Managing Innovation Strategically

The Managing Innovation Strategically programme is essentially an overview course, which familiarises the participants with important aspects of innovation. For example, why is innovation so difficult? This is certainly borne out by experience.

For example, if we compare the Fortune 500 lists from 1955 to 2014, only about 61 companies remain on that list or are common between the two lists. 88% of those companies have died away because at some point or the other they stopped innovating. Or they have fallen off the list itself.

50 years ago, the life expectancy of a firm in the Fortune 500 was around 75 years, believe it or not. Today it’s less than 15 years and declining all the time. So there is no other way but to innovate if you want to stay successful.

Another question that we will be discussing in this course is where do innovative ideas come from? Do we sit in a room and think those up? Or do we actually mine the data that we glean and collect from the market for those? Are you using your customers for new insights? How are you going about looking for new markets?

We are also going to discuss how you are processing these innovative ideas within the company. What is your resource allocation mechanism within the portfolio of innovative ideas that you have? How many new ideas are you processing? How do you philtre to them? On what basis?

How do you come up with business model innovations or disruptive innovations, which throws everyone else in the industry off? And then once you have come up with the new business model, how do you operationalise it? And a whole lot more questions.

So the reason the programme is called Managing Innovation Strategically is because we do not just confine ourselves to discussing ways in which one can create value within a firm. Rather, we go on to teach how to capture that value too. Not every firm is able to capture the value that they’re able to create. That is why it is important for innovation to be paired with strategy at all times.

What makes this course unique are a number of things. First, this course brings you right to the heart of one of the largest and most innovative ecosystems in the world, the Cambridge Science Park, or Silicon Fen. This is where some of tomorrow’s most disruptive and defining ideas are being developed.

Secondly, both Stelios and I, the two instructors on the programme, have worked in this area for a long time and have published a lot of research on the topics that we are covering in this programme. You can find some of these on YouTube or in other places. Third, the combination of value creation and value capturing makes this a complete package.

Overview

Sustained innovation is a necessity for businesses to thrive – and survive.

However, for most firms, the strategies and processes associated with innovation remain vague and not professionally managed. As a result, most firms are unable to innovate and thus create new value. Amongst those who can create new value, few are able to capture it.

In this unique programme, we will learn why firms struggle to create and capture new value. We will share a number of concepts on how to implement innovation in your organisation and develop a set of practical tools and concepts that you can apply to your business.

Why is it unique?

This is the only programme in Europe from a major business school where you can experience a live course in English with face-to-face interaction with both faculty and your peers.

The programme is taught by Dr Kamal Munir and Professor Stelios Kavadias, two leading experts in the field of innovation.

Why Cambridge?

Cambridge Judge Business School offers a distinctive approach born out of the University of Cambridge way.

The programme draws up on cutting-edge academic research, as you would expect from a business school with 19 research centres.
The University of Cambridge has always emphasised smaller class sizes for maximum interaction and focused effort between world-class faculty and top-quality participants. Cambridge Judge is no exception. This makes your experience here one of unrivalled quality and relevance.
Our programmes may be shorter, we aim to maximise the use of your time – you will likely be stretched as you have never known; that is the Cambridge way.

“

Any competitive advantage or leverage is critical in today’s global work place. The Managing Innovation Strategically programme brilliantly highlights how to manage innovative development projects and how to identify complementary assets to capture value. The programme provided some terrific tools for Knight Frank LLP to maintain our marketing leading position. ”

Julian Evans, Head of Healthcare, Hotels & Leisure, Knight Frank

Topics

Understanding why organisations are unable to sustain innovation
Using and harnessing the power of your customers to innovate effectively
Making you and your organisation more creative
Creating a portfolio of innovation projects
Managing innovative development projects
Disrupting your competitors with innovative business models
Operationalising new business models
Capturing the value you have created
Developing complementary assets to capture value
Enhancing your product’s success in the market.

“

I attended with the intention of gaining insights and clarity on ways to tackle innovation, which the programme very successfully achieved. ”

Ciarán McCafferty, Director of Central Compliance, M&G Prudential

“

I thoroughly enjoyed my participation in the Managing Innovation Strategically programme, and I came away with some vital new lessons that I will be applying to my personal work as well as to my day-to-day life. I was particularly excited by the exercise in which we had to choose an ecosystem and come up with ideas of how we would disrupt it. This was a very good follow-up to the “ideation” exercise. ”

Adebola Tokunbo Egunjobi, Managing Director, Egunjobi Consultancy

Benefits

You’ll learn from outstanding faculty and associates of Cambridge Judge Business School and gain a truly international experience from your global peer group.

On completion of this practical and fast-paced programme you will:

Have the tools and techniques of managing innovation
Be able to apply innovation in your organisations to enhance performance
Identify process from innovation to create competitive advantage
Understand the factors required to support creativity and innovation
Understand the innovation implementation process and how best to organise innovation.

Icon: Executive Education Certificates of Achievement.

This programme counts towards the Cambridge Judge Business School General Management Certificate of Achievement and the Cambridge Judge Business School Innovation Management Certificate of Achievement.

“

The module has given me insight into how organisations can capture greater value by managing innovation strategically. As an enterprise risk management professional, the module has provided me with an opportunity to view and appreciate the business’s activity from a different lens and hence potentially provide greater value in the context of my role. I feel I can now get a better sense of how innovative ideas have the potential to reap high reward if selected and executed correctly, despite being abstract sometimes and carrying uncertainties/risks. ”

Manish Shah, Head of Enterprise Risk Management, Vanquis Bank

Group photo of a previous Managing Innovation Strategically class.

Who should attend

Leaders interested in creating an innovative organisation
R&D executives
Marketing managers involved in innovation
Strategy managers looking for new business models
Anyone wanting to learn about new product/service development.

“

The two days were full of critical insights and lively discussions into how companies disrupt in different industries. As we live in a very challenging era of transformation, I could relate to the many business challenges we face on a day-to-day basis, and reflect on them with fresh thoughts and perspectives. ”

Abdelrahman Youssef, Nokia Transformation

Data taken from the 2017 Managing Innovation Strategically class.

“

As an innovation professional, I expected some of the content to be redundant. However, the strategic focus of the two days meant the programme has been much more useful than I originally thought. It’s provided valuable insights that I will use when advising clients. ”

Greg Dickens, Consultant, Innovia Technology

Faculty & speakers

Stylianos (Stelios) Kavadias

Margaret Thatcher Professor of Enterprise Studies in Innovation & Growth

PhD (INSEAD)

View Stelios's profile

Kamal Munir

Reader in Strategy & Policy

PhD (McGill University)

View Kamal's profile

“

The training was fantastic. I learned the concepts and practical tools that can be applied to building sustainable business models for innovation partnerships with the private sector. I learned that if an organisation does not embrace change when needed they will turn into Blockbuster, and Netflix will take over the market. ”

Maria Riiskjaer, Corporate Relations Officer, UNHCR Private Sector Partnerships

Dates & fees

Dates	Duration	Fees *
14-15 October 2021	2 days	£2,500 + VAT

VAT is charged at the prevailing rate, which is currently 20%; e.g. £2,500 + 20% = £3,000.

* Fees include instruction, materials, lunch and breaks. Preferential rates may be available for groups, University of Cambridge alumni and members of the School’s Alumni Association. Please note prices pre-registration are subject to change.

For information regarding payment terms, cancellation rights, transfer policies and fees, please see our terms & conditions documents:

Terms & Conditions for Self-funded Applicants (pdf, 277KB) (updated 4 September 2019)
Terms & Conditions for Organisation-funded Applicants (pdf, 295KB) (updated 4 September 2019)

Registration closes at midday two working days before the programme start date.

Participants are expected to attend the full programme.

Please ensure that you have read our Frequently Asked Questions, which provide important additional information about our face-to-face programmes, in particular during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“

The methodology used in the teaching process was extremely clear and vivid. A thought-provoking programme blending fresh academic thinking with the collective creativity of the class, to formulate tangible techniques and thinking to use in both business and life. Inspiring, informative, and implementable all in one. Thank you. ”

Sarfraz Ahmed, Director of Strategy, Santander Corporate and Commercial

If you have any questions or would like to have a chat about this programme and how it could benefit you or your organisation, please get in touch with the programme advisor: