Abstract
Universities are obligated to play a role in developing and nurturing students, preparing them
to venture into the real corporate world. Innovation, commercialisation are part of the corporate
world, therefore it is important to understand if students would prefer Innovation and
Commercialisation to be taught as part of their curriculum. To answer this question, the research
conducted was inherently focused on 3rd year IKM students. Using descriptive statistics with
frequency analysis, 134 questionnaires were handed out to the 3rd years to obtain and analyse
the overall view of how they personally perceive Innovation and Commercialisation being part
of their university curriculum. IKM honours students were also included, using semi-structured
interviews and content analysis, 5 interviews were conducted to gain an idea of how beneficial
the honours students felt it would be and whether they would have chosen it themselves. The
IKM honours students reflected on the IKM principles that they felt would best suit innovation
and commercialisation. The principles listed were the “Keep It Short and Simple (Kiss)”
principle, the “Figure It out (FIO)” principle, the PAERETO principle, and the business canvas.
With the data gathered, it was discovered that the majority of the 3rd year students felt there was
a need for Innovation and Commercialisation to be formally included as part of the university
curriculum...