21E00013 Capstone: Workshop on Innovating Management

Spring 2014
Prof. Liisa Vlikangas
April 14, 2014

Course Curriculum
For each class, please prepare by engaging in the suggested task(s) or
challenge, acquainting yourself with the visiting company/speaker, and reading
the indicated material.
After each class, write an one-page summary of the discussion and its
implications for innovating management. Submit before the next class to:
liisa.valikangas@aalto.fi and title your submission Essentials. Be sure to
include your name. After the final class, please prepare an essay as described
below.
Additional readings and exercises to be announced in class.
April, 22
Introduction: End of Management History?
Perspective: Anna Granskog, Partner, McKinsey & Co.
Read: Parts of management history as represented in the course readings (see
Noppa). Find your favorite historical example of management innovation and be
ready to present it in class.
Background reading: G. Hamel, The Why, What and How of Management
Innovation, Harvard Business Review, 2006.
April, 29
Discussion: Frontiers of Innovating Management?
Live Case: GrowVC Group, Founder Jouko Ahvenainen
Read: Find a moonshot (a radical proposal for innovating management, see
Management Exchange and Google for examples) and be ready to present a
management challenge that you consider critical for the development of
management in the future.

Bacground reading: Visit and browse Management Innovation eXchange for

ideas and examples. Listen to one or two maveurick discussions.
May 6
Perspective: Pivi Castrn, Group Vice-President, HR, Wrtsil Corp.
Read The Challenge for Management Innovation (The Unlimited Human
Potential) and write your entry. (You do not need to enter the competition but
submit your entry to liisa.valikangas@aalto.fi.) Be ready to share your entry in
class.
http://www.mixprize.org/m-prize/human-potential?qt-m_prize_challenge=1
May 13
Groupwork on innovating management: Exploring the method of management
innovation
Read: Birkinshaw, Julian M. and Mol, Michael J, How management innovation
happens. MIT Sloan Management Review, 2006.
Think of a recent (big or small) management innovation you have perhaps
witnessed. How did it happen? Be ready to share in class.
May 20
Discussion: Embedding Management Innovation in Company Context
Perspective: Pivi Jokinen, Vice President of Future Ventures and head of Think
Tank, Kemira Oyj
Listen: The Nummi episode in This Americal Life:
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/403/nummi
Be ready to discuss in class: How was it possible that the Nummi factory was
able to achieve such a high level of performance? Why did the capability not
spread to the rest of the corporation?

Essay, to be returned by May 30, 2014 (this will replace the summary of the final
class, or Essentials):
Write a letter from the future (in 3-5 pages): First, think of what management will
be like 20 years from now. What management principles are common? (As a
reminder, as discussed in class, the management principles of industrial
organizations typically included standardization, specialization, hierarchical
decision making, planning & control.) What management principles do you see in
the future? Second, how are the new principles such as openness, transparency
or democratization potentially applied in companies? Give examples of
particularly intriguing ways of harnessing ideas worldwide, allocating or attracting
resources, inspiring strategic thinking organization-wide, mobilizing and
orchestrating action and assessing performance, for example. Use your
imagination but also argue for your position as one that meets the challenges of
global competition. Be as concrete as you can. Third, based on this imaginary
exploration, describe your agenda for management innovation for the next five
years. How will you innovate and experiment on management in your own
organization?