No abstract

Modern organisations are under ever increasing competitive pressure to maintain market share, enhance product range, improve efficiency and reduce cost. The process by which organisations attain these improvements is through innovation.Over recent years, significant research has focused on the issue of managing the process of developing ideas to eventual organisational innovations. However, the process by which these ideas\solutions are generated and effectively managed is one, which currently operates in an 'ad hoc' fashion. This paper strives to address this and propose a structured approach to managing idea generation. In order to achieve this, a literary survey of both Innovation and Creativity is undertaken to determine their inter-relationships and core traits.Following this, a methodology is presented to facilitate the organisational management of the Idea Generation process. An integrated software tool to support the Idea Generation process is also introduced. The purpose of this tool is to provide 2 an infrastructure for the effective management of the creation of ideas\problem solutions and their transfer to the Innovation Funnel.

Business competitiveness and sustainability depends on the effective management of innovation. To be effective, innovation needs to take place within every area of an organisation and by association within organisational networks that include key suppliers, customers and other strategic partners. Distributed innovation management is the process of managing innovation both within and across networks of organisations that have come together to co-design, co-produce and co-service the needs of customers. As innovation collaboration spreads outside the reporting structures of any one organisation, its management faces new challenges that must be addressed if collaboration is to be successful. This paper presents a discussion on the relational capabilities that need to be nurtured if distributed innovation management is to occur. It introduces an integrated framework and tools to support innovation from the individual employees to the distributed network level. Finally, it presents a case study of distributed innovation between a consortium of six organisations within the biotechnology area.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The paper aims to examine the theory of project and multiple project management and develop a framework tool to facilitate the management of a portfolio of multiple projects across an organisation and enhance the overall effectiveness of the process. Design/methodology/approach -The methodology adopted in this paper was first, to undertake a literature survey of the area and to distil the key elements affecting the management of multiple projects within organisations. A number of interrelated tools to support effective management are then developed and applied to a mall to medium-sized enterprise (SME) to validate their applicability. Findings -The paper highlights that greater organisational efficiency and less conflict can be achieved through greater structure and understanding of the intricacies of managing multiple projects. Practical implications -Organisations can reduce the pressure imposed on staff as a result of the matrix structure by clearer deployment of strategies to projects and increased awareness of risk of conflict between function and project co-ordinators. Originality/value -The value of the paper is that it presents organisations with a tool that interrelates projects to strategy fulfilment and also identifies the level, focus and loading of projects to individuals across the organisation. In this way organisations can better understand their organisations and manage their portfolio process more effectively.

No abstract