General Information
Promotional Video
Unavailable
Instructor Bio
Anjana Dattani is a Lecturer of Business Design and Innovation at the Rotman School of Management. She brings deep facilitation expertise from working with thousands of executives, MBAs and undergraduates on learning and applying design-driven innovation methods to their work. As Rotman MBA alum, she worked on the development and delivery of Business Design courses at Rotman, and continues to contribute to research within the global community.
Course Description
This course combines the strategic analysis of a business design case competition with the intensity of an internship and will challenge you to think in new ways. You will learn, then apply industry leading methods to start, find, frame and solve a real industry challenge. This course combines instructor-led, peer-to-peer and team-based learning and industry sponsor knowledge exchange.
Format
This course offers workshop-style classes with hands-on activities, flipped-classroom discussions, and field work (virtual and physical). You are expected to attend each class and engage with the teaching team, peers and a real organization on a business problem. Course materials will be delivered in-person. You are expected to contribute to class discussions, group presentations and engage in self-directed learning.
COURSE DELIVERY
- Intensive 2 hour studio/class with one 10-minute break
- 1-2 hours of homework weekly
- 4-6 hours of desk/field research activities (between Class 5 and 7)
- Templates will be provided
Course Mission and Scope
Business Design is evolving into the most prolific approach to innovation management, strategy, service/product design and business transformation. Today’s leaders must be equipped with a mindset, skillset and toolset to creatively solve problems that focus on the user, customer or stakeholder.
This course is aimed at students who appreciate design’s role in business and are keen to apply human-centred principles to business innovation. The learning objectives are to:
- Actively practice the Business Design Method (4-step process), using management frameworks, ethnographic methods and design techniques to find, frame and solve problems;
- In consulting teams, design and conduct empathic research in-field and online to gain insight;
- Experience sustained curiosity, empathy and creativity to reframe problems and offer customer-centred solutions to the industry class sponsor; and,
- Articulate and offer a novel and relevant solution to the industry sponsor
Evaluation and Grade Breakdown
| Component | Due Date | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Individual Participation | Ongoing | 20% |
| Reflection Paper (Individual) | Class 2 | 15% |
| Innovation Design Brief and Research Plan (Team) | Class 4 | 10% |
| Data Collection Worksheet (Individual) | Class 7 | 5% |
| In-Class Worksheet (Individual) | Class 9 | 5% |
| Business Design Proposal (Team) | Class 12 | 30% |
| Course Reflection (Individual) | After Class 12 | 15% |
Required Resources
- Required Textbook: Business Design Thinking and Doing (available at Bookstore)
- Note: If you are purchasing from the bookstore website, “New” = hard copy; “Perpetual Vs” = e-book; “120-Vs” = e-book with access for 120 days; “60-Vs” = e-book with access for 60 days; “30-Vs” = e-book with access for 30 days
- A digital Business Design toolkit with templates will be provided for free.
- Required readings and supplemental materials will be provided on Quercus (see Modules Folders for details)