Business Model Creation Leveraging Open Innovation 

A project based practicum on data analytics & artificial intelligence
 

Meet your Instructors

Solomon Darwin

Executive Director, Garwood Center for Corporate Innovation

Topics Taught: Open Innovation and Business Models for Emerging Economies

Gauthier Vasseur

Executive Director, Fisher Center for Business Analytics

Topics Taught: Data Analytics & Artificial Intelligence

Berkeley Innovation Mentors

Robert Locke

President & Chief Strategy Officer, Phaidra, (Former Senior Vice President, Johnson Controls)

Surendra Chawla

(Former Senior Director at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company)

Jim Spohrer

Former Director of Open Technology, IBM; Distinguished Scientist at Apple; BOD at ISSIP, USA

Pradeep Iyer

Former Director at Avery Dennison, USA

Arding Hsu

Former President & CEO of Siemens Technology, USA

Alan Walker

Vice President Marketing & Development, Kaneka, USA

Srikanth Nandiraju

Director of Engineering, Experian, India (Former PayPal’s Head of Engineering, USA)

Brinda Wiita

Chief Scientific Officer at ProbioTech; (Former Director at Johnson & Johnson

Santokh Badesha

Distinguished Scientist, Xerox Fellow, and Manager Open Innovation at Xerox

Steve Myers

Former Chief Technology Officer at Optum

Charlie Isaacs

CTO, Customer Connection, Salesforce

Latha Vishnubhotla

Chief Platform Officer Office of the CTO Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Swadha Arora

Program Coordinator, Berkeley Open Innovation Practicum

About the Program

This is a fun-filled Project Based Practicum that utilizes creative and business talents of energetic students to address innovation challenges of real rural businesses on ground. Students work in groups of four with Professors and current and former C-level executives of global firms to help structure an innovative business model solution to local businesses or startups where student groups reside. This project-driven practicum combines a good mix of class lectures, interactive discussions with assigned mentors over a period of three and a half months. The online lectures are designed to enhance the student’s knowledge about various business models and how innovation works to save and grow a company. Students learn from both successful and failed models to understand why some businesses succeed and some fail. This program consisting of individual (85% contribution) toward group work in doing internet research, field surveys and collecting information for data analysis and formulation of business models. The lectures include an entrepreneurship module to benefit students who desire to start their own innovative companies. 

Program Objective

1. Prepare graduates with practical experience in open innovation consulting to empower local businesses to thrive 
2. Create and demonstrate scalable & sustainable business models for struggling businesses as the final deliverable 
3. Apply Open Innovation in problem framing and solving through interaction with local & global ecosystem players 
4. Empower local businesses to utilize digital technologies and open innovation platforms to access global markets 

Program Structure & Requirements

Program Structure

A. The first week of the program consists of lectures followed by mentor hours (one hour a week) until the practicum is over on December 15th. Students are required to read the handouts and cases provided

B. Group Presentation: The project involves making a case for a new business model and incorporation of open innovation solutions to turn the business around. The students are also expected to show how and why the business may need to be restructured to generate revenue under the new model. Specific instructions and layout of the project along with the required deliverables will be handed on the first day of class.

C. Group Project Outline will be provided during the first day of the class to prepare for your final presentation.

Program Requirements:
  1. Target Group: Undergraduate degree with basic internet research skills with spoken and written English communication skills -students from Business Administration, Economics, Engineering, are most ideal.
  2.  Class Limit: The program is limited to a maximum of 100 students per semester.
  3.  Textbooks: None Required – links to Harvard cases and materials will be provided for optional reading.