Bradford School Of Management’s Executive Education Team Urges Yorkshire Businesses To Innovate Thro

By Author: Edmund Brunetti
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Bradford University School of Management is urging Yorkshire businesses to treat innovation as a management discipline as they would finance and marketing. They say innovation will be a critical success factor in surviving and thriving through the recession.

Dr Nigel Lockett, director of the School’s Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management was speaking to an audience of directors and managers at an innovation breakfast briefing for Yorkshire businesses. Organized by Bradford’s Executive Education team, Dr Nigel Lockett, said that innovating in a recession is essential to maintain competitive advantage.

"Companies need a formal structure around innovation, just as they have for other critical areas of a business. You need a board director responsible for championing innovation and ensuring that good ideas are captured and converted into profitable services and products.

"It is not just the big ideas but the incremental innovations that can have the most impact on the bottom line."

One of the delegates was impressed with the approach and is planning to work further with the ...
... School. Chris Lee, head of Learning and Development at Pace, said: "Innovation is a key theme for the business and is a priority on our global agenda. Pace has a long history of innovation and Pace would not have achieved the number of industry firsts that we have done without innovating. Pace started out in 1982 developing and manufacturing modems for PCs, we have continually innovated and are now a world leader in developing and designing set top boxes for the payTV market. Our innovation has been a key factor in our success, leading us to our position of being the world’s leading specialist company designing and delivering set-top boxes for digital TV."

He said the idea of putting more formal structures and processes in place is clearly a very effective way of driving innovation within an organization. "While Pace’s people, business and culture are innovative, there is more we can to stimulate and manage how we innovate. By working in partnership with organizations, such as Bradford University School of Management, we can enhance the creative processes and talents that we have within our business".

Dr Lockett warned that in a recession, cutting back on talent and outside expertise to save costs is a false economy. "Talented individuals are the single most important variable in driving innovation and growth. Bringing in outside knowledge and expertise can also help to change a business culture, opening it up to new and innovative ways of thinking."

He added that the knowledge and expertise within academic institutions can be accessed through a range of government backed initiatives. He said: "Yorkshire Forward’s Innovation voucher scheme for example provides up to £3,000 to SMEs to buy academic expertise. This can be used to help diversify research, ramp-up product development or innovate processes.

"Other initiatives such as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships between businesses and academic institutions provide opportunities for companies to obtain knowledge, technology or skills to help drive business innovation."

The School of Management’s SME Network, now the largest small business support scheme in the country runs a Growth Programme, sponsored by Bradford Council’s kickstart and funded by the Higher Education Innovation Fund. It helps businesses to innovate and overcome barriers to growth.

For further information on Breakfast Briefing events, SME Network and Executive Education at Bradford University School of Management visit http://www.brad.ac.uk/management/news-and-events/events/