Think, Play, Do: Innovation, Technology, and Organization

Without innovation, companies die. Managing the innovation process well is important for companies and for nations as a whole. This book shows how the innovation process is changing profoundly, with significant implications for managers and public policy-makers. A new kind of technology, 'innovation technology' is being applied to the innovation process. When used effectively, innovation technology makes the innovation process faster, better and cheaper. The book outlines a new schema for the innovation process: Think, Play, Do. Innovation requires creating new ideas and thinking about new options, playing with then to see if they are practical, economical and marketable and then doing: making the innovation real. Using a diverse range of case studies, the book analyses these changes and their implications for managers, students of innovation, policymakers and governments.

Mark Dodgson is Director of the Technology and Innovation Management Centre at the University of Queensland Business School, University of Queensland, Visiting Professor at the Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London, and is an International Fellow at the Advanced Institute of Management Research in the UK. He was previously Executive Director of the National Graduate School of Management at the Australian National University.

Mark has lecutured and researched widely trhoughout Europe, North America, Asian, and Latin America, and has been an invited participant at international conferences in over 35 countries. He has been an advisor and consultant to many European Commission Programs and to numerous UK, US, European, Asian, and Australian government departments and agencies. David Gann is Head of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology Management at the Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London. David holds the Chair in Technology and Innovation Management and co-directs the Imperial College Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre. He is responsible for a large portfolio of research involving collaboration with firms in design, manufacturing, engineering, construction, ICT services and healthcare industries. His research interests include the intensification of innovation, use of simulation and modeling in innovation processes, and managing innovation in project-based firms. He consults with several leading companies and is an advisor to governments and industry organisations. He previously held the Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Innovative Manufacturing at the University of Sussex. Ammon Salter is Senior Lecturer in Technology and Innovation Management at the Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London. He is the author of several reports and articles on the sources and determinants of innovation. He was the author of the CVCP/HEFCE Report on 'Talent, Not Technology', exploring the relationship between publicly funded research and innovation in the UK. He has worked for HM Treasury on a report on the economic benefits of basic research, and was the co-author of the Russell Group of Universities report 'Measuring and Mapping Third Stream Activities'. He is currently a member of the DTI's Project Board for the development of the 4th UK Innovation Survey.