Last year Dr Petra de Weerd-Nederhof was appointed to the post of Professor of Organization of Innovation. Her research focuses on successful ways for businesses to innovate. For a long time the guiding principle in the academy was that there was but one best practice, and that this was the gold standard that we should strive for. According to De Weerd-Nederhof, however, things are not quite so simple. “There is no such thing as one single best practice. You need to make strategic choices and view innovation as a process.” De Weerd-Nederhof will give her inaugural speech on 28 January at the Faculty of Management and Governance of the University of Twente.
Petra de Weerd-Nederhof is a Professor of Organization of
Innovation. She devotes part of her research to studying the best
ways for organizations to be innovative. In general, the scientific
method focuses on identifying best practices. This is
based on the premise that there is one ideal way to organize
processes of innovation. According to De Weerd-Nederhof, however,
this assumption is incorrect. "There is no single organizational
form that can guarantee successful innovation all the time."
As an example, De Weerd-Nederhof refers to the opening and
closure of Ericsson Enschede in her speech. Ericsson Enschede was
established in 1990. Initially, the company was engaged in DECT
technology. Later it focussed on UMTS. They did everything right at
this company from an organizational point of view, according to De
Weerd-Nederhof: "all the usual best practices were in place."
Nevertheless, the company had to close in 2003. De Weerd-Nederhof
says that one of the most important reasons for the closure was the
fact that the company had too little strategic leeway to respond to
the dynamics of its environment.
Twente School
De Weerd-Nederhof feels that using best practices alone is
insufficient for approaching the organizational concerns of
innovation. "This is why we go for a totally different approach in
Twente. Our concept is far more comprehensive and we use a process
model. We look at the design and management of innovation processes
as a complex excursion full of adventure and through uncharted
territory: an innovation journey."
It is nothing new to view innovation in terms of a journey and
to analyse innovative organizations using a process model.
According to De Weerd-Nederhof, however, the highly structured way
in which this process-oriented approach is applied in
organizational science at the University of Twente is certainly
unique. In this regard, she feels she can speak of a 'Twente
School'. "Our students learn to adopt this approach automatically;
it becomes as instinctive as breathing."
CV
Petra de Weerd-Nederhof (born 1967) studied industrial
engineering and management at the University of Twente and then
worked as a lecturer at the former Faculty of Business
Administration. She received her PhD in 1998 and became an
Associate Professor of Organizational Science and Innovation in
2001. Since 2006 she has also been the programme director of the
business administration programme. Petra de Weerd-Nederhof was
appointed to the post of Professor of Organization of Innovation in
2009. She is also one of the editors of the academic journal 'Creativity and
Innovation Management'.
Note to the press:
Prof. Petra
de Weerd-Nederhof will give her inaugural speech on 28 January
2010 at 16:00 in the Vrijhof Amphitheatre on the campus of the
University of Twente. More information on De Weerd-Nederhof's
research is available here en here. Prior to
the inaugural speech, the OOHR department and the
NIKOS Institute will
hold a seminar on 'educational programmes for researchers in
innovation and entrepreneurship'. More information on the seminar
is available
here. Please contact Janneke van den
Elshout for more information on the inaugural speech or to
request a digital version of the text. Tel. +31 (0)53 489 5432.
