Improving Innovation Through Better Management

Improving Innovation Through Better Management explores ways to provide innovation management training to a large, diverse population of students throughout their careers. The report identifies the competencies that are likely to enhance innovation management, describes what’s currently known about where and how to effectively teach these competencies, and outlines the implications for academic institutions, industry, and government.

Innovation is a vital process for any business to remain competitive in this age. This progress must be coherently and optimally managed, allowing for successful improvement and future growth. The Handbook of Research on Strategic Innovation Management for Improved Competitive Advantage provides emerging research on the use of information and knowledge to promote development in various business agencies. While covering topics such as design thinking, financial analysis, and policy planning, this publication explores the wide and complex relationships that constitute strategic innovation management principals and processes. This publication is an important resource for students, professors, researchers, managers, and entrepreneurs seeking current research on the methods and tools regarding information and knowledge management for business advancement.

This book presents unique insights and advice on defining and managing the innovation transformation journey. Using novel ideas, examples and best practices, it empowers management executives at all levels to drive cultural, technological and organizational changes toward innovation. Covering modern innovation techniques, tools, programs and strategies, it focuses on the role of the latest technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence to discover, handle and manage ideas), methodologies (including Agile Engineering and Rapid Prototyping) and combinations of these (like hackathons or gamification). At the same time, it highlights the importance of culture and provides suggestions on how to build it. In the era of AI and the unprecedented pace of technology evolution, companies need to become truly innovative in order to survive. The transformation toward an innovation-led company is difficult – it requires a strong leadership and culture, advanced technologies and well-designed programs. The book is based on the author’s long-term experience and novel ideas, and reflects two decades of startup, consulting and corporate leadership experience. It is intended for business, technology, and innovation leaders.

Actionable tools, processes and metrics for successfully managing innovation projects Conventional project management methods are oftentimes insufficient for managing innovation projects. Innovation is lost under the pre-determined scope and forecasted environments of traditional project management. There is tremendous pressure on organizations to innovate, and the project managers responsible for managing these innovation projects do not have the training or tools to do their jobs effectively. Innovation Project Management provides the tools, insights, and metrics needed to successfully manage innovation projects—helping readers identify problems in their organization, conceive elegant solutions, and, when necessary, promote changes to their organizational culture. There are several kinds of innovation—ranging from incremental changes to existing products to wholly original processes that emerge from market-disrupting new technology—that possess different characteristics and often require different tools. Best-selling author and project management expert Harold Kerzner integrates innovation, project management, and strategic planning to offer students and practicing professionals the essential tools and processes to analyze innovation from all sides. Innovation Project Management deconstructs traditional project management methods and explains why and how innovation projects should be managed differently. This invaluable resource: Provides practical advice and actionable tools for effectively managing innovation projects Offers value-based project management metrics and guidance on how to establish a metrics management program Shares exclusive insights from project managers at world-class organizations such as Airbus, Boeing, Hitachi, IBM, and Siemens on how they manage innovation projects Explores a variety of types of innovation including co-creation, value-driven, agile, open versus closed, and more Instructors have access to PowerPoint lecture slides by chapter through the book’s companion website Innovation Project Management: Methods, Case Studies, and Tools for Managing Innovation Projects is an essential text for professional project managers, corporate managers, innovation team members, as well as students in project management, innovation and entrepreneurship programs.

Dr. H. James Harrington and Frank Voehl have gathered together the thoughts and ideas of more than 20 of the most creative innovation thought leaders from business, professional practice, and academia in this compelling book. The thought leaders look at innovation from almost every angle – their statements offer an unparalleled view of innovation and provide a depth of insight that is extraordinary. Harrington and Voehl’s reflection on each chapter, and on the sections within the book, provides useful links between themes and reinforces the relationships between many of the ideas. Anyone interested in innovation (practitioner or researcher) will benefit from this global thought collection. The contributors' multiple perspectives, models, practical examples, and stories provide a sense of innovation that no single writer could ever capture. A company’s future growth will only come through successful innovation. This book is organized around Dr. Harrington's innovation pyramid, which consists of the 16 building blocks required to bring about significant improvements in an organization’s ability to deliver creative products. It highlights the principles and recommendations in ISO's new innovation standard 56002 and provides many new concepts that are not included in the standard. It includes a free, powerful, and valuable online customized innovation maturity analysis. Following three unassailable facts will strike you as soon as you read this book: 1. Innovation is the new mantra; whether you're involved in a not-for-profit, for-profit, service sector, or governmental organization. 2. Understanding that innovation and creative activities penetrate into every part of an organization requiring multiple perspectives that drive a new way of thinking and working that impacts the organization's culture, social operations, and commercial context that impacts the total organization, and not just new products or services. 3. Innovation is an exciting adventure. Total Innovative Management Excellence (TIME): The Future of Innovation (978-0-367-43242-3, 340635) draws on insights from around the globe in order to be competitive in fast-moving technologies.

This book answers the question of how to improve the innovation performance of large companies. It discusses how a wide range of management systems and practices impact innovation performance. Having observed a number of management teams that were trying to improve innovation performance, the author describes the most effective ways to do this. He looks at what management systems to change first, how to change them, and who to involve in the process. Finally, he discusses how the ideal innovation system differs across industries and how managers should take industry differences into account as they work to improve their innovation systems.

The primary cause of many project failures is that responsible executives, because of their lack of knowledge in project management, fail to demand that their managers and staff properly utilize the well-proven best practices, processes, systems, and tools that are now available in this field. This book remedies this situation by providing executives at all levels with the understanding and knowledge needed to best take advantage of the power of effective project management and thereby lead and manage innovations within their enterprise. In Leading and Managing Innovation: What Every Executive Team Must Know about Project, Program, and Portfolio Management, Second Edition, the authors present concise descriptions of The key concepts underlying project and program management The important characteristics of projects and programs How projects and programs are best governed and managed How to determine if the desired benefits have actually been achieved The book presents a list of 31 reasonable demands that executives can and must place on their staff members to ensure excellence in the way their programs and projects are created, selected for funding, planned, and executed. Placing these demands communicates to the entire enterprise that top management understands what it takes to achieve the best performance possible and fully supports the continuous improvement needed to ensure continued success. Leading and Managing Innovation explains how to measure the project management maturity level of an enterprise, benchmark against competitors, and identify where project management improvements are required. It discusses the many ways that an enterprise can derive substantial success and competitive advantage from increasing its project management maturity level. A helpful quick reference summary of all of the book’s key information is included in the final chapter. Armed with this information, you will be well-qualified to give excellent direction to your managers and staff to ensure that your vital capability in the field of project management—and how you manage innovation—is equal to or better than that of your competitors.

Offering a conceptual framework that integrates strategy, product, process and human resource research, this timely book interrogates these four critical and interrelated areas of innovation management. Chapters examine new insights into the latest trends in the field, providing a holistic view into key management strategies that benefit both up-and-coming and established businesses.