Trying to come to terms with organizing for innovation

Abstract:  In today‘s business world (and beyond), it is imperative to be creative. In particular, radical innovations are being sought for. Although this is a common aspiration and new tools and technologies are constantly employed to tackle this challenge, it remains an unresolved puzzle as there is and most likely will be no universally applicable remedy for how to come up with radical innovation. Towards this end, three different cases are presented on how organizations aim at dealing with this conundrum. The cases from the telecommunication (relating to the introduction of agile management techniques to become more sensible for the needs of customers), manufacturing (a manufacturer trying to tackle the challenge of competing objectives when qualifying its innovation activities), and IT sector (exploring the role of AI on the work of creatives) illustrate potential ways of how to manage the unmanageable; that is, how to foster radical innovation.
 

Bio: Gordon Müller-Seitz has the Chair of Strategy, Innovation, and Cooperation at the Department of Business Studies and Economics, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) in Germany and currently a grateful and happy visiting researcher at the ATLAS Institute, University of Boulder Colorado. Gordon’s interdisciplinary research activities focus primarily on the interconnection between theory and practice. His work is underpinned by collaborations with renowned national and international practice partners, both SME and globally operating companies. His main topics include: Technology and innovation management, in particular open innovation and business model innovation, digital transformation with a focus on artificial intelligence, changes in the nature of work, network and cooperation management as well as risk management. More info at https://wiwi.rptu.de/en/dpts/sic

In person in room ATLAS room 208 and via Zoom