Innovation Portfolio Management: A Synthesis and Research Agenda

Innovation portfolio management (IPM) addresses the resource allocation across a firm's portfolio of new product development projects consistent with corporate strategy. The paper provides a comprehensive review of IPM research and offers new conceptual arguments by systematizing prior findings in the following four categories: optimization perspective, strategic perspective, decision‐making perspective and organizational perspective. These different approaches to IPM have been largely disconnected so far, but they can complement one another to provide new theoretical insights into a critical topic in innovation research. The different approaches are therefore integrated into an overarching perspective and a detailed research agenda is proposed.     

Creativity and Innovativeness through Reflective Project Leadership

The potential contribution of reflection to leadership at the project level is explored by building upon theories of reflection, and by presenting a case describing reflective leadership in practice. Reflective leadership refers to the process by which leaders reflect on their own leader behaviour in order to understand how it affects the behaviour of others. A means of facilitating leaders in their development of reflective skills is described. The evidence supports the proposition that reflective leadership can be enhanced to the benefit of innovative climate in projects.     

Creative Leaders: A Decade of Contributions from Creativity and Innovation Management Journal

Articles published in Creativity and Innovation Management volumes 1–9 (1991–2000) have been examined for their contributions to understanding of leadership as a process contributing to creativity and innovation. The study reveals nine overlapping themes, within each of which leadership plays a part in the production of creative insights or innovative productivity. However, for many authors, leadership remains an implicit factor within their models of change. We suggest that leadership, creativity and innovation are knowledge systems which can be more closely integrated for improved theory and practice within communities of practice.     

Selecting and Implementing Project Management Software

As the importance of project management software increases in industry, commerce, and government, so does the choice of project management software packages. However, many organizations select such packages according to how many features they advertise rather than how well they serve their organization's business function. This article presents a model for selecting and implementing a project management software package.     

Creativity and Innovation through Multidisciplinary and Multisectoral Cooperation

This paper explores the relation between creativity, innovation and new product development in multidisciplinary and multisectoral settings. We claim that the development of innovative products benefits from the generation of a high number of creative ideas. Moreover, we argue that the idea generation process can be particularly fruitful within collaborative multidisciplinary environments, where firms and Science and Technology institutions coexist and cooperate. Our approach draws on existing literature to investigate the creativity and idea generation process within the frame of multisectoral and multidisciplinary cooperation initiatives, involving firms and Science and Technology related institutions. We then call upon our own empirical work to identify conditions favourable to those processes and some issues that affect the fulfilment of the creative potential that exists in multidisciplinary groups.     

The Development of Technological Creativity through Project Work

Working in research and development groups and development groups and using actual materials, the learners acquire the abilities of systematic thinking and problem solving in completing the multifunction robot project. Moreover, the learners keep a record of data and messages collected in various stages of robot design and production. They also have to use thinking skills to locate problems and keep looking for better ways to modify and improve on their ideas until the robot function as it is originally intended to. A creativity-developing, and learning experiment is described involving the design of a multi-function robot. We conclude that the development of creative capabilities is enhanced when the design processes are accompanied by reflection and reporting procedures.     

Organizing Creativity: Creativity and Innovation under Constraints

The best way of organizing creativity within organizations remains somewhat enigmatic to scholars, particularly when it comes to the role of constraints. On the one hand, creative organizations are often associated with freedom, autonomy, weak rules and few boundaries. On the other hand, several studies suggest that constraints, particularly design constraints, often stimulate creativity rather than suppress it. All in all, findings are mixed and inconclusive, and further research that explores this area of tension is required. The goal of this paper is twofold. Firstly, we introduce the topic of constraints and creativity, and raise some of the open questions in this field. By way of illustration, we report on a preliminary study about the role of constraints. Secondly, we set the stage for the contributions in this special issue on creativity and innovation under constraints, by identifying four central themes for further research. We subsequently outline the articles in this issue, and show how each of them contributes to one or more of these themes.     

The Paradox of Diversity Management,Creativity and Innovation

This conceptual and discursive paper argues that diversity is a recognizable source of creativity and innovation that can provide a basis for competitive advantage. On the other hand, diversity is also a cause of misunderstanding, suspicion and conflict in the workplace that can result in absenteeism, poor quality, low morale and loss of competitiveness. Firms seeking competitive advantage therefore face a paradoxical situation. If they embrace diversity, they risk workplace conflict, and if they avoid diversity, they risk loss of competitiveness. The advantages and disadvantages associated with workforce diversity put organizations in a position of managing a paradoxical situation. To give support to this assertion, the paper considers what is meant by diversity, how it is best managed, what its relationship with creativity and innovation might be and how the problems created by the management of diversity, creativity and innovation might be resolved.     

Motivating Creativity and Enhancing Innovation through Employee Suggestion System Technology

Research has found that employee suggestion systems are a useful way to obtain and utilize employees’ creative ideas. To be effective, employees must be motivated to think creatively and to participate in the suggestion system. Unfortunately, motivating employees to participate is a common weakness of suggestion systems. Motivating employees involves more than simply offering rewards to submitters if their suggestions are put to use. According to expectancy theory, rewards will only motivate behaviour if the rewards are valued, if they are closely linked to successful performance, and if employees believe that they can perform successfully. This paper applies expectancy theory to the problem of motivating employees to participate in a suggestion system. We describe suggestion system technology that will increase employees’ motivation to think creatively and participate in the system.     

论系统集成项目在实施过程中的管理

如何规范与提高大型与复杂类系统集成项目的管理水平，摆在了现代企业管理制度的首位。本文就理论与实践相结合，对系统集成项目在实施过程中的管理做简单探讨。     

Special Theme: Project Management in E-Science: Challenges and Opportunities

In this introduction to the special theme: Project Management in e-Science: Challenges and Opportunities, we argue that the role of project management and different forms of leadership and facilitation can influence significantly the nature of cooperation and its outcomes and deserves further research attention. The quality of social interactions such as communication, cooperation, and coordination, have emerged as key factors in developing and deploying e-science infrastructures and applications supporting large-scale and distributed collaborative scientific research. If software is seen to embody the relational web within which it evolves, and if the processes of software design, development and deployment are seen as ongoing transformations of this dynamic web of relationships between technology, people and environment, the role of managers becomes crucial: it is their responsibility to balance and facilitate the dynamics of these relationships.     

Real Options and Incremental Search in Pharmaceutical R&D Project Portfolio Management

This paper investigates the role of real options reasoning in R&D project portfolio management and investment decisions of pharmaceutical firms. We analyse a unique dataset that integrates information on initiation and termination of clinical trials at the level of specific medical indications. Consistent with existing literature, we find a positive relationship between market size and firm entry in clinical trials. We also show that the option value of R&D investments, as proxied by the scope of R&D projects, affects the selection of target markets. Moreover, high‐risk research areas attract more entry, in line with the predictions of real options theory. However, we also find that more flexibility in project duration and delayed project discontinuation attract higher rates of entry. Departures from pure real options reasoning are motivated by the presence of incremental learning in pharmaceutical R&D.