Class Strategy, Creativity and Innovation

The presented curricular unit aims to: 1. Present general problems of entrepreneurships and innovation as management practices, development factors and sources of wealth; 2. Characterise the process of innovation in society, in the companies and in tourism products and destinations; 3. Evidence the nature of the business environment and its consequences to companies’ success, mainly on what concerns to capitalising on opportunities and innovative ideas; 4. Raise students’ awareness about the potential of entrepreneurship, with emphasis on the tourism industry; 5. Discuss the application of innovation elements to the management of tourism products and destinations; and 6. Understand how tourism companies apply innovative ideas to achieve solutions and capitalize on opportunities.  All these contents are orientated to real-world application, which is reflected on the syllabus, as well as on the teaching and evaluation methodologies. 

A disciplina visa não só transmitir os conteúdos teóricos pertinentes para uma formação em empreendedorismo e inovação, mas desenvolver as competências necessárias para que os alunos possam aplicar tais conhecimentos em situações reais ao longo de suas carreiras. Desta forma, ao final da unidade curricular, os alunos deverão ser capazes de: 1. perceber o processo empreendedor, nomeadamente como as empresas o empregam para obter vantagens competitivas; 2. Concretizar ideias e convertê-las em negócio viáveis na indústria do turismo; 3. Construir um plano de negócios de um novo empreendimento turístico;   4. Elaborar o plano de marketing para um negócio da indústria do turismo; e 5. Definir a estratégia do novo negócio, incluindo os seus objetivos, metas, variáveis, ambiente e projeções.

The syllabus contents are oriented towards the absorption of theoretical knowledge, as well as their practical application. In this way, classes include, in addition to the expository component, a discussion component focusing on new strategies, creativity and innovation for tourism, based on real cases.

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Drucker, P. (2006). Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Harper Business

Fayos-Solà, E., & Cooper, C. (2018). Conclusion: The Future of Tourism—Innovation for Inclusive Sustainable Development. The Future of Tourism, 325–337. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-89941-1_18 

Hisrich, Peters, Shepherd (2017). Entrepreneurship, New York, McGraw-Hill Education.

OCED (2006). Innovation and Growth in Tourism.

Verreynne, M.-L., Williams, A. M., Ritchie, B. W., Gronum, S., & Betts, K. S. (2019). Innovation diversity and uncertainty in small and medium sized tourism firms. Tourism Management, 72, 257–269. doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2018.11.019 

Wickham, P. (2006). Strategic Entrepreneurship 4th ed