Module: Social Enterprise & Innovation in Practice

Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

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Date posted: September 2024

Module Title	Social Enterprise & Innovation in Practice
Module Code	EF5147 (ITS) / ENI1004 (Banner)
Faculty	DCU Business School	School	DCU Business School
Module Co-ordinator	-
Module Teachers	-
NFQ level	9	Credit Rating	10
Pre-requisite	Not Available
Co-requisite	Not Available
Compatibles	Not Available
Incompatibles	Not Available

None

Description

This module is designed to introduce students to key concepts in social entrepreneurship and innovation. The module will provide the student with an understanding of the special problems and challenges involved in the strategic management of the social enterprise. The main pedagogical objective is to help to develop in the student the capacity to think entrepreneurially and to better understand the organizational and leadership issues involved in being a social entrepreneur. The module will provide the learner with an in-depth understanding of innovation; its various types (incremental to radical) and the contexts within which it can flourish; so that s/he will be able to manage innovation both strategically and tactically at any level in the social enterprise. The learner will become proficient in the application of contemporary tools and frameworks used in the innovation value chain, with a focus on best practice methodologies for New Product, Business Model and Service Development.

Learning Outcomes

1. Identify and critically evaluate innovation strategies in a range of social enterprise situations
2. Analyse different types of Innovation in the public sector
3. Identify and assess the role of innovation as a key source of competitive advantage.
4. Identify strategies, skills and systems necessary for managing innovation
5. Create a portfolio of novel and appropriate innovation projects for a nominated social enterprise.
6. Develop an innovation roadmap for an organisation in the third sector

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full-time hours per semester
Lecture	48	A mixture of face to face lectures and webinars
Assignment Completion	40	Individual Assignment
Assignment Completion	40	Group Assignment
Independent Study	122	No Description
Total Workload: 250

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Conceptualising entrepreneurship
Putting entrepreneurship in context; examining the SME sector - how many start ups are born each year and what's the ecosystem that supports them? How much economic activity and employment are they responsible for in Ireland and in Europe

What does it mean to be “enterprising”?
Learn about the components of entrepreneurial thinking and the entrepreneurial mindset.

What is a social enterprise?
Here we explain the vital differences between a social enterprise and any other type of firm.

Strategic thinking and reasoning
Management scholars have developed many tools to determine how strategy should be crafted. Here, we cover the main models.

Corporate level strategy
In any strategic exercise, the ultimate goal is to match or align the firms greatest strength with the market's biggest opportunity.

Introduction to innovation management
How should organisations manage for innovation?

Building the innovative organisation
A number of best practices have been identified through extensive, longitudinal research to determine what separates the very best performing companies from the rest.

Innovation strategy
An appropriate innovation strategy is the number one factor that is correlated with innovation success.

Innovation, adoption and diffusion processes.
Here we learn about the diffusion curve in innovation and crucially, how to successfully navigate crossing the chasm.

Ideation
Creativity is a necessary (but insufficient) precondition for innovation.

Idea prioritisation
In the Innovation Value Chain, knowing how to prioritise ideas is a central theme.

From Idea to Reality
From heart-beat to high-street...here you learn the skill of converting a raw, fragmentary idea into a testable, market-ready concept.

Assessing and improving innovation performance
It's worthwhile auditing your organisation's innovation performance regularly to benchmark yourself against key indicators and against market norms.

Open Innovation
Almost all projects of scale are now done collaboratively, involving partners. Learn the difference between open and closed systems of innovation; learn about crowdsourcing and crowdfunding.

Design Thinking
Most of the world's leading organisations now rely on design thinking as way of facilitating innovation.

How Market Research can fine-tune innovation
Consumers should always be an important (but not dominant) voice in your innovation process but relying on them too much can also be a force for inertia in your innovation efforts.

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment	0%	Examination Weight	0%

Type	Description	% of total
Course Work Breakdown
Assignment	Individual Assignment	40%
Short Answer Questions	Multipe Choice Questions	20%
Assignment	Group Assignment	40%

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories: Resit category 1: A resit is available for both* components of the module. Resit category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module. Resit category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element.
* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a Continuous Assessment/Examination split; where the module is 100% continuous assessment, there will also be a resit of the assessment
This module is category -

Indicative Reading List

Ash Amin. (2009) The Social Economy: International Perspectives on Economic Solidarity. London: Zed Books.: 0,
Bridge,S., Murtagh, B., O'Neill, K., (2013) Understanding the Social Economy and the Third Sector. Basingstoke: Palgrave.: 0,
Defourny,J., Hulgård, L., Pestoff, V. (2014) Social Enterprise and the Third Sector: Changing European Landscapes in a Comparative Perspective. London: Routledge.: 0,
Doyle, G. and Lalor, T, (2012) Social Enterprise in Ireland: A People's Economy? Cork: Oaktree Press.: 0,

Other Resources

15901, Online Resource:, 0, Burns, P. (2007) Entrepreneurship and small business, Palgrave- has a supporting online website with student access to (http://www.palgrave.com/business/burnsentrepreneurship/index.asp),