MBA Study Tour: Innovation Islands - How New Zealand Became A Global Player in the Race to Innovate

Lecture Notes

SES #	TOPICS	OBJECTIVES	SPEAKERS	MATERIALS
1	Course Foundations and Methods for Assessing Innovation at a National Level This class will introduce frameworks for understanding the innovation ecosystem in New Zealand and will establish a baseline for how New Zealand fares compared to other countries. Additionally, we will learn about the role governments can play to increase their country’s innovativeness.	How do you assess an innovation ecosystem? What is innovation? What kinds of mechanisms can spur innovation on a macro level? What is government’s role as a stakeholder in the innovation ecosystem, and how can policies such as taxes be used as levers of innovation?	Scott Stern, David Sarnoff Professor of Management of Technology, MIT Michelle Hanlon, Howard W. Johnson Professor of Accounting	Class 1 Key Takeaways (PDF)
2	Investigating the New Zealand Innovation Ecosystem through MIT REAP This class will delve further into the topic of NZ’s innovation economy on a national level, examining how conditions in the country may or may not contribute to the success of its entrepreneurs.	What is the MIT REAP framework and how can it be used to conduct research on innovation ecosystems? How did MIT REAP assess and help improve New Zealand’s E&I ecosystem? What are the key factors for New Zealand’s existing success?	Sarah Jane Maxted, Director of MIT REAP Georgina Campbell, Executive Director of The Legatum Center & Former Director of MIT REAP	Class 2 Key Takeaways (PDF)
3	Leveraging Your Entrepreneurial Ecosystem This class will use our own MIT-Cambridge ecosystem as a guiding example of university-based E&I development. We will investigate the entrepreneur’s role in the ecosystem through the Clover case. Class will be hosted in Cambridge Innovation Center and will begin with a tour.	What are the key elements of university-based innovation hubs? How can an entrepreneur leverage his / her entrepreneurial ecosystem?	Jamal Halepota, Global Business Development Lead & Relationship Manager, CIC Scott Stern, David Sarnoff Professor of Management of Technology, MIT	Class 3 Key Takeaways (PDF)
4	MIT-Kendall Case / Rethinking Ingenuity in New Zealand This class will build on the prior week’s class by investigating MIT’s own ecosystem, which we will contrast to Auckland during our visit. Then, we’ll shift gears and examine facets of Wellington’s creative economy through a cultural lens. Students will also partake in a creative brainstorming exercise to understand how to channel and leverage their own creativity.	What best practices from MIT’s innovation ecosystem could be applicable to Auckland? How does New Zealand’s ingenuity tie back to its culture? What assumptions must we break in order to understand New Zealand’s brand of innovation?	Dr. Phil Budden, Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan and Diplomatic Advisor to MIT REAP Aithan Shapira, Artist, Lead Lecturer of MIT Sloan Innovation Period Course: Breakthrough Thinking Through Art	Class 4 Key Takeaways (PDF)
5	Investing in Your Comparative Advantage This class examines the most innovative sectors of New Zealand’s economy with particular focus on the ICT sector and its response to a devastating 2011 earthquake. Additionally, we will look ahead to the final assignment and learn how to best gather research while we are in country!	What are the most innovative sectors of the New Zealand economy? How important is resilience to innovation? How can students collect valuable information while meeting with companies in preparation for the Final Essay deliverable?	Julius Tapper, Sloan MBA ‘17 and iDiplomat participant Mercedes Delgado, Visiting Associate Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management, MIT Sloan	Class 5 Key Takeaways (PDF)
Group Departure for New Zealand
SIP week	Site Visit in New Zealand