Study Innovation Management: All you need to know
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Innovation Management is a versatile and exciting degree to study at university. It’s the perfect subject if you are forward-thinking and creative and enjoy combining high-level strategy with hands-on work on new business ideas. Students that pursue this field are well-equipped to become the innovators, the thinkers, the creatives, and the leaders of tomorrow.
Read on to learn more!
Innovation Management is a field promoting organizational innovation and includes processes that encourage an organization to strategically innovate. Studying Innovation Management at university will equip you to solve the common challenges organizations face to successfully innovate, whether that company is a corporation, enterprise, start-up, or small business.
A university degree in Innovation Management will provide you with insight into the role that innovation plays in organizations, how it ties into corporate strategy, product development, market positioning, and new business creation.
Innovation Managers perform tasks like
As a graduate of Innovation Management, you can fundamentally transform organization structures, processes, and company cultures. Ready to make an impact? If yes, then a university degree in Innovation Management is for you!
Study in Europe: Find Bachelors & Masters in Innovation Management
Innovation Management is not a common subject for a Bachelor’s degree program — instead, many students opt for a general Business degree. But at the Masters level, you can find many universities across Europe offering suitable programs.
Find Bachelors in Innovation Management
Find Masters in Innovation Management
Some universities offer Bachelor’s degrees focusing on Innovation Management, or Entrepreneurship & Innovation, but these are rare: Innovation Management is not a common undergraduate degree program. Instead, universities will offer a general program in Business, and then you can choose your focus in elective modules.
If you want to make sure that your Business degree properly prepares you for a career or further studies in Innovation Management, search the Bachelor course curriculum for modules like
or any module with “innovation” or “innovative” in the name.
Find & compare the best Bachelors in Innovation Management in Europe
A Master’s in Innovation Management will prepare you to enter a variety of different industries, company sizes, and industry sectors. You will go deeper into core topics and develop the right skill set, adaptability, and the creative thinking necessary to become a business innovator of tomorrow.
Common courses in a Master’s in Innovation Management include:
Find & compare the best Masters in Innovation Management in Europe
At the (post)graduate level, you can choose to study Innovation Management as either an MBA (Master of Business Administration) program, or as an MSc (Master of Science) or MA (Master of Arts). MBA degrees are usually tailored to prepare for general management roles, whereas MSc/MA degrees educate graduates for more specialist roles.
An MBA is a common degree program for students with prior work experience, and that is a common requirement in the application process. An MBA generally covers a broad range of business subjects like leadership, finance, marketing, and others. A focus on Innovation Management means it will get additional attention in the curriculum, but by no means will you become a specialist in the field.
In contrast, an MSc or MA will allow you to specialize in Innovation Management and the majority of your studies will focus on it. You will deep-dive into topics like product innovation, research & development, entrepreneurship and digital innovation. In contrast to an MBA, an MSc or MA in Innovation Management won’t provide you with a well-rounded education in a variety of subjects. But if your passion lies in innovation, and you already have a Bachelor’s degree in Business, then an MSc or MA might be the right choice for you.
It’s possible to get a degree in Innovation Management through online or blended programs. And distance learning options are popular for Innovation Management: Like similar Business subjects, the course contents easily lend themselves for remote study. Typical methods include digital lectures (live or recorded) and text or video conferences with fellow students.
There are a number of advantages: an online program is usually less expensive; you can study from the comfort of your home (or wherever you want to study); and you don’t need to get a student visa and travel abroad.
But remember, it can be difficult to study a degree program online; whether full-time or part-time. Studying remotely can be challenging, and limited personal connections with other students and professors cannot compare to a typical campus setting. When studying part-time while working, you might find it hard to balance the demands of both a career and university studies. Keep this in mind as you consider a degree online. It’s not for everyone.
In many ways, Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship overlap. When you review the course curricula, you will see the similarities between the disciplines. In fact, many universities will combine these subjects into one study program. Entrepreneurship is slightly different in that it specifically focuses on startups, and the proven methods of founding and growing businesses.
An Innovation Manager helps promote organizational innovation and creates strategic processes that enable an organization to innovate on various levels.
As a graduate of an Innovation Management program, you will have a range of opportunities in different industries and tech-driven sectors. Industries that look for Innovation Management graduates are, among others, information technology, finance, automotive, aviation, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and management consulting industries.
Typical job titles are as diverse as the roles you may fill:
…just to name a few. Many graduates also follow an entrepreneurial path and go on to found their own companies.
There are many factors that are relevant to choose the right university. With a subject like Innovation Management, it pays off to specifically look at countries that are known to be innovative, especially if you want to consider staying and working there after graduation.
Helpful inspiration is provided by WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization. They rank countries in their “Global Innovation Index” (GII) on factors such as patents per capita, expenditure on education and research, trade, and other important criteria. This makes sense for you as a student because if you study in a highly innovative economy, there will be more options for you later on! Listed below are Europe’s most innovative countries according to the GII 2023:
| Rank in Europe | Country |
|---|---|
| 1 | Switzerland |
| 2 | Sweden |
| 3 | United Kingdom |
| 4 | Finland |
| 5 | Netherlands |
| 6 | Germany |
| 7 | Denmark |
| 8 | France |
| 9 | Estonia |
| 10 | Austria |
These are the top reasons to get a degree in Innovation Management:
If Innovation Management isn’t the right fit for you, there are similar subjects possible to study.
Still interested? Then find Innovation Management degrees now!
151 Innovation Management Programmes in Europe
