Scaling, Growth, and Organization

Introduksjon

Please note that this is a preliminary course description. The final version will be published in June 2026.

After developing the entrepreneurial mindset, grasping the essence of innovation, and establishing their new ventures, entrepreneurs and managers will need to consider whether and how to scale up. This is an essential aspect, as most well-known entrepreneurs gain their reputation for successfully scaling up businesses. Put in an extreme way, scaling success is what distinguish between great entrepreneurs and mediocre ones. Entrepreneurs are rarely deemed great if they only establish a startup that survives in a constant small scale. Yet, scaling is a very complex process, with substantial uncertainty. This course focuses on key challenges and problems in the scaling phase, to improve the ability of course participants to diagnose problems in scaling and to recommend solutions.

Moreover, entrepreneurs and corporate innovators also face significant leadership and organizational challenges such as deciding on and developing the firm's business model, recruiting and leading an entrepreneurial team, and leading explorative and experimental work on a shoestring budget. The course will give students knowledge and understanding of theory and practice of business models, agile design and development, leadership and organizing in entrepreneurial settings and prepare them for careers in start-ups, scale-ups, and corporate innovation efforts.

This course builds on theoretical and empirical explanations to explore how entrepreneurs cope with developmental challenges in different aspects. It also dives into key contexts, in order to improve the competence of students to combine knowledge with practice.

Kursets innhold

The course content includes:

• Scaleup: Overview
• Scaleup: Internal Analysis
• Scaleup: External Analysis
• Scaleup: Competitive Dynamics
• Scaleup: Strategy (1)
• Scaleup: Strategy (2)
• Scaleup: Organization
• Scaleup: Team
• Scaleup: HRM
• Scaleup: Innovation and ESG
• Organization: Business models
• Organization: Decision-making
• Organization: Collaboration