Curriculum 2018 – HYA218SJ (in English)

LAUREA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

Degree Programme in Service Innovation and Design, in English, HYA218SJ

Ylemmät ammattikorkeakoulututkinnot

Laurea's Mission

Laurea is a student-centred, international, inspiring and innovative university of applied sciences whose mission is to
conduct education, research, development and innovation activities and produce new knowledge by applying the
principles of the Learning by Developing (LbD) operating model.

Laurea's focus areas are service business, expertise in nursing and coping at home as well as security, safety and
social responsibility. Education offered at Laurea as well as research and development activities are based on these
focus areas. Student entrepreneurship is a cross-cutting focus area. Student entrepreneurship is visible as an
entrepreneurial attitude, cooperation with companies and as concrete new businesses the establishing of which is
supported during the studies.

Laurea's brand promise "Together we are stronger" describes Laurea's solid regional development role. Laurea is a
University of Applied Sciences for the whole region of Uusimaa, and its knowledge and skills are available to the
whole area. Our service promise "We are here for you at Laurea" is a promise of good learning for our students, and
for our cooperative partners a promise of partnership and developing together.

Competence Development in Master's Studies

Laurea's model of Learning by Developing (LbD) is based on authentic encounters with the world of work. The
typical characteristics of LbD include authenticity, partnership, experiential nature, creativity and a research-oriented
approach. Learning by Developing combines learning that produces competence with creativity through various
research and development projects.

In Master's degree programmes, the learning process comprises a future-oriented process of research and
development, in the course of which the students develop their competence by producing new knowledge and skills
related to questions that cannot be solved merely by relying on previously acquired knowledge and competence.
Learning is a way of creating new knowledge and competence that links learning to innovation activities in the
relevant field and area. For the students, the period they spend in education is a collective project for building up
their expertise and developing and exceeding themselves, aiming for a combination of knowledge that is relevant
and useful from the perspective of future workplace requirements.

The foundation for competence development is an enriching community. The community is an environment of
shared expertise in which the learner's role is to act as a specialist, a developer and an agent exerting influence.

The learners develop their competence by interacting with their environment and their sector. Resources for
competence development include a learning culture that favours creativity and goal-oriented action, expert guidance
and instruction, as well as a learning environment that supports competence development. Participatory instruction
is used to guide competence. Every teacher is a tutor whose expertise and operating methods support the
reinforcement of expertise. The learning environment consists of a competence network, an innovation environment,
a platform for developing competence and structures that support learning. When putting together learning
environments, empowering people and enabling their enthusiasm and their interaction is stressed to foster creativity.

Rather than focusing on presenting and repeating information and controlling the students' command of it, the
teaching strives for a learning process demonstrated as progressive problem-solving, continuous learning and
developing and exceeding oneself. The goal is at competence that is useful in knowledge-intensive service
organisations where work increasingly is a function of creativity and where a precondition for directing the
organisation is an ability to create a responsible, result-oriented management culture that is based on giving space
for the individual's creativity. Competence is demonstrated as impact and development competence.

DEGREE STRUCTURE IN EDUCATION LEADING TO A MASTER'S DEGREE

Scope and Extent of the Degree
The scope of the degree is 90 credits of which thesis forms 30 credits.The degree takes on average 1.5-2.5 years to
complete. In line with the international ECTS standard, one credit corresponds with 26.7 hours of work for an
average student.

Degree Structure

Master’s degree studies at Laurea consists of core competence modules including thesis, and complementary
competence modules. The modules comprise competence areas that are part of the degree.

The scope of the compulsory core competence modules is 60 credits in master’s degree. Complementary modules
make it possible to deepen or extend your knowledge. Complementary competence modules support individual
study paths and competence. Complementary competence modules that can be selected freely are offered on
Laurea's various campuses. The extent of complementary competence in a Master's degree is 30 credits.

ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING AND COMPETENCE

In the curriculum, the learning outcomes are described as the learner's actions, so that the development of
competence can be assessed with reference to the set goals. Competence is identified as knowledge, skills and
values related competence as well as experiential competence that includes the competence of an individual and a
community.

INTERNATIONAL COMPARABILITY OF THE DEGREE

Competence is at the centre of all activities at Laurea, and we recognize competence in a comprehensive sense.
General working life capabilities specified at the national level have been taken into account in the degree contents.

The level of the degree corresponds with level 7 of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and level 7 of the
European Qualifications Framework (EQF).

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

The curriculum is developed by using evaluation, monitoring and feedback data. Changes may occur in the study
units and implementation modes of the modules. The offering of the complementary modules is constantly under
development to match the requirements of the working life and thus the offering may change during the studies.
                                                           1. year         2. year
Y       CORE COMPETENCE                                               40             20
A862    SERVICE LOGIC DRIVEN INNOVATION AND
        DESIGN COMPETENCES
A9299   Design Thinking                                               5
A9300   Service Logic-Based Strategic Management                      5
A9301   New Service Development and Innovative Business               5
        Models
A9302   Deep Customer Insights through Ethnographic                   5
        Research
A9303   Service Design Process and Methods                            5
A9304   Futures Thinking and Foresight Methodologies                  5
A866    THESIS
A9317   Master's Thesis                                               10             20
T       COMPLEMENTARY COMPETENCE                                      75              5
A863    BUSINESS AND LEADERSHIP COMPETENCES IN
        SERVICE INNOVATION
A9305   Management Accounting and Control in Service                  5
A9306   Service Marketing and Selling                                 5
A9307   Change Leadership and Service Culture                         5
A9388   Pricing in Service Business                                   5
A864    ADVANCED COMPETENTES IN SERVICE
        INNOVATION AND DESIGN
A9308   Cross-Cultural Issues in Service Development                  5
A9309   Current Topics in Service Design                              5
A9310   Service Design in Digital Context                             5
A9311   Social Innovation and Social Responsibility                   5
A9389   Analysing Qualitative Data                                    5
A9390   Visual Research Methods in Design                             5
A865    OPERATIONAL SKILLS FOR SERVICE INNOVATION
        AND DESIGN
A9313   Entrepreneurship in Service                                   5
A9314   English for Managers and Professionals                        5
A9315   Tools for Visual Communication in Service Design              5
A9316   Capital Investment Analysis                                                   5
A9392   Facilitation skills for service development                   5
R024    OTHER COMPLEMENTARY COMPETENCE
A9384   Building internet enabled markets                             5
                                                                     115             25
A862 SERVICE LOGIC DRIVEN INNOVATION AND DESIGN COMPETENCES, 30 cr


A9299 Design Thinking, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   classify the principles of design thinking
•   apply design thinking approach and basic tools in innovation processes



A9300 Service Logic-Based Strategic Management, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   explain the strategic shift to service-based business logic and its impact on corporate level
•   analyse a company’s strategy and strategic choices
•   master the key concepts, principles and methods of strategic management



A9301 New Service Development and Innovative Business Models, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   develop service logic into a business model
•   develop and model innovative service systems, concepts and processes



A9302 Deep Customer Insights through Ethnographic Research, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   use the ethnographic approach in service development
•   apply qualitative research methods
•   discover unarticulated customer/user needs and envision the opportunities this opens up
•   analyse customer/user experiences across all the touch points of an organisation



A9303 Service Design Process and Methods, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   explain the principles of service design
•   use service design processes and methods



A9304 Futures Thinking and Foresight Methodologies, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   explain the principles of futures thinking
•   use foresight methods and practices in service innovation



A866 THESIS, 30 cr


A9317 Master's Thesis, 30 cr
The student is able to:
•   plan, carry out and evaluate a service development project within a given timeframe by applying appropriate
    methods
•   manage and transform work contexts that are complex, unpredictable and require new strategic approaches
•   identify and formulate problems and solutions critically, independently and creatively
•   use the specialised problem solving skills required in research and innovation in order to develop new
    procedures and knowledge and to integrate knowledge from different fields
•   take responsibility for contributing to professional practice and knowledge
•   carry out and manage project tasks, take initiatives, adopt a developmental approach to work and initiate and
    implement change processes



A863 BUSINESS AND LEADERSHIP COMPETENCES IN SERVICE INNOVATION, 15 cr


A9305 Management Accounting and Control in Service, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   explain the importance of cost accounting and budgeting for decision making
•   use key performance indicators in the service development context
•   analyse customer profitability
•   develop value-based pricing



A9306 Service Marketing and Selling, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   explain the evolution of services marketing thought
•   identify the strategic approach in service marketing
•   establish, maintain and develop customer relationships
•   conceptualize and sell services



A9307 Change Leadership and Service Culture, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   support organisations in becoming more service and customer focused
•   adopt a proactive attitude towards change and manage emerging issues
•   promote creativity
•   explain how to create change through entrepreneurial leadership



A9388 Pricing in Service Business, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   adapt to the current change from cost focus to customer value orientation
•   explain the theory and research concerning pricing of services
•   price new services using traditional pricing methods
•   apply innovative pricing methods and tools in practice



A864 ADVANCED COMPETENTES IN SERVICE INNOVATION AND DESIGN, 25 cr


A9308 Cross-Cultural Issues in Service Development, 5 cr
The student is able to:
•   identify and deeply understand cross-cultural issues related to service development
•   manage multicultural teams and projects
•   support and develop frontline personnel's intercultural communication competences
•   involve diverse customers in the service design processes



A9309 Current Topics in Service Design, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   deepen their understanding of service innovation and design
•   acquire and share new knowledge by participating in and analysing the content of scientific and professional
    seminars, conferences and workshops
•   reflect upon their learning and create their own framework around service innovation and design competence



A9310 Service Design in Digital Context, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   discuss how to create digital service and basics of interaction design
•   use service design skills in designing digital service
•   analyse clients digital strategy in the service design perspective
•   work with co-workers and clients in co-creative digital service projects
•   manage digital service design projects



A9311 Social Innovation and Social Responsibility, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   explain the concept of social responsibility and social innovation
•   learn to recognize opportunities to solve societal problems with innovations and understand their impact
•   apply different tools to design sustainable innovations together with the (future) beneficiaries



A9389 Analysing Qualitative Data, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   explain the principles of qualitative data analysis
•   explain the stages in the analytical process
•   code and categorize qualitative data
•   outline the different approaches of qualitative data analysis



A9390 Visual Research Methods in Design, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   understand the relationship between design and visual methods
•   discover new ways of using visuals within the design process
•   use different visual materials in multiple ways
•   analyse visual material and gain understanding of the societal meaning of visuals
•   critically reflect on limitations of visual material
A865 OPERATIONAL SKILLS FOR SERVICE INNOVATION AND DESIGN, 20 cr


A9313 Entrepreneurship in Service, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   develop their own business idea
•   develop entrepreneurial spirit



A9314 English for Managers and Professionals, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   communicate in international professional environment
•   oexplain different components of intercultural communication competence
•   develop their skills in different communication contexts



A9315 Tools for Visual Communication in Service Design, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   communicate and share service development ideas and objectives by using graphic software
•   visualize a service development process or a service concept by using and editing computer graphics (photos,
    graphic elements and charts)



A9316 Capital Investment Analysis, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   identify cash flows associated with capital budgeting decisions
•   recognize the time value of money and the importance of discounting cash flows
•   use NPV, IRR, payback period and accounting rate of return to determine whether or not a project is acceptable
•   interpret how sensitivity analysis can help in decision making



A9392 Facilitation skills for service development, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•   explain the principles of facilitation and what is facilitation in different contexts
•   identify the role of a facilitator
•   classify facilitation competences and tools, and to master their business applications
•   develop workshops to be more interactive and productive
•   develop a basic facilitated workshop process with relevant tools and guidelines



R024 OTHER COMPLEMENTARY COMPETENCE, 0 cr

Description:
Other studies which develop professional skills can be offered in this module. Studies completed elsewhere can
always be placed in this module

Learning process:
The competences described in the module can be developed either by participating in study units or working in
projects.
In the projects you participate in the development work of domestic or international businesses and communities
and in project work. The language used in the project can be either Finnish or English. Projects can also focus on
developing the student’s own business. The topic of the project and the competences developed by participating in it
will be clarified when the project is added to the study offer. The scope of the project will be agreed on in each case.
The competences generated in the projects can partly be included in the learning outcomes of some other
module(s) and thus the credits can be divided between several modules.


A9384 Building internet enabled markets, 5 cr

The student is able to:
• understand the characteristics of information and why it is very much different to a physical world
• look at businesses from a network perspective
• identify business opportunities of the internet
• apply an understanding of the information society to build new markets
• work at the intersection of business and information technology

Contents of the study unit:
• We will look into how the internet is shaping our business environments and our economy
• Study what it means when digital content is costly to produce cheap to produce i.e. the marginal cost zero
challenge
• The invisible hand of markets and economies. Understand how interaction shapes businesses (basic game theory)
and how value is created and captured in networks
• Look at some basic principles on how a complex information network (the internet) shapes business opportunities
• The change from consumers to prosumers i.e. how customers and other stakeholders become parts of the
business model
• Brick and click, how the virtual shapes the business models of traditional physical world businesses
• Business Model Canvas
• How to build new industries – basic elements, case examples

Study unit description:
This is an online course designed to work in a massive open online content (MOOC) environment. Interaction
between students is encouraged, assignments contain online quizzes and peer evaluated assignments. Interaction
from the teacher has been minimized as is characteristic to MOOC environments. The course is planned to run
three times a year.
The internet has been shaping our business landscape and our society. Some of the giants of the industrial age like
the paper industry, traditional media, retail shops are vanishing and being challenged by new processes and new
ways of conducting business. Structures of society like education and health care are being challenged by online
education and ehealth services.

The key goal for the course is to give the student an understanding of the underlying principles of the new economy.
The information society is emerging through extensive experimentation and trial and error at a company, network
and society level. Consumers are playing active roles in the business models of new businesses. Although this
seems a chaotic and evolutionary process, some of the underlying fundamental principles can be understood.
Understanding the principles of the new economy will make the future slightly more predictable and will enable
informed decisions to be made by society.

The course is an introductory course to understanding the information society. No prior knowledge is needed. The
student with an academic motivation can at a later stage study at a far more detailed and academically ambitious
level. The application motivated student might take on the challenge and apply the ideas to implementing and
creating new businesses or act in society to change its current structures.