Strategic Organisation of Innovation under Uncertainty

Firms generate lots of ideas. Bringing them to fruition in a world of uncertainty, however, requires skills and expertise. This is because of a classic dilemma: an idea pursued could fail, and an idea not pursued could be a winner for a competitor. This dilemma requires firms to organise their innovation effort such that they can respond to the resolution of uncertainty, be it technological, competitive, or regulatory. And as if that were not difficult enough already, innovation resources are scarce, staff want to be motivated, and strategic controllers have to plan. The Frankfurt School course reveals how to best reconcile these and more competing demands. Its content quickly moves from the established wisdom of stage-gate processes to the novel capabilities required for succeeding in a fast-changing innovation landscape.

Topics include:

• Evaluate and manage uncertain business propositions
• Learn to appreciate types of risk and use it to advantage
• Apply an options logic to resource allocation in the innovation portfolio
• Design incentive systems compatible with innovation uncertainty
• Build capabilities for project discontinuations, recycling, and learning