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CENTER FOR INNOVATION MANAGEMENT STUDIES

 The Center for Innovation Management Studies (CIMS) joined Poole College in 2000, from Lehigh University where it was founded in 1984, bringing along its database of innovation management research results conducted over nearly 30 years in partnership with industry and academic institutions.

CIMS has funded numerous faculty research projects that have resulted in assessment tools, such as the Innovation Management Maturity Model (IMMA) and Value IQ (VIQ), developed by Dr. Lynda Aiman-Smith, associate professor. These tools are available at the CIMS website for companies to explore and test with trial runs.

More recently, CIMS has spearheaded the application of big data analytics to industry problems through projects involving student teams in the Jenkins MBA program’s biosciences management concentration, as well as with corporate clients served by North Carolina State Executive Education (NCSEE) through which Poole College delivers its executive development programs. Big data analytics is now being taught as a Jenkins MBA course by Dr. Michael Kowolenko, teaching assistant professor who began working with IBM’s big data technology as a CIMS Industrial Fellow and Poole College principal research scholar.

CIMS funded a 3-year project, currently under way, on the adaptation of the TEC Algorithm to implementing big data decision tools, sustainability management practices, entrepreneurship as well as intrepreneurship, and other key elements essential for successful innovation management processes. This project is led by Dr. Steve Markham, associate professor in Poole College. Additional innovation management research is under way by CIMS fellows at other universities and industry partner companies.

Jenkins MBA students are introduced to many of the CIMS tools, specifically those related to organizational culture in the MBA 530 People Management course, and have opportunities to apply them to industry-team projects in that course as well as others in the graduate innovation management concentration. Students in the dual degree Jenkins Master of Global Innovation Management (MGIM) program work on innovation management projects as part of their coursework during their semester at the French Institut d’Administration des Entreprises at the Université Paul Cézanne in Aix en Provence.

Results of research conducted by students, faculty and industry fellows are reported through CIMS’s newsletter and blog, and presented and discussed at its fall and spring meetings. The 2013 spring meeting will be held April 16 and 17 at the Raleigh Downtown Marriott <add to calendar & link to calendar page>

The CIMS website also is a repository of innovation management knowledge and tools. A graphic interface on the site – CIMS’s IM Cube – allows leaders of organizations to visualize the importance and impact of five core competences and five core dimensions essential for firms that want to master innovation management and enjoy the benefits of top-line growth.

The CIMS team is based in Poole College’s MIE department. Lead members are Paul Mugge, executive director; Michelle Grainger, managing director; Richard Kouri, professor of practice; Steve Markham, associate professor; Dr. Michael Kowolenko, teaching assistant professor; and Dr. Fred Renk, CIMS industrial fellow; and Alden Bean, founder and executive director emeritus.