Innovaro - Europe's Leading Innovation Consulting and Insight Firm - Publications

Reviewed books: Introductions
	Managing Innovation John E. Ettlie Joining the growing ranks of text books aiming to provide a holistic view of the innovation agenda, this new 500 page edition is an authoritative addition. Coming more from a technology than market or consumer standpoint, it uses a good mix of reference academic texts and mini case studies to cover a good range: Following an initial overview of the role of technology within innovation, different theories of innovation and the links between innovation and strategy, it goes into more depth in such topics as the process of R&D management, product innovation and process innovation before ending with sections on public policy, globalisation and managing future technologies. All in all a good reference source, albeit from largely one angle.
	The Oxford Handbook of Innovation Jan Fagerberg (Editor), David C. Mowery (Editor), Richard R. Nelson (Editor) This new 650 page collection of academic papers from across the innovation space is probably one of the most comprehensive theoretical texts now on the market. Whereas other handbooks such as those published by the PDMA have mixed theory and practice, this has a more academic focus and brings together perspectives on innovation from across the management, economics, geography, politics, history and psychology disciplines. So, alongside the usual perspectives on the innovation process, R&D investments, metrics and innovation policy, you will also find leading thoughts around the relationship between finance and innovation, innovation in low tech industries, innovation and employment, regional innovation systems and the globalisation of innovation. Definitely a reference book rather than a light read for the flight home, this is a good complement to other handbooks and collections such as the Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation.
	Contemporary Management of Innovation Jon Sundbo (Editor), Andrea Gallina (Editor), Goran Serin (Editor), Jerome Davis (Editor) This is a collection of academic perspectives on and around the innovation management topic. Editted by four professors from Roskilde University in Denmark, it addresses a number of issues including the rise and fall of innovation management, the shift of focus from R&D management to innovation management, cross-border innovation clusters, innovation diffusion, measuring the soft side of innovation, governance of technical knowledge and patent policies. More of interest for researchers than managers, this does however provide a timely challenge to some of the key assumptions upon which much present innovation management theory is based.
	Making Innovation Work Marc J. Epstein, Robert Shelton, Tony Davila This is a thorough examination of many of the key elements that go to enabling an effective innovation activity. In some ways similar in scope to the PDMA Toolbook, but more focused on the wider innovation remit, it provides one of the more comprehensive single volume overviews. The varied chapters address the contexts for innovation in terms of strategic options and focus, developing an innovation strategy that fits with market, technology and organisational constraints, creating the culture and structure to support innovation, the process and appropriate metrics to drive and reward innovation. Written by a trio of academics and consultants, this covers many of the bases that should be understood by all leading and managing innovation activities.
	Innovation Management Rick Mitchell, Keith Goffin This new MBA text book from Keith Goffin and Rick Mitchell of Cranfield School of Management, covers a wide range of innovation related topics. Using a wide range of supporting examples and case studies, following on from an overview of the key elements in developing an innovation strategy, it provides a good framework for day to day innovation management as it addresses managing creativity, selecting and managing the portfolio and implementing new products, processes and services and then follow up with an overview of some of the key people challenges for innovation delivery. While most of this brings together the best of current theory and practice, there are two chapters which provide very good original content. The first of these provides a good contrast between innovation in product and innovation in services and highlights some of the major commonalities as well as key points of difference. The other one, and the books final chapter, looks at the future of innovation management highlighting some of the opportunities to be gained from even more collaboration, distribution, use of technology and co-competition.
	Fast Innovation Michael L. George This new book from a trio of business improvement consultants with previous focus on six sigma seeks to provide another view on how improve differentiation, speed to market and profitability in innovation. Based on these three imperatives alongside the increasingly ubiquitous desire for driving disruption, the text focuses on a range of relevant topics. These include the usual cadre of understanding the customer, reducing lead times, embracing open innovation, reducing complexity, creating an idea-rich environment, project screening and creating innovation incubators. Perhaps the most useful chapter is the one that looks at the varied options available for product, process and market based innovation as three distinct but sometimes congruent options. Supported by examples from GE, Home Depot, ITT and Dell, these few pages summarise issues covered in depth in individual books elsewhere.
	PDMA Toolbook 2 Belliveau This second edition of the Product Development and Management Association’s Toolbook includes a number of chapters that specifically address improved organisation for innovation delivery. Topics covered by varied leading US-based academics and consultants operating in the product development area include creating an innovative culture, tools to enhance innovation knowledge sharing, building creative virtual new product development teams and strengthening relationships to improve co-development performance. Other sections of this book focus on three other themes – tools for improving the front end of product development, tools for managing the NPD process and tools for managing the NPD portfolio and pipeline. This is a good companion to the also recently updated PDMA NPD Handbook and more comprehensive than Fast innovation.
	Managing Innovation Joe Tidd, John Bessant and Keith Pavitt This second edition of the well respected text from lead researchers at SPRU provides a comprehensive overview of how companies integrate technological, market and organizational change. It explains how focus on one area in not sufficient and how firms can coherently address all three as they develop competencies and exploit opportunities.
	PDMA Handbook Milton Rosenau (Ed) Bringing together many of the core elements of an effective product development capability into one reference book, this 1996 publication includes over 30 contributions from a host of the leading academics and US practitioners. This has been a key handbook for the product development arena for the past eight years.
	The Innovation Wave Bettina von Stamm This combines an introductory text on corporate innovation with highlights of experience from member companies of London Business School’s Innovation Exchange. Anecdotal more than methodological, it explores the holistic nature of innovation, its connection with strategy and the challenges of creating a supporting culture.
	Innovation by Design Gerhard Gaynor This view draws on the authors years at 3M to investigate the interactions between strategy, process and organisational issues. Written as a guide on how to create value through company-wide innovation, it treats innovation from a systems perspective, providing ground rules for the successful integration of the key elements and highlighting some of the cultural implications.
	Innovation Matters Edward Roberts (Ed) This compilation includes some of the most important innovation related articles to have featured in the Sloan Management Review journal over the past few years. Articles address such issues as innovation clusters, outsourcing innovation, infrastructures to deliver new ideas, managing the fuzzy front end of the innovation process and counterintuitive approaches to spark innovation in companies. Together in one book, these are an excellent collection of challenging perspectives.