Innovation and Consumer Psychology Course Overview - Otago Business School

Course Leadership: The course is led by Lisa, a specialist from the Otago Business School with a focus on consumer psychology and innovation, particularly the psychology of why people buy and consume. Lisa has over $23$ years of university teaching experience.
Non-Lecture Format: The program is not lecture-based. It is designed around a project-based approach that mimics real-world industry settings.
Learning Objectives: The course assumes that students, being at the 300-level, possess a solid grounding in the fundamentals of their previous papers. The objective is to take that knowledge and apply it in professional scenarios.
Audience Suitability: Lisa notes that this course is not for everyone. It requires active engagement and high levels of responsibility. Students who prefer attending lectures and only thinking about the course during a final exam are advised that this program will not work for them.
Nina Schillings: Lisa is joined by Nina Schillings, a teacher of innovation from a similar program in Germany. Nina is on an exchange to observe New Zealand teaching methods and share her own perspectives on the innovation process.

Team Assignment: Teams are assigned by the instructor. Students do not have the opportunity to choose their own teammates or work exclusively with friends.
Workplace Simulation: Teams are treated as though they are employees and the instructors (Lisa or Nina) are the employers. Students must work with colleagues they did not select, identifying individual strengths to complete a group project by the end of the semester.
Autonomy and Scheduling: Teams have full autonomy over their work schedules and internal deadlines but are expected to produce professional, industry-standard work.
Time Commitment: The course requires a significant time investment outside of the weekly $50\,\text{minute}$ sessions and $2\,\text{hour}$ workshops. The estimate for total team workload is approximately $140\,\text{hours}$ across the semester.
Documentation and Record Keeping: Following industry standards, teams are expected to keep detailed records of meetings and task delegations. These records are required if issues arise regarding individual contributions or performance disputes.

Workshop 1 (Mandatory): Students must attend the first workshop to be assigned to a team. Failure to attend without prior contact (due to extreme illness) results in automatic withdrawal from the course.
Workshop 2: Teams are expected to develop a general idea of the industry they wish to work in.
Workshop 3: Focuses on using techniques to refine the project idea and narrow the scope.
Workshop 4 (The Pitch): This is a mandatory session where teams pitch their idea to their workshop leader and peers.
- Green Light/Red Light Status: Successful pitches receive a "green light" to proceed. If a team receives a "red light," they have one additional opportunity to refine and re-pitch. Failure to pitch results in automatic withdrawal.
Lean Canvas Model: The pitch utilizes a "Lean Canvas" proforma—a single-slide framework. Students are encouraged to study the Lean Canvas model via YouTube before the pitch.

New Zealand Merino and Kiravos: An inventor developed "Kiravos" by turning coarse wool (which had dropped in price) into a polymer-based plastic product.
- One student team worked with him to create a sustainable, "tiffin" style lunchbox to replace BPA-laden plastic containers.
- Instead of traditional retail, they targeted schools for fundraising, ensuring the product reached families with school-aged children.
DeliverEasy: A previous student, Jess, was mentored by a founder of DeliverEasy. Her team developed a recruitment-style platform optimized for job seekers rather than recruiters.
Smart Hive Technologies: Christina’s team developed technology to remotely connect beekeepers to hives in Central Otago to track the invasive Varroa mite species. Despite not being "science people," they consulted industry guests on AI, coding, and battery storage.
Chikki Tea: This successful business began as a project in this specific course.
Spout Milk: Developed a product for cafes to eliminate waste, eventually expanding success into Australia.
Aviation Technology: One guest this year represents a company that developed the first black box for use in helicopters.

Weekly Sessions: Every week features a $50\,\text{minute}$ industry seminar with a guest from the business world (e.g., founders of Sharesies, managers from Zuru).
Networking Opportunities: Students have the chance to meet approximately $15$ high-profile industry professionals from around Australasia. These guests often look for interns or future employees.
Professionalism: Guests fly in at their own expense and are not paid for their time. Students are expected to show respect by turning up, having researched the guest, and asking informed questions.
Recording Policy: Recordings of industry guests are not guaranteed as they involve confidential business data; attendance is crucial.
Handwritten Notes: Lisa cites a Stanford University longitudinal study stating that students are $150\%$ more likely to retain information if they handwrite notes compared to typing.

Overview: The course runs alongside the L'Oreal Brandstorm competition.
Past Topic: Selling sunscreen to the male consumer market.
Current Topic: The future of luxury fragrance.
Incentives: Finalists from New Zealand are flown to Australia for semifinals, and global finalists are flown to Paris. This competition can be integrated into the course project.

Team Project ( $50\%$ of total grade): Consists of three elements:
- The Gap Pitch (Workshop $4$ ).
- Full Industry Analysis (using secondary research).
- An informative video/pitch intended for potential investors.
The Pitch Goal: Using the example of James Dyson (who went through $120,000$ prototypes), the goal is to show a thorough understanding of an industry gap and a problem, rather than just a technical solution.
Final Exam: Students must pass the final individual exam to pass the course, regardless of their group project grade. The exam focuses on connecting theoretical readings from the E-reserve to the content shared by industry speakers.
AI Usage: Students may use Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI tools for content creation but must explicitly acknowledge their use.

Communication: Email is the preferred method for contacting Lisa.
Extensions: Generally not granted due to the tight $12\,\text{week}$ timeframe.
Workshop Changes: Must be requested by $12\,\text{noon}$ on Thursday. Changes are only possible if there is space within fire regulation capacities for the rooms.
Waitlist: Lisa maintains a waitlist for students wishing to switch workshop streams.

Student Query: A student group was asked if they had a question during the presentation.
Response: The students indicated they did not have a question at that time. Lisa reminded the class to determine how they will share information (e.g., Google Docs) and set regular meeting times early in the semester.