Insight in Innovation: Managing Innovation by Understanding the Laws of Innovation

Innovation is an ancient art, may be as old as 500,000 years, but managing innovation is a relatively young management technique, only a few decades old, and has received much less attention than other aspects of innovation such as creativity, entrepreneurship or venturing. This book is not about providing a series of recipes on innovation management or a collection of case stories on how to do innovation or not. The few examples given are well known innovations from (Shell) history and all of them have been described before in the literature. However, this book does not focus on the brilliant result or failure of the innovations, but on the process of innovation in order to understand the features of a well-managed innovation effort. The book has been written around six main themes: 1. Understanding innovation as a business process and how it has developed through history. 2. For a manager it is essential to appreciate the fundamental difference between inside- and outside-the-box innovation; each one needs its own specific management process. 3. The main roles of the innovation manager are managing the innovation funnel, executing the innovation strategy and optimising the value of the innovation portfolio. 4. Entrepreneurship is the key resource in innovation and the right conditions have to be created for it to flourish in large companies. 5. The value of innovation can be assessed as an option value and in creating intellectual capital for the company. 6. Integrating sustainable development in the innovation process requires changes in the management process, in the assessment and valuation of innovation, and in the interaction with the stakeholders.

Table of Contents:
1. The innovation process. 2. The innovation spectrum. 3. Managing innovation. 4. Innovation and entrepreneurship. 5. The value of innovation. 6. Sustainable innovation. 7. Innovation and the CEO.

About the Author :
Jan Verloop is consultant in innovation. Besides innovation he has extensive experience in process and product R&D. He advises both start-up and multinationals in Europe, Asia, and America and has built up first-hand experience with successful and failed innovation projects. He is a non-executive director of Oxford Catalysts, a very successful start-up company which started in the cellars of Oxford University and now has facilities in the UK and the USA. He has lectured and advised on innovation in developing countries at major international conferences and smaller think-tanking sessions with heads of state and leaders in government and business.

Review :
&qu: "Jan Verloop's book is practical and inspirational. Management books can be boring when they only contain descriptions and instruction. This book includes emotions as an integral factor in the business process and convinces the reader that without a vision, without passion and without determination, innovation will not be successful." &source: Jeroen van der Veer, Vice-Chairman of Royal Dutch/Shell Group "The reader will find a practical and inspirational book with a focus on hands-on experience, which provides a well-rounded theoretical framework. This framework is accompanied by several very valuable examples from Shell, which contribute to the high value of the book. No recipes for success are offered, but a large number of important hints on how to successfully manage innovation are given. This book is a must-have for practitioners, and also provides a good basis for students and academcis in innovation management." Anja Geritz, Institute for Project Management and Innovation, University of Bremen, CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Vol. 14, No.1, 2005 "The overall treatment of innovation by the author is quite different and refreshing to most other books on the subject and considers innovation in a way that will be more attractive and understandable to lay readers. The book is well -illustrated with a useful selection of coloured diagrams and tables, clarifying and reinforcing the meaning of the main text. The quality of reproduction is excellent, with a clear layout throughout and use of chapter summaries. Self-contained with no references to further reading. The book is relatively expensive, but its size and descriptive nature will encourage broad appeal and is suitable for both academics and practitioners." K.L. Edwards, University of Derby, School of Computing and Technology, MATERIALS AND DESIGN, Vol. 27, 2005