Teaching Systems - Getting future IT entrepreneurs to see the full picture

Abstract

Information is going everywhere. It is bleeding out of the Internet and out of personal computers, and it is being embedded into the real world. Mobile devices, networked resources, and real-time systems are making our interactions with information constant and ubiquitous. Information is becoming pervasive, and products and services are becoming parts of larger systems, many of these emergent, complex information-based ecosystems where participants are co-producers and where relationships between elements, channels and touchpoints are messy and non-linear. Still, by and large, within the area of informatics and information systems we teach management and design as if they were linear processes where cause and effect are easily ascertained and a solution readily provided. Could we try something different? How would that work and what results could it produce in terms of both learning outcomes and student satisfaction? This paper details the approach we followed and the early results we achieved in introducing business and informatics students to entrepreneurship and innovation through a holistic approach in the 2-year Master in IT, Management and Innovation at Jönköping International Business School (JIBS), in Jönköping, Sweden.