CQU helps Aussie firms cope when rules of the game change
Published on 27 November, 2006
Some leading firms operating in Australia are linking with a European network of leading companies, which are sharing the best ways to cope when their innovation pathway is disrupted by technological, regulatory or marketing changes.
The Aussie-based firms, including Broens Industries, B&D Australia, Stramit Building Products and ResMed, gathered in Sydney on November 28 to hear from Professor John Bessant, the leading researcher and driving force behind the 'discontinuous innovation learning networks' in Europe.
The European network includes household names like LEGO, Bang & Olufsen, Unilver, Nokia and the BBC.
The Sydney workshop to develop an Australian Discontinuous Innovation Network was arranged by Central Queensland University, the University of Western Sydney and Monash University.
John Bessant is Professor of Innovation at Imperial College London. He has consulted widely to business in Europe, South Africa and America and has acted as advisor to national governments and international bodies including the United Nations, the World Bank and the OECD.
Workshop co-organiser Professor Paul Hyland (pictured), from CQU, said this workshop was the first step in bringing Australia into the loop with Europe's leaders in the field, for benchmarking and comparative studies.
Two additional workshops will be held over the following 6 months.
The Australian network will link into networks in Denmark, Germany and the UK. Additional networks are being established in Sweden, France, Italy and the Netherlands.
"Many innovative businesses have developed ‘good practice’ models for product and process innovation," Professor Hyland said.
"A major limitation of this ‘good practice’ model is that it about ‘steady state’ innovation – essentially innovative developments in product and process areas that are about ‘doing what we do, but better. However, innovation is considerably more difficult when elements of discontinuity come into the equation.
"Such discontinuous challenges arise from shifts along technological, market, political and other frontiers and require new, or at least significantly adapted, approaches to their effective management."