Course Syllabus
Transforming Business:Blockchain and Disruptive Innovation |
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| Semester & Location: |
Spring 2020 - DIS Copenhagen |
| Type & Credits: |
Elective Course - 3 credits |
| Major Disciplines: | Business, Entrepreneurship |
| Faculty Member: |
Karim Jabbar |
| Program Director: |
Susanne Goul Hovmand - sgh@dis.dk |
| Program Coordinator: |
Alex Berlin- ab@dis.dk |
| Program Assistant: | Marissa Buffo - mbu@dis.dk |
| Time & Place: |
Fridays 10:05-13:00 |
Course Description
This course, designed for future business professionals, unpacks the buzz surrounding Blockchain and the broader family of DLTs (Distributed Ledger Technologies). Drawing on cases from a variety of industries in Europe, we explore how Blockchain and DLT solutions can help businesses run more efficiently—and in some cases more sustainably—by bringing unprecedented transparency to supply chains, contracts, and markets. Our goal is to develop a feel for business situations where Blockchain and DLTs can (or might not) be “game-changers,” along with a realistic sense of the challenges involved.
Background:
A decade ago, an anonymous person or group under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto unleashed the Bitcoin protocol on the Internet, which allows for peer-to-peer exchange of digital cash without the need for a trusted third party. This was the first implementation of what today is broadly referred to as Blockchain technology, alluding to one of the attributes of Bitcoin, namely its shared replicated transaction ledger that is structured as blocks of transactions chained together through cryptographic hashes. While the specific technical components of Blockchain have been known for a long time, i.e. distributed databases, cryptography, and consensus protocols, it is their specific combination that has proven innovative.
As this technology has expanded from an obscure protocol leaked on the internet, to the complex ecosystem of cryptocurrencies and potential business applications that we see today, it is often claimed that Blockchain is fundamentally transformative. Its principles of transparency, accountability, immutability, as well as its inherent decentralization, should allow for a whole range of innovative Blockchain solutions to be created, such as: full traceability in supply chains, innovative trade finance, automated sustainability reporting, peer-to-peer crowdfunding without intermediary, distributed energy production and trading, and tamper-proof carbon markets, just to name a few. While the promise is there, we definitely also see a lot of buzz, and a strong tech-push for solutions that might not require a Blockchain in the first place.
This course places itself at the intersection of technology and business, and while being theoretically framed draws on specific empirical cases that will be explored in depth in term of understanding the specific industries as well as the related implementation challenges. This is not an exclusive class where software developers get to work on new Blockchain applications. Instead, this is a strategically designed business class for professionals looking to demystify what Blockchain technology is and how it can be applied to various types of firms, industries and business cases.
Key course themes
Theme 1: Blockchain Primer - From cryptocurrency to fundamental technology layer
Session 1- Unpacking Blockchain principles and features
Session 2- Blockchain as cryptocurrency
Session 3- Blockchain beyond cryptocurrency
Theme 2: Theoretical frameworks for understanding the deployment of Blockchain technology
Session 4- Blockchain as "diffusion of innovation" vs. Blockchain as "infrastructural grind"
Session 5- Global value chains: Blockchain for traceability and certification
Theme 3: Transforming Industries through Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Systems
Session 6- Industry cases: Finance (Lecture + Workshop)
Session 7- Industry cases: Shipping, Transport & Logistics (Lecture + Workshop)
Session 8- Industry cases: Agricultural Commodities (Lecture + Workshop)
Session 9- Industry cases: Energy generation, distribution and trading (Lecture + Workshop)
Session 10- Industry cases: Climate Markets (Lecture + Workshop)
Session 11- Final student presentations & course wrap-up
Learning objectives
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After completing the course, students should:
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Faculty
Karim Jabbar
Industrial PhD Fellow on emerging technological innovations, University of Copenhagen and DIS (since 2015). Cand. merc. (International Business Administration and Development Studies, Copenhagen Business School, 2001). Member of Danish Standard Working Group on Blochchain, (since 2017). Program Manager at the Delegation of the European Commission in Cotonou, Benin, 2002-2003. Managing Director for a travel company with subsidiaries in 5 African countries, 2004-2007. With DIS since 2009.
Readings
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Mandatory readings: - Aviv Zohar. 2015. Bitcoin under the Hood. Communications of the ACM, September 2015, Vol 58, No 9, 104-113 - Karim Jabbar, and Pernille Bjørn. 2017. Growing the Blockchain Information Infrastructure, Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Elizabeth Churchill. 2015. Why should we care about Bitcoin? Interactions.acm.org, September-October 2015 - Karim Jabbar, and Pernille Bjørn. 2018. Infrastructural Grind: Introducing Blockchain Technology in the Shipping Domain. GROUP '18, January 7–10, 2018, Sanibel Island, FL, USA - Karim Jabbar, Deanna MacDonald, Simon Ousager. 2017. Token Gesture? FutureNautics, Issue 15, Q2 2017, Quaterly - Karim Jabbar, Deanna MacDonald. 2017. Men in Block FutureNautics, Issue 16, Q3 2017, Quaterly - Faisal M. Mohd Noor, et. al. 2017. Beyond sustainability criteria and principles in palm oil production: addressing consumer concerns through insetting. Ecology and Society - 22(2):5. - Kristoffer Francisco and David Swanson. 2018. The Supply Chain Has No Clothes: Technology Adoption of Blockchain for Supply Chain Transparency. Logistics 2018, 2, 2; doi:10.3390/logistics2010002 - David Livingston, Varun Sivaram, Madison Freeman, and Maximilian Fiege. 2018. Applying Blockchain Technology to Electric Power Systems. Council on Foreign Relations, Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies. - World Bank Group. 2018. Blockchain and Emereging Digital Technologies for Enhancing Post-2020 Climate Markets. |
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Additional relevant readings: |
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- Tim Swanson. 2015. Consensus-as-a-service: a brief report on the mergence of permissioned, distributed ledger systems - Richard Muirhead, Ari Banerjee, et. al. 2018. The State of the Token Market – A year in review & an outlook for 2018. Fabric Ventures, 2018 - Viswanath Venkatesh and Fred D. Davis. 2000. A Theoretical Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model: Four Longitudinal Field Studies. Management Science, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Feb., 2000), pp. 186-204 - Linus Opara. 2003. Traceability in agriculture and food supply chain: A review of basic concepts, technological implications, and future prospects. Food, Agriculture & Environment Vol.1(1): 101-106. 2003 |
Field Studies (subject to change)
- Copenhagen FinTech Lab (http://fintechlab.dk/)
- Solstroem (https://www.solstroem.com/)
Guest Lecturers
Founders of various Blockchain based companies in Copenhagen (more TBA)
Approach to Teaching
This course is designed to empower students to take charge of their learning. A blended learning strategy is employed to reverse the traditional learning environment so that the students become an active part in collaboratively disseminating, analyzing and sharing learning insight in class. The lecture components of the course are meant to be directly applicable to the project that the students are working on, and the instruction in the classroom alters between being focused on content dissemination and applied mentoring/collaborative learning.
The student-centered approach to teaching will generate:
• Knowledge/competences about theory/models/tools for understanding the evolution of Blockchain;
• Knowledge/competencies in reading and analyzing scientific literature;
• Presentation and discussion skills;
• Analytical skills; and
• Knowledge/competences in collaborating on an ongoing team project.
Development of additional personal competencies linked to applied and project related characteristics of this course:
• Knowledge/competences in identifying, developing and evaluating ideas for Blockchain powered applications and technology stacks;
• Competences in innovative methods on how best to present, to develop and to integrate such business recommendations focused on Blockchain and sustainable digital infrastructures; and
• Competencies in Industry/Blockchain case analysis and development;
Expectations of the Students
The following will be expected of the students:
- Active and voluntary participation in class discussions
- Having prepared properly for every class, i.e. doing all the required reading and assignments
- Proactively collaborating with their peers on the assigned project, i.e. doing their share of the work load
- Being active in both providing and receiving feedback from your peers and all other parties that your encounter during the course (i.e. guest lectures and field visits)
Evaluation
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Assignment / Course requirement |
Deadline |
Percentage of final grade |
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Engagement |
ongoing |
30% |
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Industry presentation (Blockchain in a given industry) |
mid-course |
15% |
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Consultancy project |
end-of-course |
35% |
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Individual paper |
end-of-course |
20% |
Notes:
A Word about Grades
We realize that grades are important to you, but try not to let your anxiety about grades deter you from taking intellectual risks and learning just for the joy of learning. Also, we do not grade to punish or reward you just as our grade is not an indication of our evaluation of you as a person. We grade you to give you our honest assessment of your academic performance at this point in time.
Note: To be eligible for a passing grade in this class you must complete all of the assigned work.
Disability and Resource Statement
Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the Office of Academic Support (acadsupp@dis.dk) to coordinate this. In order to receive accommodations, students should inform the instructor of approved DIS accommodations within the first two weeks of classes.
Policies
Attendance
You are expected to attend all classes, guest lectures, workshops and field studies. If you must miss a class for religious holidays, medical reasons, or other valid reasons, you must let us know as far in advance as possible of the absence and obtain information about the work you must do to keep up in class. If you miss a class for any other reason (sudden illness, family emergency, etc.), you should get in touch with us as soon as possible and arrange to make up the work missed.
It is crucial for your learning that you stay on task and hand in assignments on or before the due date. All work– including in-class projects – have to be completed in order to pass the class. Late papers or projects will be marked down with 1/3 of a grade for each day it is late.
Academic Honesty
Plagiarism and Violating the Rules of an Assignment
DIS expects that students abide by the highest standards of intellectual honesty in all academic work. DIS assumes that all students do their own work and credit all work or thought taken from others. Academic dishonesty will result in a final course grade of “F” and can result in dismissal. The students’ home universities will be notified. DIS reserves the right to request that written student assignments be turned in electronic form for submission to plagiarism detection software. See the Academic Handbook for more information, or ask your instructor if you have questions.
Academic Regulations
Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:
DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org
Special note about laptop use in class: Use of laptop computers in class is allowed for the purpose of note-taking ONLY; other computer activities can prove distracting. Students May lose their laptop privileges if they use their computers for other activities besides taking notes. Students should also refrain from any activity/behavior that May be disturbing to other students who are making the effort to be attentive.
Course Summary:
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