The generation, development and exploitation of innovations is on top of the agenda of large corporations and SME’s, but also of public authorities, as they struggle to remain competitive in an economic and social environment that is everyday more challenging. New competitors from emerging countries, new responsibilities regarding security, sustainable development and stakeholder expectations as well as new customer needs force firms and regions to make strategic choices putting innovation at the core of their development.
Responsible leaders have long acknowledged that managing innovation means much more than managing in-house research and development projects or boosting employee creativity. Managing innovation means developing capabilities and talent throughout the organisation to better identify, evaluate and capture new business opportunities. It means convincing and enabling managers to become corporate entrepreneurs.
In this context, the Solvay Group and the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) have launched a partnership in order to jointly develop distinctive competencies in the field of innovation management and corporate entrepreneurship.
Within the overall areas of Innovation Management and Corporate Entrepreneurship, the partnership will initially focus on specific research themes with the objective to provide rigorous and actionable results and recommendations. Those themes are:
Responsible leaders have long acknowledged that managing innovation means much more than managing in-house research and development projects or boosting employee creativity. Managing innovation means developing capabilities and talent throughout the organisation to better identify, evaluate and capture new business opportunities. It means convincing and enabling managers to become corporate entrepreneurs.
In this context, the Solvay Group and the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) have launched a partnership in order to jointly develop distinctive competencies in the field of innovation management and corporate entrepreneurship.
Within the overall areas of Innovation Management and Corporate Entrepreneurship, the partnership will initially focus on specific research themes with the objective to provide rigorous and actionable results and recommendations. Those themes are:
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How can one develop (future) managers, scientists and engineers to become corporate entrepreneurs? What can be implemented as entrepreneurship development programs, tools, methodologies and best practices in order to boost corporate entrepreneurship? Which types of target public, teaching approach and content are the most effective to develop successful corporate entrepreneurs?
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What are the best support mechanisms a firm (or a public authority) can put in place to promote innovation and corporate entrepreneurship? What is the actual effectiveness and efficiency of popular approaches such as business plan competitions, corporate venture capital units, incubators, new business development units, clusters/platforms, etc.? How to evaluate the business and societal impact of those mechanisms? Are other/new approaches better suited?
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While many firms claim to focus on innovation, what does it mean to develop a successful innovation-based strategy at corporate level? How can strategic objectives and specific types of innovations be aligned? What are the unique capabilities a firm should develop to turn its ability to innovate into a competitive advantage? Which are the implications in terms of resources and organization?
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While European universities and research centres are quite efficient at generating scientific results, there appear to be a lack of effective technology transfer mechanisms allowing those scientific skills to be converted into economic value-added and societal welfare. What is the role European Universities should play regarding this issues? What can be learnt from international success stories regarding effective technology transfer support mechanisms (spin-offs, incubators, science parks…) and public-private partnerships? What are the key success factors of such approaches?
In the context of this strategic partnership with the Solvay Group, the Louvain School of Management has opened two full-time PhD research positions in the field of innovation management. The leaders of the project are Prof. B. Gailly, CRECIS, and Mrs B. Laurent, Group Innovation Champion, at Solvay.