Can you really manage innovation?

Innovation is a major force for progress in business, economy and society. However, it is very difficult to manage and implement effectively.

Research has shown that, on average, innovative businesses are twice as profitable as their non-innovative counterparts. Innovation can also drive progress for social and environmental benefit. The capability to manage innovation successfully is one of the key success factors in 21^st-century business.

The Centre for Research and Innovation Management (CENTRIM), based within the Brighton Business School at the University of Brighton, specialises in innovation management and is one of the few centres worldwide that develops and uses business tools, products, training and other services from research to help industry. This practical application ‘closes the loop’ between research and practice.

Managing innovation is not easy. There are risks involved and it is easy to waste resources. A special form of management is needed to ensure that the benefits of innovation become reality.

CENTRIM, working with the US-based training consultancy Barnes and Conti, has developed a two-day workshop: Managing Innovation. The workshop explores the skills involved in successful innovation management – from searching for new ideas to exploiting the maximum value from completed innovation projects.

Since 2008, the workshop has been delivered to more than 5000 people including managers from companies such as Abbott Laboratories (a leading international pharmaceutical company), BNDES (Brazilian Development Bank), Cisco Systems, Citibank, IBM and Medtronic (in Business Week’s top 100 most innovative companies), Pfizer and 3663 Logistics.

The workshop demystifies the overall innovation process and focuses on best practice to get to the bottom of which skills are actually needed to innovate, and the practical process for deciding which ideas to develop and exploit. In one particular case, the Managing Innovation approach has had the effect of changing the organisation’s whole business model.

The UK Innovation Director for Logica confirms that the tools and models explored in the workshop now form the standard for how innovation is explored internally as well as how they work with clients externally.

Written by Jennifer Wells, Training & Development Manager, University of Brighton

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