Corporate Entrepreneurship: Innovating within Corporations

Develop and Launch Innovations within Corporations

Master strategies and tools to innovate and apply entrepreneurship principles in corporate settings.

About This Specialization

For an increasing number of established companies, creating new business opportunities within the company is an imperative for success. Maturing technologies and aging product portfolios are requiring companies to create, develop, and sustain innovative new businesses. The Corporate Entrepreneurship Specialization is designed for those interested in learning how to innovate and apply entrepreneurship principles in the corporate setting. Learners will develop knowledge on how to navigate the barriers to creating, developing, and sustaining innovative new businesses or initiatives within existing companies. These new activities rarely fit neatly within well-established systems, processes, and cultures. Learners will develop the skills, and learn the tools and best practices, for identifying and developing the entrepreneurial opportunities, building business models, creating strategies for leading innovation, and financing innovation. These four topics comprise the four courses of the Corporate Entrepreneurship Specialization, along with a final project. The Corporate Entrepreneurship Specialization is for individuals who are charged and/or inspired to develop and lead new businesses within established companies. It's specifically designed for junior- and middle-managers with the the opportunity, or responsibility, to start new businesses or initiatives within their company or division, in any industry, and in any country.

Created by:

5 courses

Follow the suggested order or choose your own.

Projects

Designed to help you practice and apply the skills you learn.

Certificates

Highlight your new skills on your resume or LinkedIn.

Projects Overview

The course projects challenge learners to apply the strategies, tactics, and tools learned in the course to examine leading companies or the learner's own company. With this action-oriented approach, learners can quickly develop and apply lessons learned to develop or reclaim their company's innovation prowess.

Courses

Beginner Specialization.: No prior experience required.

COURSE 1
Developing the Opportunity for Corporate Entrepreneurs
Current session: Sep 25 — Oct 30.
Subtitles
English
About the Course
For an increasing number of established companies, creating new businesses and programs within the company is an imperative for success. Maturing technologies and aging product portfolios are requiring established companies to create, develop, and sustain innovative new initiatives. In this course, learners will develop knowledge on how to navigate the barriers to creating, developing, and sustain innovative new businesses and programs within established companies or organizations with an emphasis on: • Introducing the skills for identifying and analyzing entrepreneurial ideas within a corporate environment; • Examining entrepreneurial thinking within yourself and your colleagues with an awareness of entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurial motivations, and entrepreneurial behaviors; • Cultivating seeing entrepreneurially within yourself and your colleagues with attention to industry conditions, industry status, macroeconomic change, and competition; and • Championing acting entrepreneurially within the corporate environment with an understanding of value innovation and opportunity identification. Try this course for FREE at https://www.coursera.org/learn/corporate-entrepreneurs-opportunity
COURSE 2
Building the Business Model for Corporate Entrepreneurs
Current session: Sep 25 — Oct 30.
Subtitles
English, Romanian
About the Course
Led by Dan Gordon, a University of Maryland faculty member who teaches business modeling in the National Science Foundation's I-Corps Program, this course enables you to develop and apply the Business Model Canvas tool to scope a corporate challenge or opportunity. You will learn how to identify and communicate the nine elements of a business model: Customer Segments, Value Propositions, Channels, Customer Relationships, Revenue Streams, Key Resources, Key Activities, Key Partners, and Cost Structure. Your completed project will be a customer-validated Business Model Canvas that outlines the business case for a new product or service to address your selected challenge or opportunity in a corporate context. This project is derived from four areas of focus in the course: • Identifying how to create and deliver value for existing and future customers of the company; • Learning how to extract value for the corporate venture in a sustainable fashion; • Conducting in-depth interviews to guide the customer discovery process for your corporate venture; and • Developing business models that encompass the product or service, customers, and economic engine that deliver on the corporate venture objectives. Try this course for FREE at https://www.coursera.org/learn/corporate-entrepreneurs-business-model
COURSE 3
Crafting Strategies for Innovation Initiatives for Corporate Entrepreneurs
Current session: Sep 25 — Oct 30.
Subtitles
English
About the Course
This course focuses on enhancing your understanding of (1) how an internal venture is organized and (2) how to overcome resistance to your new venture ideas within the company. The course is specifically valuable for: • Employees who have creative ideas important to their company; • Managers seeking to assemble creative people and resources; • Technical specialists desiring to become part of an internal venture; and • Consultants who advise companies on ways to launch and grow internal ventures. You will learn strategies to help you launch a corporate venture with coursework focused on four key areas: • Examining how to audit a company's internal environment to establish a framework for its innovation capabilities; • Creating a plan for an organizational structure and operational format that incorporates key roles and players for internal ventures within the company; • Analyzing corporate culture to identify creative capabilities that leverage the company's best practices for innovation; • Evaluating innovation portfolios and compose innovation strategies that are best aligned with the implementation potential within the company. Try this course for FREE at https://www.coursera.org/learn/corporate-entrepreneurs-innovation-strategy
COURSE 4
Financing and Profiting from Innovation for Corporate Entrepreneurs
Current session: Sep 25 — Oct 30.
Subtitles
English
About the Course
This course is for aspiring or active corporate entrepreneurs who wants to understand how to secure and manage funding for their corporate venture. We will demystify key accounting and financing concepts to give corporate entrepreneurs a guide to developing the business case for their ideas, and securing funding to translate ideas into reality. This course focuses on four key areas: • Learning the fundamentals and how to create financial statements for new ventures within the corporate environment; • Examining valuation techniques for understanding how to assess and grow the value of the corporate venture; • Exploring the different sources of internal and external financing for the corporate venture; and • Applying lessons learned in the course to structure a funding deal and pitch the corporate venture. Try this course for FREE at https://www.coursera.org/learn/corporate-entrepreneurs-financing
COURSE 5
Master Class for Corporate Entrepreneurs
Current session: Sep 25 — Oct 30.
Subtitles
English
About the Course
The Master Class experience is designed to serve as the final project experience for the Corporate Entrepreneurship Specialization. Alternatively, professionals with experience in opportunity analysis, business modeling, and corporate finance are invited to complete the Master Class experience without the preliminary courses. With maturing technologies and aging product portfolios requiring established companies to create, develop, and sustain innovative new businesses, graduates of the Master Class will develop an understanding of how to create new businesses and initiatives within the corporate environment. In collaboration with our award-winning faculty, and a vibrant peer group, learners will explore and apply the skills, tools, and best practices for: • Identifying and developing the entrepreneurial opportunities; • Building business models; • Creating strategies for leading innovation; and • Financing and profiting from innovation. The Master Class experience is differentiated from typical Coursera courses and MOOCs in that our faculty and staff are actively engaged with learners by providing individual feedback on assignments. Our faculty and staff will review and offer feedback on the major assignment submissions, if you wish, in an effort to assist you in developing and launching your corporate ventures. Try this course for FREE at https://www.coursera.org/learn/corporate-entrepreneurship-project

Creators

The University of Maryland is one of the nation's preeminent public research universities, and a global leader in entrepreneurship and innovation.
The University of Maryland is the state's flagship university and one of the nation's preeminent public research universities. A global leader in research, entrepreneurship and innovation, the university is home to more than 37,000 students, 9,000 faculty and staff, and 250 academic programs. Its faculty includes three Nobel laureates, three Pulitzer Prize winners, 47 members of the national academies and scores of Fulbright scholars. The institution has a $1.8 billion operating budget, secures $500 million annually in external research funding and recently completed a $1 billion fundraising campaign.