XVI Annual ISPIM Conference: the role of knowledge in innovation processes.(Conference reports)(International Society for Profes

Porto, Portugal, 19-22 June 2005

Innovation is much more than just developing new products and processes. One of the crucial enabling elements of innovation is knowledge. Knowledge creation, diffusion and its impact on innovation management was the theme of the XVI annual ISPIM conference, organized 19-22 June 2005 in the beautiful city of Porto (Portugal).

The various keynote speeches focused on different aspects of the conference theme. Dr. Joerg Schulte from BMW discussed how to disseminate innovation research findings throughout a large corporation and how to ensure that these findings are being used to develop successful new products. This requires collaboration within the organization and also with specialized outside partners to bring in new perspectives. It also requires a strong focus, Schulte called it the imperative to 'stay simple', which means that a new idea is great if it leads to leaps in customer value, not just because it applies cutting edge technology. Michel Stephenson from IBM discussed the link between knowledge management and profit-enhancing innovation. IBM has five Nobel laureates and over 33,000 patents worldwide, but from a business's point of view it runs the risk of 'creating knowledge for knowledge's sake'. Key in his presentation was the idea to always start knowledge management efforts with a business problem in mind. Yoni Stern of SIT presented methods to overcome the constraints of creativity. The goal is not only to make people think the unthinkable, but also to ensure that these ideas can lead to sound business propositions. A sweet idea is far enough from current products to be innovative, but near enough to be implementable.

Interesting academic studies focused on diverse topics such as finding the balance between the exploitation of existing knowledge and the exploration of new knowledge, the link between customer orientation and innovation radicalness, and the factors influencing innovation adoption when innovations can be adopted at multiple levels. The conference included over 70 presentations, mostly in parallel sessions, a few company presentations and a company visit to a local brewery known for its innovation track record. It also includes several social events for networking opportunities.

The International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM) aims at integrating knowledge and experiences from three different areas, namely academia, business and consultants (http://www.ispim.org/). This usually results in a very interesting mix and diversity of papers and presentations. The conference attracts participants from a wide range of countries, this year the over 100 participants came from 28 different countries, mostly European but also participants from the US, Brasil, Japan and Singapore attended the conference. The next conference will be held in Athens, Greece on 11-14 June 2006.

Eelko kre Huizingh

Associate Professor of Business Development

University of Groningen

The Netherlands

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