Module Description
MIM711: Frontiers of Innovation (20 CATS Credits)
Organizations that are consistently successful at managing innovation out perform their peers in terms of growth, financial performance and employment. The broader social benefits of innovation are even greater. However, as this module will demonstrate, innovation is not easy to develop within any organization and requires an approach that is quite different from that offered by standard management tools. The strategic management of innovation requires more than just adding it to the functions of an organization. Instead it needs an integrated approach that deals with interactions between changes in technology, organizations and markets. This module will explore the different elements that develop and sustain innovation within various organizations and, given the strategic imperative within the UAE to develop a more innovative economy, will also explore the importance of innovation within a national context. It will therefore provide learners with opportunities to explore experiences of innovation and entrepreneurship in action and reflect in a structured manner on these experiences and the lessons that emerge from them. It will also introduce concepts that provide the basis for understanding innovation, how it can be managed and enable the student to experiment with these conceptual models to help make sense of managing innovation.
MIM712: Public Sector Foresight & Innovation (20 CATS Credits)
Public Sector Foresight & Innovation - where new ideas create value for society - is not new although more recently there has been a more concerted effort to try and develop a systematic approach to creating innovative solutions that can address societal challenges. This module will examine the key issues in terms of public sector innovation which, as a result of changing political agendas and a desire for action during the last four decades, has led to continuous organizational change becoming common in many parts of the public sector. More recently, the global financial crisis has accelerated this trend as governments seek to reform, restructure and reorganize their public sector activities in order to deliver more efficient and effective services. In addition, citizens’ expectations of higher value service innovations are increasing despite fiscal pressures, especially in terms of greater choice and quality. Other important issues such as demographics (an ageing population), technology (e-government) and climate change (strategies for sustainability). Some would argue that many public sector organizations are not up to the job of developing and implementing solutions to deal with these challenges. Many focus too much on the short-term needs of politicians; are too bureaucratic and hierarchical to deal with change; have an aversion to failure that restricts new ideas; do not place citizens at the heart of their policy-making; cannot scale new solutions sufficiently; and have few formal methods for promoting innovation.
MIM713: Service Innovation (20 CATS Credits)
Public value is heavily dependent on the services employed as a method of delivery. With the service sector creating most of the wealth and employment within developed and emerging economies, ensuring that the sector continues to innovate presents a number of challenges. These challenges are not only about the design and development of the service innovation, but its delivery and impact measurement. Service innovation is needed also at the supra-country level. The global goals which are wicked problems need a collaborative global perspective - across countries, across sectors, across both private and public organizations, if we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) like zero poverty and zero hunger by 2030. For example, one study states there is enough food to feed every single individual, but this means we may need to redesign processes in our supply chain, create new products, and change regulations and human behaviour. This course will not only examine some of the key issues from academic research and management practice on services innovation but will enable the learner to build the skills and capabilities necessary to better design services, especially in new ways in which service innovation takes place. The pedagogical method we use is that of design thinking for problem solving and this is done through a series of lectures and workshops.
MIM714: Micro-economics of Competitiveness (20 CATS Credits)
The module is concerned with the determinants of competitiveness and economic development viewed from a bottom up, micro-economic perspective. While sound macroeconomic policies, stable legal and political systems, and the accumulation of factors of production affect the potential for competitiveness, wealth is created at the micro-economic level. The strategies of firms, the vitality of clusters, and quality of the business environment in which competition takes place are what ultimately determines a nation’s or region’s productivity and wealth. The content covers both developing and advanced economies. The focus is on emerging, transition and advanced countries where micro-economic agendas are critical to sustained success. Furthermore, the module addresses competitiveness at the level of nations, states or cities within nations, clusters, and groups of neighboring countries. A major theme of the module is that competitiveness and economic development is affected by policies at all these levels.
The module is also concerned with government policy but also with the roles of business, universities, and other institutions in competitiveness. In modern international competition, the roles of the constituencies have shifted and expanded, and the traditional separation between them works against successful economic development. Also, the ability to mount and sustain a competitiveness strategy for a nation or region is a daunting challenge. The module explores not only theory and policy, but also the nature of the organizational structure and institutions for sustained improvements in competitiveness. In addition to both macro and micro policy choices, the module underlines the role of history, i.e. the legacy of nations (such as language, culture and general institutions), and geography, i.e. the regional circumstances (such as the level of development among neighboring nations and the intensity in regional interaction).
MIM715: Research Methods (20 CATS Credits)
This module is designed to give students an understanding of the qualitative and quantitative research methods needed by public administrators. Module topics include research design (this includes defining research problems, formulating research questions and reviewing literature), research strategy; methods and data collection tools. Students will be introduced with a wide range of qualitative tools such as case studies, grounded theory and action research as well as quantitative tools moving from descriptive statistics to regression analysis. The module will enhance students’ skill in evaluating published research and learn how to use research methods in their own research, in order to grasp and analyses issues related to public administration and public policy. They will learn to formulate research questions, design surveys, systematically conduct research and operationalize variables.
MIM716: Strategic Management and Leadership (20 CATS Credits)
This module facilitates students’ understanding of the process of strategic thinking, planning and implementation to facilitate a culture innovation in government organizations. The relationships between organizational resources, goals, objectives and means will be fully considered in an attempt to find out how public organizations deploy these resources in order to achieve their visions and missions and to advance innovative public services. The role of leadership in defining organizational processes, goals, objectives and shaping the overall strategic orientation of the organization will be discussed to highlight how dynamic interactions between different organizational levels and teams could achieve innovation. The module also addresses the difficulty of adopting strategic management in public sector innovation and considers how to deal with the problems of implementation of innovative strategies. A case study approach will be adopted to link theory with practice and help students apply their knowledge in the UAE and the MENA region.
MIM901: Dissertation (60 CATS Credits)
The Dissertation is designed to enable MBRSG Master’s candidates to integrate, apply and extend the knowledge and skills they have acquired throughout their program. The subject matter for the dissertation should also be based upon skills and concepts acquired during the taught part of the program. However, in order to satisfy the requirements for a Masters level dissertation, it will be necessary for the candidate to develop, enhance and apply these concepts through demonstration of independent research skills beyond the level achieved in prior course-work. To this end, candidates will conduct substantive original research on a strategic management, innovation management or service innovation issue of importance to the region. The outcome will be the development and presentation of the research results and recommendations that can inform innovation management in the UAE and beyond.