The final 10-15 page paper will give students the chance to more closely examine a weekly topic from the course. A list of supplemental readings is provided and the paper should include citations from the selected week. The final paper may take one of three forms:

Case Study

• illustrate how experiences in a company relate to one of the weekly topics
• company background info can come from personal experience or public documents
• think about important facts, events, people, decisions, and turning points in the case
• key evaluation criteria for case study is an interesting story about managing innovation
• format of paper should model a Harvard Business School case, such as Corporate New
  Ventures at Procter & Gamble or Digital Equipment Corporation: The Kodak
  Outsourcing Agreement

Critical Essay

• write an analytical assessment of one of the weekly topics
• typologies, archetypes, or frameworks can come from your observations or the articles
• think about exceptions to the rule, competing hypotheses, and generalizability of ideas
• key evaluation criteria for critical essay is a unique perspective on managing innovation
• format of paper should model an overview article from the readings, such as Gunfire at
  sea: A case study of innovation or Organizing and leading "heavyweight" development
  teams

Research Report

• empirically investigate an idea related to one of the weekly topics
• data can come from surveys, interviews, or third-party sources
• think about alternative explanations, unmeasured variables, and response biases
• key evaluation criteria for research report is solid evidence about managing innovation
• format of paper should model a data-driven article from the readings, such as Special
  boundary roles in the innovation process or Interpretive barriers to successful product
  innovation in large firms

Online Forum: What can we learn about "managing the innovation process" from your final paper? (be sure to include which weekly topic you selected and readings you cited)