SUSTAINING BREAKTHROUGH INNOVATION

A large number of breakthrough innovation (BI) professionals gathered at Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, in November 2008 to discuss the significance of innovation as a management discipline and share information about the latest practices for improving its potential. Some of the speakers at the event informed that innovation was emerging as a distinct and separate management discipline, while transforming from an academic concept into real-world practice at major corporations. Some other speakers revealed that innovation faced significant challenges to introduce new products or services. It was revealed that BI project teams faced resource and organization challenges in addition to technical and market issues. A number of the elements of the BI management system were identified, including defining mandate and scope and ensuring a supportive leadership or culture.