Innovation & Technology

Following O’Sullivan (2008) “Innovation is the process of making changes, large and small, radical and incremental, to product, processes, and services that results in the introduction of something new for the organization that adds value to customers and contributes to the knowledge store of the organization”. 

The innovation refers to the management of innovation and technological change from a variety of perspectives. 

The innovation process is to allow the organization to respond to external or internal opportunities, and use its creativity to introduce new ideas, processes or products.

Key topics on innovation?

Major Technology and Innovation Management topics evolve around the relationship between strategy, structure, staff on the one hand and innovative performance on the other hand. Debackere (1997) give us a list of main topics related to these topic : 

- What does the technology portfolio look like? What should it look like?
- What is the degree of maturity of the different technologies in the portfolio?
- What are the objectives in terms of technological prowess?
- Do we want to be offensive, defensive, imitative, dependent, etc. ?
- How to support the strategic planning effort (benchmark techniques)?
- Do we advocate venture approaches to implement our strategic plan?

Decisions at the organisational level

- What type of organisation structure (functional, project, matrix)?
- How to maintain innovativeness and efficiency simultaneously?
- How to develop interface/liaison mechanisms linking the different participants?

Decisions about human resources

- What roles are necessary for successful innovation? Do we have them?
- How to maintain a climate of productivity (individual, work group, supervision)?
- How to maintain and stimulate effective technical communications?
- How to prevent technical professionals from ‘stabilising’?
- Decisions about rewards, job assignments, challenges, job diversity, career systems etc.?

Decisions involving marketing

- How much market research do we intend to carry out?
- How familiar is the new product market to us?
- What should the marketing plan look like?

Decisions involving R&D

- What should the level of investment be?
- What technological choices are made (see also technology portfolio)?
- What type of organization structure (functional or project) is most appropriate?
- A milestone and evaluation plan for the different R&D projects.
- What contacts with the external scientific/technological world should be maintained?
- In-house developments (‘make’) versus external technological acquisitions (‘buy’)?

Decisions involving production and manufacturing

- What part of the production process do we develop internally (‘make’) versus buy?
- Should we invest in new buildings and plants?
- Should we invest in ‘new’ production technologies (CAD, CAM, FMS, etc.)?
- Mass-production or job-shop oriented?
- The trade-off between flexibility (innovativeness) and efficiency (productivity).
 
Technology and Innovation Management (TIM) and related disciplines in the social science and management fields.

Technology and Innovation Management (TIM) encourages interdisciplinary scholarship and dialogue on the management of innovation and technological change from a variety of perspectives, including strategic, managerial, behavioral, and operational issues.