ARC: Connections: ELMAR: Posting

areas: management: call

---

CALL FOR CHAPTERS

Proposals Submission Deadline: 1/15/2009
Full Chapters Due: 15/04/2009

Knowledge Management for product, process, marketing and organisational innovation: tools and technologies

A book edited by Dr. Emma O Brien, Dr. Seamus Clifford and Dr. Mark Southern, Enterprise Research Centre, University of Limerick, Plassey, Limerick, Ireland.

Introduction

There has been a significant increase in knowledge-driven industries over the past ten years. Knowledge-intensive industries are classified as high and medium technology firms, market services and health and education (Brinkley and Lee, 2007). Due to the fact that the modern economies can no longer compete on cost alone, it is important for them to opt for a different strategy to attract firms to operate and remain in their economy. Innovation offers a valuable intangible asset to organisations enabling them to sustain themselves and grow in an ever changing business world. Audrestch (1995) highlighted the fact that “where innovative activity, and especially the innovative activity of small firms, plays an important role, the likelihood of new entrants’ surviving over a decade is lower than in industries where innovative activity is less important” however he found that “evidence therefore suggests that a highly innovative environment exerts a disparate effect on the post-entry performance of new entrants. Those new firms that are able to adjust and offer a viable product apparently experience higher rates of growth and a greater likelihood of survival.”

Several studies have highlighted the relationship between innovation and business performance and innovation and organisational survival. Cavusgil et al. (2003) argues that “a firm with high innovation capability employs a learn-by-doing approach, which makes it very difficult for competitors to imitate.”

Innovation is defined as “a new idea, method or device”. To construct such innovations, individuals require knowledge, thus knowledge is central to the innovation process. In terms of knowledge, innovation can be identified as “the application of knowledge to produce new knowledge”. (Drucker, 1993)

Because innovation is largely dependant on the application of existing knowledge to create new knowledge it is imperative that it is effectively managed. Despite the importance of knowledge in the innovation process, little research has been conducted into how knowledge management can be applied to make the innovation process more effective.

This publication provides a practical handbook that outlines to companies different tools and technologies that can be applied depending on the type of innovation they wish to adopt in their organisation. It provides concrete advice on the different types of innovation, situations in which they may be useful, the role of knowledge and different tools, and technologies to support it.

Objectives of the Book

The publication has two main objectives:

1. Determine the role of knowledge management to facilitate innovation in adding value to the organization. It will focus on the tools and technologies surrounding different types of innovation and how they can be maximised. It will discuss and identify tools and technologies to foster product, process and marketing innovation in terms of their ability to add value to the organisation. Furthermore it will examine the role of organizational innovation and the management of intellectual assets in supporting these types of innovation and identify practical applications of enabling such to take place.
2. Using knowledge management to foster innovation practices in companies that provide real results such as:
   • Reduced cost and time to market, improved productivity and quality through process innovation “A process innovation is the implementation of a new or significantly improved production or delivery method. This includes significant changes in techniques,equipment and/or software.”(OECD, 2005)
   • Self-sustainable and increased innovation activity through product innovation from idea to launch and post launch follow up. “A product innovation is the introduction of a good or service that is new or significantly improved with respect to its characteristics or intended uses. This includes significant improvements in technical specifications, components and materials, incorporated software, user friendliness or other functional characteristics.”(OECD, 2005)
   • Increased market share and adaptive to customer requirements through marketing innovation. “A marketing innovation is the implementation of a new marketing method involving significant changes in product design or packaging, product placement, product promotion or pricing.” (OECD, 2005)
   • Increased organizational efficiency and decision making through organizational innovation. “An organisational innovation is the implementation of a new organisational method in the firm’s business practices, workplace organisation or external relations.”(OECD, 2005)

Target Audience

The prospective audiences for this publication are innovation and new product development practitioners in SMEs and large companies in all sectors wishing to foster innovation in their organizations. This includes those who are currently innovating and wish to improve on their innovation processes or who wish to expand innovation into different areas of their business. Furthermore, this book can be used as a reference for academics wishing to keep abreast of developments in the area of practical knowledge management tools and innovation tools.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Knowledge management in NPD
• Tools for idea generation
• What we don’t know we don’t know – Knowledge analysis
• Managing external knowledge – research institutes and labs etc
• Knowledge management for Process Innovation
• Use of statistical tools
• Managing knowledge created from design of experiments
• Organisational Innovation
• Tools for retaining knowledge: stemming knowledge leakage caused by staff turnover
• Knowledge management tools for problem solving
• Marketing innovation
• Data synthesis tools for analyzing customer requirements and competitor products
• Product streamlining
• Maximising Intellectual Assets
• Tools for managing Intellectual Asset Portfolios
• Leveraging intellectual assets for further innovations
• Competitor Patent searching
• Industrial practices and case studies

Submission Procedure

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before January 15, 2009, a 2-3 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by Feburary 15, 2008 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by April 15, 2009. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference) and “Medical Information Science Reference” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit http://www.igi-global.com/.

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document) or by mail to:

Dr. Emma O Brien
ER1030, Enterprise Research Centre, University of Limerick, Plassey,
Limerick, Ireland
Tel: +353 61 213357 Emma.obrien@ul.ie

Or

Dr. Seamus Clifford
Enterprise Research Centre, University of Limerick, Plassey, Limerick,
Ireland
Tel: +353 61 202948 Seamus.clifford@ul.ie

Or

Dr. Mark Southern
Enterprise Research Centre, University of Limerick, Plassey, Limerick,
Ireland
Tel: +353 61 213359 Mark.southern@ul.ie

---