Best practices for driving growth through innovation on CIMS meeting agenda

Researchers will be discussing innovation and innovation management from several perspectives at the October 21 and 22, 2013, meeting of the Center for Innovation Management Studies, based in the NC State Poole College of Management in Raleigh, N.C.

Keynote speaker Robert B. Tucker, author, president and founder of The Innovation Resource, will present five best practices for driving growth through innovation, based on his research on firms leading the innovation vanguard. 

Poole College and other CIMS-affiliated researchers will report findings from their innovation-related research on the financial benefits of innovation management, return on investment in R&D and people, and a system of industrial innovation. 

Registration for the CIMS meeting, to be held at the Raleigh Marriott City Center, 500 Fayetteville St., Raleigh, N.C., is open through October 16, 2013. Cost and other details are available at the CIMS website. There is no charge for NC State students to attend; discounts are available for NC State faculty and staff.

Five best practices for driving innovation

Tucker, who speaks around the world and publishes on topics related to best practices in innovation, is focusing his talk at the CIMS meeting on the five best practices that he has found through his research on firms leading the innovation vanguard. 

Among the themes that Tucker will discuss in his talk are:

• Capitalizing on innovation to "rev up" growth
• Mapping out and implementing a superior approach to inventing the future – one that enables exploitation of new markets, win new customers, and grow revenue from new sources.
• Motivating people with proven, powerful methods that spark “out of the box” thinking.

Tucker also will host a live “Intelligent Talk Show” – his unique approach to more impactful panel discussions. Participants in the Intelligent Interview session are:

• Lee Clark-Sellers, innovation officer at Ply Gem Industries
• Rolf Kleiner, senior vice president and chief innovation officer at Kelly Services
• Stewart Witzeman, director of the Eastman Innovation Center located at the NC State Centennial Campus.

Formerly an adjunct professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, Tucker has been a consultant and keynote speaker for 25 years. Since publishing Winning the Innovation Game in 1986, based on interviews with over 50 leading innovators, he has continued to publish widely on the subject, including his international bestseller Managing the Future: 10 Driving Forces of Change, which has been translated into 13 languages.

In Driving Growth through Innovation, Tucker identified the emerging best practices of 23 innovation vanguard companies. And in his latest work, Innovation Is Everybody’s Business, he interviewed 43 innovation-adept individuals from multiple industries and all levels of organizations, and teaches the personal skills necessary to become an innovator in this hyper-competitive world, according to his website. 

Tucker also is a frequent contributor to publications such as the Journal of Business Strategy, Strategy & Leadership, and The Futurist, and has appeared on PBS, CBS News, and was a featured guest on the CNBC series The Business of Innovation.

"I'm looking forward to this meeting," said Paul Mugge, CIMS director. "He's a great speaker with lots of good advice for companies on how to restart their innovation engines – and to keep them going." 

Innovation Research Reports

Three teams of professors at the NC State Poole College of Management also will report on their research.

• "The Financial Benefits of Innovation Management: Scrutinizing the Innovation Management Maturity Assessment" will be discussed by Dr. Michael Stanko and Dr. Jonathan Bohlmann, professors of marketing in NC State Poole College’s Department of Business Management. In their CIMS-funded study, they were determining the impact that each element from the CIMS Innovation Management Framework (The Cube) has on financial returns over time and ultimately demonstrating the value that is received within an organization.
• "Return on Investments in R&D and People" will be discussed by Dr. Ann McFadyen, associate professor of strategic management at the University of Texas at Arlington, based on research she completed with Dr. David Henard, Poole College Board of Advisors Professor of Marketing. Their findings, recently published in The Journal of Product Innovation Management, used CIMS data to empirically study their theory of how, where and when a return on investment in individual contributors and other resources are realized by a firm.
• "A System for Industrial Innovation" will be discussed by Dr. Stephen K. Markham, associate professor in Poole College’s Department of Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Markham and colleagues are reporting on four years of research on the best practice of breakthrough innovation. Meeting participants will receive an advance copy of the forthcoming "System for Industrial Innovation: A Handbook for Innovation Leaders," a practical guide for those charged with increasing top-line growth at their organization.

MBA and other graduate students in NC State Poole College's Jenkins Graduate School programs will present poster sessions on their recent practicum and team projects related to innovation management.

About the Center for Innovation Management Studies

Founded in 1984, the Center for Innovation Management Studies (CIMS) is a global, virtual research center located in NC State University’s Poole College of Management. CIMS is the leading authority on innovation management and innovation research and represents a unique convergence of academia and industry. It is the only industry/university cooperative research program focused on how to manage innovation and is dedicated to fostering a collaborative environment among scholars, researchers, and business executives.  Major corporations have partnered with NC State and the National Science Foundation to support this national center of excellence which is producing leading research and custom executive programs in innovation management. Helping clients and member organizations use big data analytics, or decision modeling, to identify new breakthrough opportunities has become a core competency of CIMS, which partners with N.C. State’s computing sciences experts and supercomputing resources. The business community, researchers and graduate students are invited to CIMS’ fall and spring meetings at which the latest research and student projects are presented, along with keynote presentations

About the NC State Poole College of Management

The NC State University Poole College of Management focuses on management education for a technology driven global marketplace. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in accounting, business administration and economics, as well as custom and open enrollment programs through North Carolina State Executive Education, LLC. The college’s Jenkins Graduate School includes the Master of Business Administration, Master of Accounting, and Master of Global Innovation Management programs, including a Global Luxury Management option. Master’s and doctoral degree programs in economics are offered jointly with NC State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Corporate engagement opportunities are available through the college’s centers and initiatives that support academic and outreach programs in biosciences management, consumer research, enterprise risk management, in¬novation management, supply chain management, and technology entrepreneurship and commercialization. Poole College’s accounting and business programs are accredited by AACSB International.