The People make the Place a Journey of Innovation November 13, Thomas Lans

Education & Learning Sciences

Master track Entrepreneurship

ignite top science and fast innovation in the SFI? So, how to... ignite top science and fast innovation in the SFI?

Through... creating an enabling innovation ecosystem @ Wageningen Campus that connects top- scientist, entrepreneurs, students, end- users, employees and food professionals

This requires: employee-driven innovation “the generation and implementation of ideas, products and processes [...] originating from interaction of those, who are not explicitly assigned to this task” Scout & capitalize food innovation human capital among all SFI staff First order: autonomous creation of novelties at the grassroots level Second order: systematizing and formalizing promising innovation processes that emanate from employees’ initiatives. Third order: specifically invite employees to participate in innovation processes. Buhl, Anke, Susanne Blazejewski, and Franziska Dittmer. "The more, the merrier: Why and how employee-driven eco-innovation enhances environmental and competitive advantage." Sustainability 8.9 (2016): 946.

Prevalence of Employee-driven Innovation (% 18-64 population innovation-driven economies) Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2011, Bosma et al. 2013

Where to play a role? the idea journey Perry-Smith, Jill E., and Pier Vittorio Mannucci. "From creativity to innovation: The social network drivers of the four phases of the idea journey." Academy of Management Review 42.1 (2017): 53-79.

Adapted from Stevens and Burley (1997/2003)

Evidence-informed: our research approach OICAT performance assessment Agri-, food- & fibre industry 12 companies > 230 employees > 50 groups Baggen, Yvette, et al. "Development and application of the opportunity identification competence assessment test (OICAT) in higher education." Innovations in Education and Teaching International (2017): 1-11.

Mini-experiment: generation (3 minutes) Imagine that you are asked to give input for business ideas for new start-ups*, in the area of sustainable development. These business ideas can concern people, planet and/or profit, and may lead to social, environmental and/or economic gains. What ideas for new start-ups come up in your mind? *A start-up can be a new, independent venture or a new project within the organization you work for.

Mini-experiment evaluation (3 minutes) Select the 3 arguments you think are most important when determining the potential for success of the ideas Superiority of product/service How novel the idea is Ability to generate recurring revenues Intuition or gut feeling Solving a customer’s problem Manageable risk Potential to change the industry Other companies, persons with whom to develop the idea Extent to which idea is based on new technology Cost of customer acquisition

Individual idea generation & evaluation Quantity (generation) is easier to influence than quality (evaluation) Personal factors have larger influence than contextual Both are influenced by creative self-efficacy Quantity is influenced by: Job autonomy Quality is influenced by: Organizational support

Championing ideas: experience helps.... Engagement in innovation Number of ideas adopted by management

Involving co-workers: from individual to group Innovative quality Sustainability of the ideas Quality of the arguments for selection increase Stage 1: Individual generation Stage 2: Individual selection Stage 3: Group selection

Inspired? Thomas.Lans@WUR.nl