Management education for innovationdeveloping a study course to improve innovation capacity of mba students

Resumen

For years, since the time the innovative capacity became the focus of attention, science and technology have been placed in the heart of it. However, more recently the calls to recognize that business and management are critical enablers of innovation have started taking place in the discussions on innovation (Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity, 2009; Bloom, Dorgan, Dowdy, & Van Reenen, 2007; Camelo, Fernández, & Martínez, 2006; Carneiro, 2000; Giannopoulou, 2011; Catalin & Catalina, 2015). In this context, business schools – educational establishments responsible for educating competent managers – must be viewed as important, if not critical, to the innovation process. The most well-known graduate program of business schools – Masters of Business Administration (MBA) – has to become a kind of professional training that encourages, nurtures and develops innovation potential. This will directly impact the innovation process in the workplace by means of MBA graduates’ capacity to manage and articulate the process of innovation in their companies and organizations. This PhD Thesis puts together the results of previous studies on business innovation and management education and identifies the main features of MBA programs designed for innovation. Thereafter the teaching methodologies which help to increase the innovation potential are reviewed with the purpose to design a unique MBA course aiming to improve the innovation capacity of MBA students. The validated MBA study course methodologically adjusted to innovation is delivered in a business school within a real classroom setting and is assessed by applying a mixed methods research methodology with the main focus of the study being placed on participatory action research. The research conducted within the scope of this study is characterized by several main conclusions. First, the literature review conducted sheds light to the current state of management education, and particularly, MBA, emphasizing the criticism business schools face nowadays, and determines how business schools can bring more value to the society by engaging with innovation; Secondly, the concept of management education for innovation was established in the course of the research and the teaching methodologies which enhance innovation were selected; Thirdly, the MBA course designed and delivered in this study proved to be an effective educational intervention for improving the MBA students’ innovation capacity and can be applied in the future with the purpose to promote innovation and the effect innovation has on the economies and the societies. The positive results obtained in this study mean that today business schools can start to revisit their objectives and vision as they relate to innovation as well as to evaluate their ongoing and potential contribution to innovation with the purpose to educate more innovative business leaders.