Sustainable Innovation MSc

You will integrate your learning and development and synthesise knowledge and understanding of theory and practice through its application to organisational issues, which are demonstrably concerned with development within the organisation. You are supported throughout the process by a supervising tutor who will monitor progress and ensure that you are appraised of your on-going performance. Usually the dissertation should be completed within one year.

The economic growth of emerging markets has significantly influenced the global business landscape, with average growth rates in the BRIICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China and South Africa) far outweighing Western markets. With additional policy measures focusing on a green economy in 2030, businesses need to compete successfully in these market segments and firms need to provide customers with resource-constrained innovations and business models that create high value at very low cost. You explore how organisations can transform their new product development strategies, so that they’re accessible to different markets and ensure environmental compatibility in aligning with government regulations.

You take an international perspective with a focus on understanding the globalisation process and the global economy, and its impact on international business organisations. You cover core topics that are central to understanding the processes of the global economy and the economic environment within which business organisations operate. You develop an understanding of the external business environment in terms of institutions, markets, industries and organisations. And the internal factors affecting the business environment.

Once companies have learned to keep pace with regulation, they become more proactive about environmental issues. Many then focus on reducing the consumption of non-renewable resources such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas along with renewable resources such as water and timber. Most large corporations induce suppliers to become environment-conscious by offering them incentives. Tools such as enterprise carbon management, carbon and energy footprint analysis, and lifecycle assessment help companies identify the sources of waste in supply chains. Lifecycle assessment is particularly useful – it captures the environment-related inputs and outputs of entire value chains, from raw-materials supply, through product use, to returns. You identify key operational challenges within the context of value/supply chain management, and explore appropriate tools and techniques to solve sustainable solutions.

You examine the finance of innovation, focusing on start-up ventures, taxation, and the early stages of company formation. You address key questions that challenge all entrepreneurs: how much money can and should be raised, when should it be raised and from who, and what is a reasonable valuation of the company? You graduate as innovators and entrepreneurs, fully prepared to make these decisions.

The complexity and dynamism of the international business environment requires organisations to be more proactive, resilient and innovative, characteristics which are very much dependent on managerial knowledge at individual, departmental and organisational levels.

Knowledge management (KM) focuses on managing knowledge with the purpose of adding value to products and services. The business landscape continues to pose a range of challenges and opportunities that require effective knowledge, skills, and expertise. Knowledge is fluid, dynamic and abstract, and the role of executives and management is to design organisational systems and strategies that are capable of creating, capturing, storing, sharing, transferring, applying and evaluating relevant and coherent business knowledge.

Evolving from an industrialised economy based on natural resources to an economy that is based on intellectual assets, it is essential to focus on understanding how to develop intellectual capabilities that allow organisations to shape their competitive advantage. You explore the significant role KM plays in allowing organisations to develop intellectual capabilities by promoting a range of activities and processes related to knowledge exchange, organisational learning, and personal knowledge management.

The Covid-19 pandemic severely impacted the global economy and redefined how products and services are offered and consumed. Climate change and other environmental issues further exacerbated the situation, requiring businesses across sectors and industries to seek alternative business models compatible with sustainability realities. You gain both knowledge and experiential learning skills to meet the requirements of this ‘new normal’ economy. Sustainability and service innovation designers are needed more than ever before in the workplace, to re-design extant offerings and value propositions to an eco-friendlier product/service to meet requirements of today’s and tomorrow customers. Servitisation business models will place significant roles in this new and emerging business environment.

You are introduced to the principles underpinning the sustainability and service innovation (SSI) concepts. The imperatives of the green, bio and circular economy as the pathway to sustainable, eco-friendly offerings is unpacked. You explore the dynamic nature of organisational culture and the current trend, to understand its fit for purpose in the SSI ecosystem. You examine contemporary tools for business that facilitate innovation of ecological friendly products and services design and re-design of non-ecological compliant ones. You understand the core principles of sustainable innovation in designing new products with innovation priorities that drive business results.