EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
NORWEGIAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
17-20 MAY, 2006 OSLO NORWAY
“Energizing European Management: Empowering and Revitalizing Management Theory
and Practice”
INNOVATION GENERAL TRACK
PROPOSAL
Name: Dr Milé Terziovski, Assoc. Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Director, Centre for Global Innovation Management, Faculty of Economics and Commerce, The
University of Melbourne, e.mail: milet@unimelb.edu.au;
T: 61 3 83447868; F: 61 3 83443714
Research Field: Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Quality Management
Key words: innovation, entrepreneurship, performance, competitiveness, commercialisation
Track Title: Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Theme: Energizing Management through Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research and
Practice
Idea and Vision for the track in relation to my research field
The pressures to create innovative organisations have intensified as global competition, shorter
product life cycles and increasingly demanding customers are having a significant impact on
organisations. Entrepreneurship has emerged as a significant imperative in the innovation
process. Entrepreneurship refers to activities that create new resource combinations to make
innovation possible. The key question that we must address in the Innovation track is: How to
energize management through innovation and entrepreneurial research and practice? This fits
in the broad theme of the conference “to rebuild Europe’s competitive standing in an era of
technology-based innovation..” The track relates particularly well to my research field. For
example, my research focus for the past decade has been primarily in quality, innovation and
entrepreneurship in Large and Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs). My research has been
recognized at the highest level by receiving a Best International Paper nomination at the
Academy of Management. I have published in the prestigious Journal of Operations
Management and won a best paper award based on my PhD thesis. I have also chaired two
successful international research conferences on Quality, Innovation and Knowledge
Management at The Melbourne Business School, The University of Melbourne. My research in
innovation has involved several leading universities in Europe and Australia under the Fourth,
Fifth and Sixth EC Framework programs, primarily involving the development and application
of methodologies for process innovation in SMEs.
How the Track relates to Current Issues in the field?
As organizations have downsized and worked on cost reduction for many decades now, and
similarly improved their quality and service, they have generally achieved efficiency and process
stability outcomes. The next battlefield that will drive the international competitiveness and
business outcomes of firms is creating innovative and entrepreneurial cultures. Managers must
reframe their short-term thinking and focus on creating the future. In order to achieve this
outcome there needs to be a paradigm shift to innovation policy and practice in organizations of
all sizes. The best way to contribute to a paradigm shift and achieve and maintain the desired
outcome is to adopt a multidisciplinary approach to research in innovation and entrepreneurship
that addresses the full spectrum of issues and solutions ranging from systemic issues and
solutions through to enterprise specific solutions.
How the Innovation Track will make a contribution to future directions in the field?
The track will make a significant contribution to future directions in the field through
interdisciplinary studies that will collectively provide significant new knowledge to the existing
research knowledge base and to practitioners in the field of innovation and its management. Most
previous studies have focussed on only one aspect of innovation, perhaps reflecting the
specialised nature of these past researchers, the proposed track will invite the development and
testing of new theory in the field of innovation management and entrepreneurship, that leads to
new conclusions of general value and practical insights for executives wishing to improve the
innovation outcomes of their firms. The proposed track will also provide an in-depth
understanding of key variables that play a significant role at the various stages of the innovation
process, leading to successful commercialisation of products and services. Papers addressing the
following topics will be invited:
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Organisational enablers of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
How to create an innovation and entrepreneurial culture in an organization.
The relationship between quality management and innovation
How firms can innovate faster and better.
The relationship between management practices and innovation performance
Critical factors in determining the appropriateness of collaboration.
Critical success factors for effective commercialisation of products and services.
Lessons from international best practice innovative organisations.
The relationship between national, regional, and enterprise based innovation systems
The impact of regional clustering upon innovation performance
The role of technological capabilities in the innovation process.
Can incremental and radical innovation co exist?
How to Stimulate Innovation in Large Companies compared to Small to Medium
Enterprises (SMEs)?
Conceptual frameworks for assessing and auditing the innovative capabilities of a
business organisation.
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The impact of effective management of innovation and entrepreneurship on
organisational performance.
What is the role of Creativity in the innovation process?
Service innovations and winning business models
The role of Leadership in developing this softer side of innovation management