How companies can manage technological change through innovation in order to stay ahead of the competition is the central theme that Professor Christopher Tucci will discuss next Wednesday (4 April) at the InterTradeIreland 2012 Innovation Lecture at University College Dublin (UCD).

Professor Christopher Tucci, an author, is Professor of Management of Technology at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, where he holds the Chair in Corporate Strategy & Innovation.

Professor Tucci’s innovation lecture will examine 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 will demonstrate the innovation response strategies that incumbents need to adopt if they wish to grow and prosper.

 

Professor Christopher Tucci

The innovation lecture, which is free to attend, is aimed primarily at members of the local business and industry community who are interested in exploring innovative ways to develop and grow their businesses, academics specialising in innovation, and policy makers.

The lecture is being delivered as part of the InterTradeIreland All-Island Innovation Programme. This Programme, a partnership between InterTradeIreland, Queen’s University Belfast, UCD, NUI Galway and University College Cork, aims to promote and encourage innovation across the island of Ireland.

Speaking in advance of the lecture Professor Peter Clinch, UCD Vice-President for Innovation said, “UCD is delighted to be hosting the InterTradeIreland 2012 Innovation Lecture. Professor Tucci’s lecture provides a fantastic opportunity for our indigenous business and industry communities to get first-hand insights, from an international expert, into how they can manage technological change through innovation to gain competitive advantage.”

He added, “Ireland’s future economic success depends on enhancing our competitive position in international trade by increasing levels of innovation across all aspects of Irish enterprises including large Irish-owned multinationals to start-ups and existing companies with high-growth potential.”

Professor Tucci, co-author of the books Nurturing Science-Based Ventures and Internet Business Models and Strategies, has many years experience advising businesses of all sizes on how to use innovation as a means to increase their market share.

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 commercialise them.”

During his lecture Professor Tucci will also outline the distinction between radical and incremental innovation and will also outline his latest research on how businesses can manage and thrive throughout the process of ‘creative destruction’.

Aidan Gough, Strategy & Policy Director, InterTradeIreland 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, entitled Managing Technological Change Through Innovation: What's an Incumbent to Do ?, will take place at 6:15 pm on Wednesday, 4 April 2012, in the UCD William Jefferson Clinton Auditorium, Belfield, Dublin 4.

For further information and registration details visit: www.ucd.ie/nova/intertradeireland2012innovationlecture/

The twitter hashtag for this innovation lecture, being delivered as part of the InterTradeIreland 2012 All-Island Innovation Programme (AiiP), is #aiip2012.

ENDS

29 March 2012

For further information contact Micéal Whelan, University College Dublin, Communications Manager (Innovation), e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: + 353 1 716 3712.

Editors Notes

The InterTradeIreland All-Island Innovation Programme aims to promote and encourage innovation across the island of Ireland. It brings international expertise in innovation to Queen’s University Belfast, University College Dublin, NUI Galway and University College Cork. Best international practice is shared with business leaders, students, academics, knowledge transfer professionals and policy makers in each region via innovation lectures, seminars and master classes.

Professor Christopher L. Tucci is Professor of Management of Technology at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, where he holds the Chair in Corporate Strategy & Innovation. He received his PhD in Management from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

His primary area of interest is in technological change and how waves of technological changes influence entrant/ incumbent dynamics. He is also studying how the technological changes brought about by the popularisation of the Internet affect firms in different industries.

In the 1980s he was an industrial computer scientist at Ford Aerospace, where he has involved in developing Internet protocols.

He is the co-author of the books Nurturing Science-Based Ventures and Internet Business Models and Strategies, and has published articles in, among others, Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, Management Science, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Research Policy, Communications of the ACM, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, and Journal of Product Innovation Management.