Thrive! Business Skills as a Solid Foundation for a Future in the Creative Industry Module 2 Employees in Companies with Growth Potential or Ambition for Growth. Student Manual

Abstract

**Dynamic Change in the Creative Industries and the Growing Importance of Business Skills** Almost all sectors of the creative industries have experienced massive changes since the early 21st century. Technology, particularly digitalization, has fundamentally changed the way of production, sales, and distribution. New competitors have emerged, often from outside traditional branches, capturing market shares. Customer behavior has become more volatile, and close cooperation with customers ("prosumers") is now the norm. One effect is that skills become obsolete more quickly than in the past. As a result, the number of companies and employees in most sectors of the creative industries has decreased across European countries. For example, the printing industry, as part of the creative industries, has lost more than 40% of its companies and employees over the past 15 years (for detailed information, see Hopkins / van der Heide 2017). What is new today is the speed of development. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly difficult to predict the future of business, especially with a perspective of more than 5 years.  The described developments lead to a paradigm shift in innovation and entrepreneurship, primarily triggered by digital transformation. New products and services are no longer the focus of innovation; innovations in business models receive the highest priority. Incremental innovations are of little interest: everyone is looking for the next disruptive innovation.  Beyond the current discussion, which largely focuses on digital transformation and disruptive changes, these developments not only threaten traditional industries and actors. On the other hand, they offer enormous opportunities for entrepreneurs and individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit.

Learning outcomes

**Guidance Through the Manual** The aim of this manual is to introduce participants to the course and the topics covered: - A brief introduction to entrepreneurship and employees in companies with growth potential or ambition for growth. - Explanation of the course. - Introduction to individual topics of the course with summarized presentations and references to additional material. - Attachment with materials (tools) for the application of the presented methods. The manual provides a brief introduction and an overview of the individual topics of the course. Participants will engage with self-study content by reading books/chapters, specialized articles, etc. Additionally, appropriate sources for deeper study of the topic are provided.

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