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

2. Education & Learning Sciences

3. Master track Entrepreneurship

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

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

7. 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.

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

9. 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):

10. Adapted from Stevens and Burley (1997/2003)

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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

14. 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

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

16. 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

17. Inspired?