consistently
throughout the work. Recipients of these grades are logically organized, and also
respond to the assignment in thoughtful and distinctive ways. Although minor
grammatical and editorial errors may be present, they are under control and do not
impede meaning or clarity in the paper.
A – These are exceptionally good papers that go above and beyond the
expectations and requirements set forth in the assignment. They demonstrate
substantial effort and achievement in the areas of critical thinking and scholarship.
They also demonstrate considerable interpretive connections between concrete
ideas or textual moments, a high level of analysis, and flexibility of argument. The
argument or point of view that is offered is consistent throughout the paper, and
governs the use and interpretation of all examples, and primary and/or secondary
source material. “A” papers are very well organized, and are free of grammatical
and editorial errors.
7. Innovation Seminar Page 7
Policies
Students are responsible for all assignments, even if they are absent. Late papers,
failure to complete the readings assigned for class discussion, and lack of
preparedness for in-class discussions and presentations will jeopardize your
successful completion of this course. It is extremely important that you not fall
behind in your work, given the rapid pacing of this course.
This is a discussion/workshop class rather than a lecture course. Therefore, the
success of this class depends on you as well as on me. Class participation is an
essential part of this class and includes: keeping up with reading, contributing
meaningfully to class discussions, active participation in group work, and coming to
class regularly and on time. Excessive or repeated instances of lateness may be
counted as absences.
Regular, on-time class attendance is extremely important. Students with repeated
absences and/or lateness for any reason risk a substantial negative impact to their
grade, including failure. Students who have three or more absences risk failing the
course.
Use of the university portal will be an important component of this class. Regular
participation in periodic online assignments and discussion is extremely important.
However, participation in the online environment will not be considered a
replacement or substitution for active, in-class participation.
In rare instances, I may be delayed arriving to class. If I have not arrived by the time
class is scheduled to start, you must wait a minimum of thirty minutes for my
arrival. In the event that I will miss class entirely, a sign will be posted at the
classroom indicating your assignment for the next class meeting.
Free tutoring is available through the office of Academic Advising. Time spent with
a tutor is time well spent as it allows you to work on specific issues in your writing,
which may not be addressed in class. The office of Academic Advising is located on
the 5
th
floor in the 2 West 13
th
Street building.
I encourage you to contact me with any questions about the material or anything
else course-related. The best way to reach me is via email. I commit to respond to
you within 24 hours. To ensure my availability, please contact me to make an
appointment.
8. Innovation Seminar Page 8
New School University Statement on Academic Integrity
Plagiarism and cheating of any kind in the course of academic work will not be
tolerated. Academic honesty includes accurate use of quotations, as well as
appropriate and explicit citation of sources in instances of paraphrasing and
describing ideas, or reporting on research findings or any aspect of the work of
others (including that of instructors and other students). These standards of
academic honesty and citation of sources apply to all forms of academic work
(examinations, essays, theses, computer work, art and design work, oral
presentations, and other projects).
It is the responsibility of students to learn the procedures specific to their
discipline for correctly and appropriately differentiating their own work from
that of others. Compromising your academic integrity may lead to serious
consequences, including (but not limited to) one or more of the following: failure
of the assignment, failure of the course, academic warning, disciplinary probation,
suspension from the university, or dismissal from the university.
Every student at Parsons signs an Academic Integrity Statement as a part of the
registration process. Thus, you are held responsible for being familiar with,
understanding, adhering to and upholding the spirit and standards of academic
integrity as set forth by the Parsons School of Design Student Handbook.