ENGAGE.EU short courses are developed on to enable learners to address today’s societal challenges - digitalisation and artificial intelligence, climate change, ageing societies and migration.
These are important topics for any learner, and ENGAGE.EU wants to reach both traditional professionals and practitioners from business and industry, grassroots organizations and NGOs from all parts of society.
An ENGAGE.EU short course is a small, targeted, and flexible unit of learning within an ENGAGE.EU theme. The course is an intensive course offered online or blended which is designed for remote delivery. The course can give between 2 and 5 ECTS.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODELS
The course covers five days and is delivered fully online in a live synchronous mode via Zoom. Every day, we will have online live sessions from 13:00-16:30 (CEST) combining lectures, groupwork activities, and guest speakers on selected topics.
The course will take place from Monday 22 May to Friday 26 May.
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Session 1: INNOVATION - WHAT IT IS, AND WHAT IT IS NOT?
Session 1: INNOVATION - WHAT IT IS, AND WHAT IT IS NOT?
SESSION 1: INNOVATION - WHAT IT IS, AND WHAT IT IS NOT?
(Day 1 - Monday, May 22nd: 1300-1630h CEST, live online session via Zoom)
Innovation is central to modifying existing business models to make them more sustainable as well as to designing new ones that shall address and tackle specific societal or environmental grand challenges. In this session, we will introduce the participants to the fundamental aspects of entrepreneurship as a process with product, service, and/or business model innovations as outcomes. We will learn about relevant criteria to distinguish different types of innovations and explore the question of how “new-to-the-world” successful innovations should (not) be. Furthermore, we will discuss models describing certain trajectories that innovations typically follow in terms of (technological) performance, adoption, and diffusion in social systems. By the end of the session, participants will understand the principles of innovation, the difference between inventions and innovations, as well as the key features of different types of innovations and their diffusion patterns.
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Session 2: LEVERAGING NETWORK EFFECTS WITHIN AND ACROSS COUNTRY BORDERS
Session 2: LEVERAGING NETWORK EFFECTS WITHIN AND ACROSS COUNTRY BORDERS
SESSION 2: LEVERAGING NETWORK EFFECTS WITHIN AND ACROSS COUNTRY BORDERS
(Day 2 - Tuesday, May 23rd: 1300-1630h CEST, live online session via Zoom)
Spurred by increasing use of digital technologies and platforms, sustainable business models and their underlying product and/or service innovations are increasingly prone to produce certain demand side externalities determining their diffusion potential. In this session, we will focus on network externalities as powerful driver of innovation diffusion and key factor determining the successful scaling of business model innovations. We will explore different types of network effects, their antecedents, and their consequences for companies, industries, and societies. By the end of the session, participants will understand the link between specific features of innovations and the type and strength of the network effects they produce, including the role of national country borders as potential impediments to leveraging sustainable business model innovations featuring network effects internationally.
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Session 3: BUSINESS MODELS AS CONCEPTUAL FRAMES AND PRACTICAL TOOLS
Session 3: BUSINESS MODELS AS CONCEPTUAL FRAMES AND PRACTICAL TOOLS
SESSION 3: BUSINESS MODELS AS CONCEPTUAL FRAMES AND PRACTICAL TOOLS
(Day 3 - Wednesday, May 24th: 1300-1630h CEST, live online session via Zoom)
In order to either re-invent existing business models to align them with today’s grand societal challenges or design new business models that tackle some specific societal grand challenge, one must first understand the concept of business models and learn to analyse them. In this first session, we will introduce the participants to the basic concepts, frameworks, and theories on business models. By the end of this session, participants are able to identify, describe, and analyse existing business models to find out about their strengths and weaknesses and the necessity as well as potential to change them in ways to address and tackle societal challenges.
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Session 4: SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODELS
Session 4: SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODELS
SESSION 4: SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODELS
(Day 4 - Thursday, May 25th: 1300-1630h CEST, live online session via Zoom)
Sustainable business models integrate the creation of economic, environmental, and social value. A sustainable business model differs from a conventional business model in that it creates, delivers, and captures value for all stakeholders without depleting the natural, economic, and social capital it relies on. In this session, we will introduce the participants to different types of sustainable business models and develop criteria to choose the one that may fit best with a company’s mission. We will furthermore discuss trends that are disrupting different industries (e.g., the sharing economy, disruptive innovation, digitalization) and explore how these trends require, or have enabled, new sustainable business models to emerge, such as circular business models, hybrid organizations, or collaborative business models. By the end of this session, participants have acquired a comprehensive overview of the different types of sustainable business models and can identify which of these business models may be best suited for a company, or industry.
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Session 5: SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION
Session 5: SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION
SESSION 5: SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION
(Day 5 - Friday, May 26th: 1300-1630h CEST, live online session via Zoom)
In established firms, sustainable business model innovation refers to the process of either (1) introducing a sustainable business model to the firm’s existing business model portfolio (by diversification), or (2) innovating the firm’s core business model to increase its positive (or reduce its negative) impact on society and/ or environment. In this session, we will discuss the various challenges when attempting to design sustainable business models. We will furthermore explore possible solutions to these challenges. By the end of this session, participants will understand the different ways in which sustainable business model innovation can be successfully managed and implemented.
