ENT193.09 Innovating for Impact (2 credits, First Half)

When: Fall, Section A

Credits: 2 credits, Second Half

Enrollment Restrictions: No enrollment restrictions. First year students are welcome.

Additional Notes:

impact – name from wooden letters. Office desk, informative and communication background

Instructor

Katrin Kaeufer

Dr. Kaeufer teaches on leadership and transformational change. Her research focus on leadership, organizational change, mission-based banking as well as on participatory action research.

Description

The polycrisis we face today around the world requires innovation. This course explores the role of the business sector when it comes to innovate solutions for societal and environmental challenges. Building on case materials, this course introduces tools and methods that businesses are using to innovate for impact. Innovating for impact means that businesses combine profit objectives with impact objectives. Students will explore how businesses successfully create a business model while finding solutions to pressing societal challenges—from the climate crisis to issues of exclusion and inequality. The course will also inquire into larger theoretical questions of how an impact-focused business model aligns or challenges our conventional thinking about the economic system.