20494 - INNOVATION AND FIRM STRATEGIES IN ICT SECTORS
CLMG - M - IM - MM - AFC - CLEFIN-FINANCE - CLELI - ACME - DES-ESS - EMIT - GIO
Department of Management and Technology
Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 31
CLMG (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/06) - M (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/06) - IM (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/06) - MM (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/06) - AFC (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/06) - CLEFIN-FINANCE (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/06) - CLELI (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/06) - ACME (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/06) - DES-ESS (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/06) - EMIT (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/06) - GIO (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/06)
Course Director:
ROBERTO FONTANA
ROBERTO FONTANA
Course Objectives
The course provides students with an overview of the innovation and strategic management issues raised by the production and use of advanced information and communication technologies and services. In particular, it aims at analysing the technological, economic and managerial aspects of the ICT sectors. More in detail, it investigates the development of innovative platforms, products and services in different ICT contexts and examines the strategies of different types of firms incumbents and new entrants, network companies, platform developers, application providers. The course adopts a micro-level perspective, investigating the implication of technical change for the competition among incumbent firms and for the entry of new firms in the market. Furthermore, it provides insights on the impact of new technologies for the emergence of new and profitable opportunities for creating value added contents for the final users.
Course Content Summary
The course is divided into two main parts.
- The first part looks at how innovative and competitive behaviour in ICT sectors has evolved over time. Among the topics that are discussed are: the (limited) role for technology push; the diffusion of General Purpose Technologies (GPTs); the organization of proprietary platforms; the presence of asymmetric innovation incentives among incumbents and new entrants; the importance of market oriented learning.
- The second part locates the above topics within the context of specific industries that rely heavily on recent developments in electronic data storage and transmission, including computing, software, storage, networking and mobile telecommunications.
At the end of the course, students are familiar with the basic characteristics of ICT industries, know about the most important concepts and theories and know how to apply them to real-world problems. As a part of the final assessment, students have to develop a group project concerning the success (or failure) of a specific product/service/platform/ company, using the framework developed in class to investigate the technological characteristics, the competitive landscape and firm strategies, and the evolution of the market.
Detailed Description of Assessment Methods
For attending students
- 1/3 group project (and presentation).
- 2/3 written exam (2 open questions out of 4) on lectures slides.
- 100% written exam (4 open questions) on lectures slides and required readings.
Textbooks
A detailed list of readings are made available at the beginning of the course.
Last change 26/04/2017 10:16