The Minor ‘Companies and Innovation’ focuses on new (high-technology) product innovations within established companies, i.e. internal venturing or corporate entrepreneurship, by examining their potential values from diverse aspects such as economics, management, strategy, ethics, safety and risk. The requisite view is that companies are not isolated entities but are embedded in a social context with various values and expectations. Firstly, there are the markets a company is operating in, where the laws of economics rule: supply and demand, investment, financing and marketing. Secondly, there are restrictions (and opportunities!) set by the enforced rules of the law. For instance, the legislator may demand competition and forbid exclusive price arrangements requiring firms to think of their strategies, such as their intellectual property protection. Thirdly, there are considerations regarding safety or security and risk, that is, the safety (or security) of the product(s) the company produces, but also the safety of the employees involved in the production process and environmental safety. Finally, current opinions about what is ‘good’ and ‘immoral’ (or what is ‘responsible’ and ‘irresponsible’) determine the company’s ethical standpoint shaping its corporate social responsibility. The ability to integrate technological development with diverse values of firm strategies, market, ethics and safety is key to innovations in companies. In sum, an integrated insight into these distinct viewpoints is essential for companies to make sensible decisions and to develop new products that are both technologically and socially relevant and acceptable.

The aim of the Minor is to offer students insights into how economics, strategic management, ethics, and safety and risk considerations impact innovation. This emphasis on multidimensional assessment of technological innovations within companies make the minor relevant, attractive and challenging for enterprising students, particularly technology-oriented students who would like to enhance their knowledge of management of innovation.