BA 850
Sustainability Driven Innovation

BA 850: Sustainability-Driven Innovation

PrintPrint

Quick Facts About BA 850

  • Instructor and Author: Andy James, Author and Instructor, John A. Dutton e-Education Institute, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University; Chief Marketing Officer, New Pig Corporation; Sustainability Council, Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation; Industrial Advisory Board, Renewable Energy and Sustainability Systems (RESS), The Pennsylvania State University.
  • Course Structure: Online, a minimum of 8-10 hours a week for 12 weeks

Overview

This course explores sustainability as a business opportunity for developing innovative products and services. It will focus on consumer needs related to sustainability, willingness to pay for these needs, and the innovative processes necessary to create sustainable solutions.

When you successfully complete this course, you will be prepared to:

  • understand and critically analyze current realities, opportunities, and structural issues in sustainability across a range of organizations;
  • manage and evaluate insight-driven research as a precursor to sustainability-driven innovation;
  • map sustainability-driven offerings in the market to evaluate the competitive landscape and find strategic opportunity;
  • design sustainability-centric product and service offerings around identified and tangible market needs;
  • create, iterate, and evaluate initial beta offerings to understand viability.

Topics

  • Lesson 1: Realities of Sustainability - Planet
  • Lesson 2: Realities of Sustainability - People
  • Lesson 3: Realities of Sustainability - Profit
  • Lesson 4: Identifying Opportunities in Sustainability I
  • Lesson 5: Identifying Opportunities in Sustainability II
  • Lesson 6: Insight-Driven Innovation I
  • Lesson 7: Insight-Driven Innovation II
  • Lesson 8: The Ten Types of Innovation
  • Lesson 9: Organizational Context
  • Lesson 10: Testing the Offering I - Stated Preference Methods
  • Lesson 11: Testing the Offering II - Revealed Preference Methods
  • Lesson 12: Honing and Evaluating the Concept

Want to join us? Students who register for this Penn State course gain access to assignments and instructor feedback and earn academic credit. For more information, visit Penn State's Renewable Energy and Sustainability Systems Program website. Official course descriptions and curricular details can be reviewed in the University Bulletin.

This course is offered as part of the Repository of Open and Affordable Materials at Penn State. You are welcome to use and reuse materials that appear on this site (other than those copyrighted by others) subject to the licensing agreement linked to the bottom of this and every page.