Click here to watch Professor Tucci's lecture alongside his slides
How companies can manage technological change through innovation in order to stay ahead of the competition was the central theme that Professor Christopher Tucci discussed during his InterTradeIreland Innovation Lecture at Queen’s University Belfast. The lecture entitled Managing Technological Change Through Innovation: What's an Incumbent to Do?, was delivered on Monday 2 April 2012 in Riddel Hall.
Professor Christopher Tucci is Chair in Corporate Strategy & Innovation at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. He is co-author of the books Nurturing Science-Based Ventures and Internet Business Models and Strategies, and has many years of experience advising businesses of all sizes on how to use innovation as a means to increase their market share.
The innovation lecture was aimed primarily at members of the local business and industry community who are interested in exploring innovative ways to develop and grow their businesses, as well as academics specialising in innovation and local policy makers.
Aidan Gough, Strategy & Policy Director at InterTradeIreland, who introduced Professor Tucci said: “For the ambitious firm, achieving sustainable, innovation-led growth is both a complex and challenging imperative. Internal capabilities are no longer sufficient to gain and sustain competitive advantage as companies must draw on external resources and expertise across the island and beyond to be successful.”
Professor Tucci’s lecture examined how some of the world’s leading companies stay ahead of their competition when faced with new technology that threatens to destroy them. Using examples from the energy, military, entertainment and ICT sectors he demonstrated the innovation response strategies that incumbents need to adopt if they wish to grow and prosper. He also outlined the distinction between radical and incremental innovation and referenced his latest research on how businesses can manage and thrive throughout the process of ‘creative destruction’.
Speaking in advance of his lecture Professor Tucci said, ‘My advice to local businesses that wish to prosper and grow, especially in the current economic climate, is to think not only about current product offerings, but about a continuing stream of new products and services and the best way to commercialize them’.
Professor Tony Gallagher, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Academic Planning, Staffing and External Relations at Queen’s University Belfast, who welcomed the speaker to the University lecture commented: ‘Professor Tucci’s visit provides a fantastic opportunity for the local business community to get first-hand insight into business development from a world-class expert in this field. We are delighted to host such a prestigious event at Queen’s University’.
Professor Tucci also gave three masterclasses for business representatives during his two-day visit to Queen’s entitled: Open Innovation: Best Practices; Design Thinking and Innovation the IDEO Way; and Exploiting Web 2.0 to Boost Innovation.
