Howe School Alliance: “Managing Risk and Uncertainty in Pursuit of Innovation,” June 4, 2008

HOBOKEN , N.J. ― The tension that exists between innovation and uncertainty has long been recognized: We could live in a safer world, but who would want to achieve it by abandoning innovation? The 17th Annual Howe School Alliance for Technology Management (HSATM) Conference, June 4, is devoted to the ways that organizations can achieve innovation while managing and minimizing the associated risks.

There are many risks that need to be managed in converting original or innovative concepts into innovation: the successful transformation of creative ideas into practical realities. Among these is the risk that conservative internal factions may erect stumbling blocks; that management may not have the staying power; that development time may be so long that the market need diminishes or disappears before the product can be introduced; that competition may come up with a better alternative. Joined to these may be a bevy of technical risks – that the product may not be technically feasible, that the process may not deliver the requisite quality, that the environmental hurdles may not be surmountable, that the costs may not be recoverable in the market, and so on. The more radical the underlying concepts are, the higher the likelihood that these risks will be formidable.

The conference will treat the management of risk in innovation from various viewpoints and will provide specific examples of how to manage risk aversion in organizations, how to decrease risk in the implementation of radically new ideas, and, in general, how to manage innovation projects to make the risks more tractable.

Five distinguished experts will share their views and experiences: Aaron Shenhar, Institute Professor of Management at Stevens Institute of Technology, Controlling the Risk/Uncertainty in Implementing Innovation; Richard Westerfer, formerly COO of WorldGate Communications, Risk Management in the Development of Radically New Initiatives; Donald Stanford, formerly CTO and Technology Fellow at GTech and currently Adjunct Professor at Brown University, Confronting the Risk vs. Innovation Dilemma; Jeff Krull, formerly VP of Product Development for Shure, Inc., The Enemy Within: Overcoming Internal Resistance to Innovation; and Michael zur Muehlen, Assistant Professor of Technology Management at Stevens Institute of Technology, Balloon or Marble? Governance, Risk and Compliance vs. Process Innovation.

The presentations and the panel discussion following will provide many practical ideas for managing the risk in innovation in your organization. It will appeal to technology managers, product managers, marketing managers, new business development personnel, project managers, corporate and business unit managers – in short, to everyone concerned with innovation.

For further details or to register, contact Sharen Glennon, (201) 216-5381, or Sharen.Glennon@stevens.edu

DATE: June 4, 2008 from 8:45 a.m–4:45 p.m.

LOCATION: The Babbio Center, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N.J.

FEE: $300; $75 for TMEDA members

(Free for HSATM Partner employees, Stevens alumni, faculty & students)

REFRESHMENTS: Continental breakfast 8:00 a.m.–8:45 a.m., plus Networking Lunch

DRESS CODE: Business Casual

About The Howe School Alliance for Technology Management

The Howe School Alliance for Technology Management is a collaboration between business, government and academia, which helps its partner organizations to better manage technology – in the broadest sense of the term – for strategic advantage. It transfers best practices through conferences, roundtable meetings, seminars, and publications. Howe School Alliance Partners have the opportunity to exchange ideas in a collegial environment with faculty of the Howe School and a network of people in other organizations dealing with similar issues.

The Alliance addresses a very diverse group of issues under the broad umbrella of technology management. Topics include innovation as an ongoing strategy, business process redesign, achieving radical breakthroughs, intellectual property management, processes for product conception, project management, stimulating creativity and many others. Through its educational programs, its research, and its transfer of best management practices, the Alliance has helped numerous organizations and has contributed to the development of thousands of technology professionals over its 17-year history.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,040 undergraduate and 3,085 graduate students, and a worldwide online enrollment of 2,250, with a full-time tenured/tenure-track faculty of 140 and more than 200 full-time special faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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