Product Planning Process

This integrated lecture is designed to understand major issues, activities and tools in the context of systematic product planning, a key activity for managing the front-end of innovation, i.e.:
•    Systematic scanning of markets for innovation opportunities
•    Understanding strengths/weakness and specific core competences of a firm as platforms for innovation
•    Exploring relevant sources for innovation (customers, suppliers, Lead Users, etc.)
•    Developing ideas for radical innovation, relying on the creativeness of employees, using techniques to stimulate creativity and creating a stimulating environment
•    Transferring ideas for innovation into feasible concepts which have a high market attractively

Voluntary presentations in the third hour (articles / case studies)

- Guest lectures by researchers 

- Lecture on Sustainability with frequent reference to current research

- Permanent reference to current research

Examination:

In addition to the written exam at the end of the module, students have to attend the PBL-exercises and prepare presentations in groups in order to pass the module. Additionally, students have the opportunity to present research papers on a voluntary base.  With these presentations it is possible to gain a bonus of max. 20% for the exam. However, the bonus is only valid if the exam is passed without the bonus.

Entrepreneurial finance is at the center of a clash of two very distant worlds: that of entrepreneurship and that of finance. Finance is disciplined, based on numbers and logical thinking and looking for proven track records. Entrepreneurship is messy, based on intuition and experimentation and treading off the beaten track. Entrepreneurial finance is the provision of funding to young, innovative, growth-oriented companies. Entrepreneurial companies are young, typically less than ten years old, and introduce innovative products or business models. The younger are called “startups,” and are typically less than five years old.

There is a variety of investors who can finance entrepreneurial companies: family and friends, business angels, accelerators and incubators, crowdfunding platforms, venture capital firms, corporate investors, etc. The course provides a thorough understanding of what motivates them, of the way they invest, and of what support they can provide to a company at what stage in the fundraising cycle. The course addresses the following key questions: How much money can and should be raised? When should it be raised and from whom? What is a reasonable valuation of the company? How should funding, employment contracts and exit decisions be structured?

Thus, the course provides an understanding of the whole fundraising cycle, from the moment the entrepreneur conceived her idea to the moment investors exit the company and move on. We examine the entrepreneur's signalling to investors of the qualities of the venture, the investors' evaluation of the venture, the various dimensions of contracting (cash flow rights, control rights, compensation, and other clauses), the negotiation of a deal and the provision of corporate governance, the process of staged financing, the financing through debt, and the exit process though liquidity events such as initial public offering, sale or merger.

The following topics will be covered with specific case studies:

1. Introduction: Evaluating Venture Opportunities

2. Financial Planning

3. Ownership and Returns

4. Valuation Methods

5. Term Sheets

6. Structuring Deals

7. Corporate Governance

8. Staged Financing

9. Debt Financing

10. Exits

11. Early Stage & Venture Capital Investors

12. Ecosystems

Da Rin, Marco, and Thomas Hellmann. Fundamentals of Entrepreneurial Finance. Oxford University Press, 2020.

Entrepreneurial finance is at the center of a clash of two very distant worlds: that of entrepreneurship and that of finance. Finance is disciplined, based on numbers and logical thinking and looking for proven track records. Entrepreneurship is messy, based on intuition and experimentation and treading off the beaten track. Entrepreneurial finance is the provision of funding to young, innovative, growth-oriented companies. Entrepreneurial companies are young, typically less than ten years old, and introduce innovative products or business models. The younger are called “startups,” and are typically less than five years old.

There is a variety of investors who can finance entrepreneurial companies: family and friends, business angels, accelerators and incubators, crowdfunding platforms, venture capital firms, corporate investors, etc. The course provides a thorough understanding of what motivates them, of the way they invest, and of what support they can provide to a company at what stage in the fundraising cycle. The course addresses the following key questions: How much money can and should be raised? When should it be raised and from whom? What is a reasonable valuation of the company? How should funding, employment contracts and exit decisions be structured?

Thus, the course provides an understanding of the whole fundraising cycle, from the moment the entrepreneur conceived her idea to the moment investors exit the company and move on. We examine the entrepreneur's signalling to investors of the qualities of the venture, the investors' evaluation of the venture, the various dimensions of contracting (cash flow rights, control rights, compensation, and other clauses), the negotiation of a deal and the provision of corporate governance, the process of staged financing, the financing through debt, and the exit process though liquidity events such as initial public offering, sale or merger.

The following topics will be covered in lectures:

1. Introduction: Evaluating Venture Opportunities

2. Financial Planning

3. Ownership and Returns

4. Valuation Methods

5. Term Sheets

6. Structuring Deals

7. Corporate Governance

8. Staged Financing

9. Debt Financing

10. Exits

11. Early Stage & Venture Capital Investors

12. Ecosystems

Da Rin, Marco, and Thomas Hellmann. Fundamentals of Entrepreneurial Finance. Oxford University Press, 2020.

General description of course content and course goals

The aim of the course is to give students an insight into the practice of technology exploitation and innovation marketing. The technologies and product concepts are provided by so called idea providers. These idea providers may be, among others, researchers at universities and project teams working in research institutions with a technical invention or (prospective) entrepreneurs with a business idea.

Within the course the student teams will analyze the market potential of technology-based inventions or business ideas. They will define potential target customers in the market. Another important question to answer is, whether the market is still receptive for a given invention, or whether competitors have already exploited the full market potential. Finally, the student teams will also develop first ideas for the design of the marketing mix and write a report that is also handed to the idea providers.

Summarizing the most important contents

The students will find answers to the following fundamental questions:

• What are the key features of the invention?
• What is the unique selling point?
• What is the most attractive application field?
• Who are the target customers?
• What are their needs and how can they be met?
• What is the market potential of innovations?
• What resources are necessary to exploit this market potential?
• How can/should they enter the market?

Professional Competence

Knowledge

Students can...

• understand the process and the tools of market analysis for innovations (e.g. market potential, market growth, market segmentation)
• explain the concepts of target customers, market definition and market growth
• select the appropriate approach for leading a competitive analysis
• explain the key market-related issues (strengths and weaknesses) of technology-based business opportunities

Skills

Students are capable of...

• analyzing the market potential of inventions and innovative business ideas by using appropriate methods.
• investigating whether a market is still open for a given innovation and develop a first concept for the market entry strategy and the marketing mix.
• searching for relevant information (primary and secondary market data).
• analyzing, aggregating, and interpreting the gathered data and giving well founded recommendations based on the findings.
• writing a scientific report that includes the literature background as well as the development of their methods, their results, conclusions and recommendations.

Personal Competence

Social Competence

Students can...

• provide appropriate feedback and handle feedback on their own performance constructively.
• enter into a dialogue with formerly unknown fellow students, participate in discussions, and present well-grounded arguments.
• constructively interact with their team members and lead team sessions and group work processes.
• develop joint solutions and come to decisions in mixed teams and present the results to others.

Self-Reliance

Students are able to...

• assess possible consequences of their own decisions.
• define required tasks to find a solution for a given problem.
• make elaborated decisions in an real-world innovation context.
• assess their own performance in a team.

Gruber, Marc, Ian C. MacMillan, and James D. Thompson (2008), “Look Before You Leap: Market Opportunity Identification in Emerging Technology Firms,” Management Science, 54 (September), 1652-1665.

Danneels, Erwin (2007), “The Process of Technological Competence Leveraging,” Strategic Management Journal, 28 (February), 511-533

In addition to the classical lecture approach, case study analyses and the implementation of a business simulation are used.

This course teaches the relevant elements of strategic business management. It covers various areas of business administration (e.g. strategic management and aspects of marketing). Upon completion of the course, students should understand different perspectives on the topics and know in which situations which tools can be used and what the limitations of these models/concepts are. Students will be able to integrate future strategy and business model concepts into the taxonomy of approaches.
The course thus provides an introduction to the most important principles and concepts necessary to understand how companies operate in today's business world. This includes the analysis of an extremely dynamic, increasingly globalizing competitive environment as well as the analysis of the required internal (core) competencies. It also aims to develop analytical skills that facilitate problem-solving and strategic decision-making activities in companies. 

In addition to the classical lecture approach, case study analyses and the execution of a business simulation are used.

Johnson et al.: Strategisches Management - Eine Einführung: Analyse, Entscheidung und Umsetzung, Pearson Studium, 12. Auflage

Michael E. Porter: Wettbewerbsstrategie: Methoden zur Analyse von Branchen und Konkurrenten, Campus Verlag, 12. Auflage

Prahalad, C.K./ Hamel, G.: The Core Competence of the Corporation, in: Business Review, 68/3 1990

Kim, W.C./ Mauborgne, R.: Blue Ocean Strategy, in: Harvard Business Review, October 2004

This course covers the basics of international management. Among other things, students learn about various forms of market selection and market entry strategies as well as methods for determining the optimal time to enter foreign markets. 

In addition to the classical lecture approach, case study analyses and the execution of a business simulation are used.

Business-to-business (B2B) markets play an important role in most economies. At the same time, B2B markets differ strongly from consumer goods markets. For example, companies’ buying decisions follow different rules than those of consuming individuals. Consequently, marketing mix decisions in B2B markets need to follow the specific circumstances in such markets.

The aim of this lecture is to enable students to understand the specifics of marketing in B2B markets. At the beginning, students learn which strategic marketing decisions may be most appropriate in industrial markets. Following that, the lecture will focus more on different options to design marketing mix elements - Pricing, Communication and Distribution - in B2B markets. We extend the student’s basic knowhow in marketing and focus on the specific requirements in B2B markets.

• The importance, specific characteristics and developments of B2B markets today
• Organizational buying behavior and the corporate buying process
• B2B marketing strategies regarding modes and time of market entry with focus on innovative industrial products
• Types of project-related cooperation in the B2B project business
• Specific operational marketing methods in communication (success factors of fares and exhibitions, importance of public relations for B2B markets); pricing (measuring willingness-to-pay via auctions; value-based pricing in industrial markets, bidding models and auctioning); distribution and channel strategies for B2B markets
• Marketing in complex value chains: Solving the problem of direct customers’ unwillingness to adopt innovative products by directly addressing indirect customers
  
  

Knowledge

The students will develop a thorough understanding of:

• How organizations and firms buy
• How marketing can be performed in complex value chains
• Promising market and competitive strategies in B2B markets
• Modes of cooperation in B2B markets
• Marketing-Mix decisions in B2B marketing (communication, pricing, distribution)

Skills

• analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of different target market, market entry, timing and allocation strategies;
• identifying and systematically address relevant partners when selling to business organizations;
• developing context-specific market-entry and timing strategies;
• making appropriate decisions for the pricing and communication of industrial products;
• applying the theoretical knowledge to business cases or real examples

Social Competence

The students will be able to

• having fruitful professional discussions;
• presenting and defending the results of their work in groupwork;

Self-reliance

• acquiring knowledge in the specific context independently and to map this knowledge onto other new complex problem fields.

Assessment

Written examination & Class participation in interactive elements (presentations, homework)

Blythe, J., Zimmerman, A. (2005) Business-to-Business Marketing: A global perspective, London, Thomson 

Monroe, K. B. (2002). Pricing: Making Profitable Decisions, 3^rd Edition

Morris, M., Pitt, L., Honeycutt, E. (2001), Business-to-Business Marketing, New York, Sage Publishing, 3rd Edition

Nagle, T., Hogan, J., Zale, J. (2009), Strategy and Tactics of Pricing, New York, Prentice Hall, 5th Edition

Die Materialien werden jedes Semester neu zusammengestellt, um die ausgewählten Fälle aktuell zu halten.

Will be newly compiled each semester to keep the cases up-to-date and fresh.

Globalization of business processes and the revolution in information and communication technologies (ICT) have resulted in distributed workflows across geographic boundaries. These developments as well as increased immigration emanating, for example, as a consequence of a shortage of skilled labour in many industrialized nations, have led to the creation of (virtual) multi-cultural, multi-ethnic teams with diverse cultural backgrounds. Such diversity generally has a positive impact on creativity and innovativeness, as many empirical studies confirm. Nevertheless, varying cultural practices, communication styles, and contextual sensibilities have the potential to disturb or even disrupt collaborative work processes, if left unmanaged.

This course focuses on inter-cultural management
from both, theoretical as well as practical, points of view to provide a solid fundament to students enabling them to operate successfully in cross-cultural settings. Case studies and guest lecture(s) will be used to provide added practical relevance to the course. In addition, where practicable, student assignments will be used to foster autonomous learning.

Some of the main topics covered in this course include:

• Understanding “culture” and its impact on human interaction
• Verbal and non-verbal communication
• High and low context communication
• Role of formality and non-formality in communication
• Varying interpretations of symbols, rituals & gestures
• Managing diversity in domestic settings

• Bartlett, C.A. / Ghoshal, S. (2002): Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution, 2^nd edition, Boston
• Deresky, H. (2006): International Management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures, 3^rd edition, Upper Saddle  River
• French, R. (2010): Cross-cultural Management in Work Organisations, 2^nd edition, London
• Hofstede, G. (2003): Culture's Consequences : Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations across Nations, 2^nd edition, Thousand Oaks
• Hofstede, G. / Hofstede, G.J. (2006): Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind, 2^nd edition, New York

The role of technology for the competitive advantage of the firm and industries; Basic concepts, models and tools for the management of technology; managerial decision making regarding the identification, selection and protection of technology (make or buy, keep or sell, current and future technologies). Theories, practical examples (cases), lectures, interactive sessions and group study.

This lecture is part of the Module Technology Management and can not separately choosen.

Beside the written exam at the end of the module, students have to give one presentation (RE) on a research paper and two presentations as part of a group discussion (GD) in the seminar in order to pass. With these presentations it is possible to gain a bonus of max. 20% for the exam. However, the bonus is only valid if the exam is passed without the bonus.