After this course, students will be able to:
1.) Understand the vast heterogeneity among countries and actors in emerging markets and how this relates to innovation.
2.) Define and appraise different ways of innovating in emerging markets.
3.) Apply theory to business cases by discussing cases in class and by working on a group conuslting project in which they identify, assess and exploit a particular emerging market context as a business opportunity.
4.) Recognize and explain the institutional, economic, ecological and technological dimensions and forces of innovation.

The central question of this course is "how to innovate in emerging market economies (EMEs)?".
It is organized around three forces that help transforming firms in EMEs from imitators to innovators: building of technological capabilities by firms, globally distributed networks & value chains in which these firms actively participate, and multinational enterprises.
This course will address the question of how these forces can be leveraged by businesses to innovate in the context of EMEs.
This context is characterized by three crucial factors, that differentiate EMEs from "developed markets":
1.) A higher presence of institutional voids, i.e. absence of physical & institutional infrastructure and/or specialized intermediaries that provide requisite information and contract enforcement.
2.) Insufficient investment in sustainable practices, technologies and regulations coupled with rapid growth in emerging markets will inevitably result in pressures on natural resources, raw materials and the environment.
3.) Insufficient inclusion of wider society: growth in emerging economies is generally concentrated in certain sectors - by industry, by region, and even by cities and pockets within cities. This leads to greater poverty, inequality and fragmentation of markets.
Those factors may create roadblocks to innovation. But at the same time, they provide entrepreneurial opportunities and competitive advantages to those businesses that now how to exploit and leverage them through innovation.

Teaching methods: Consulting group project, discussion tutorials, lectures
Assessment methods: Facilitation, group paper and presentation, participation, written take-home exam

Business cases, book chapters, academic articles

This course is a second year course from the Emerging Markets specialisation.