COURSE NUMBER: MBA 290T.3
COURSE TITLE: Innovation in
Services and Business Models
UNITS OF CREDIT: 2
INSTRUCTOR: Henry Chesbrough
E-MAIL ADDRESS:
chesbrou@haas.berkeley.edu
CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION: http://catalyst.haas.berkeley.edu
MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Monday
2:00 - 4:00PM
PREREQUISITE(S): None.
CLASS FORMAT: The class will
have both cases and lectures
REQUIRED
BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Mixture of class participation, final paper,
possibly a smaller midterm project.
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT
AND OBJECTIVES:
This is a new course, not
only within Haas and the MOT Program, but within academic campuses around the
world. This course is an experiment to
address a burning issue in business today: most of the economic activity in
developed economies is services-based.
Yet most of our knowledge about innovation is based upon products, not
services. A recent survey by the
National Academies of Engineering found that “the academic research enterprise
has not focused on or been organized to meet the needs of service businesses”.
This is not an abstract
concern for
Our course will examine
services innovation, primarily within the IT context. It will also focus upon the business model in
creating and managing innovation in services businesses. We will also consider how product-based
businesses can - or cannot - transition to service-based businesses. During the course, we will have outside
visitors from companies like IBM and SAP, and
1) Innovation in services is
not the same process as innovation in products.
Services are intangible. They
often are consumed as they are delivered.
In fact, the customer often co-creates the service experience with the
supplier.
2) Technology can enable new models of services
businesses. Information is both the key
input and the key output for many services businesses. Little wonder that more
than 70% of information technology sold in the
3) Business models are a key
enabler and a key differentiator for services businesses. We will be quite precise about defining a
business model, and explore a variety of methods for articulating, designing,
and managing business models in services.
Technologies are emerging to help model business processes in useful
ways. They can enable a richer
exploration of alternative business models that might differentiate the
business from competitors.
4) Standards, architectures,
and platforms are essential tools to create leverage and scalability for
services businesses. When services
businesses are largely people-based, their ability to grow depends on the
ability to hire and retain sufficiently talented people. If, however, a firm can incorporate its
knowledge so that others can build upon it via standards, architectures and
platforms, the services business can grow beyond the constraints of its
internal personnel.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Prior to joining the Haas
faculty in 2003, Henry Chesbrough was a professor for
six years at