Interview with Authors: Adoption of Innovation

Eric Viardot a full time professor of Corporate Strategy and Marketing and Director of the Global Innovation Management Center at EADA. He worked in different marketing positions for Hewlett-Packard in France, Canada and the U.S. He was then a financial director for a large international NGO in Asia and Central America. Eric has published various books and articles on strategic management and marketing with a strong focus on Technology and Innovation Management.

Alexander Brem is Professor of Technology and Innovation Management and Head of Innovation and Design Engineering at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU). Since 2013 he has been visiting professor at HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management and EADA Business School Barcelona. He specialises in entrepreneurship and technology and innovation management.

What is Adoption of Innovation; Balancing Internal and External Stakeholders in the Marketing of Innovation all about?

Adoption of Innovation; Balancing Internal and External Stakeholders in the Marketing of Innovation: this book describes how marketing strategies, concepts and tools contribute to the adoption of innovation. It aims at creating a stronger link between innovation and marketing research, which is vital to successfully engage internal and external stakeholders in generating effective innovation strategies.

Who would you like to read your book? Who is it directed at?

The target audience of our book is twofold:

• Practitioners related to marketing and innovation management
• Researchers of innovation and marketing management and related fields

What are the key messages in the book?

On the one hand we argue for a stronger focus on downstream activities of the innovation process, specifically marketing and commercialization. On the other hand we focus on the importance of understanding and leveraging the role of internal and external stakeholders in order to achieve an increased adoption of innovation.

How did you first become interested in the subject of innovation management?

There is a natural relationship of marketing with innovation, latest when it comes to the commercialization of inventions. This is also represented by both editors: Eric’s background is on strategy and marketing, Alexander’s is on technology and innovation.

What do you think are the biggest trends and challenges facing the field?

So far the trend has been to emphasize upstream activities of the innovation management process with a focus on how to obtain and integrate new sources of innovation. But recently companies, governments, and researchers have realized that they have probably been focusing on the wrong priority as a large percentage of innovations are still failing to be successful in the market and to be profitable. The future challenges and trends will focus more on the boundaries of innovation and marketing, the integration of marketing strategy and innovation strategy and the increase of absorptive capacity.

Are there any other texts you found influential when compiling your own?

Actually there is a lot being published in both domains of marketing and innovation. Hence, there is no specific book or article, but the sum of all research being accessible. This is also a challenge to keep the overview of recent trends and new insights.

Are you currently working on any projects?

We are working on a book called “Revolution of Innovation Management” with Palgrave Macmillan, which is currently in its final stage. The idea is to collect key trend topics in innovation management which may have the potential to revolutionise management thinking, so a quite ambitious project.

What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?

Our main goal was to have a very international and overall view on the diffusion of innovation. Looking at the result, we think this worked out quite well – hopefully the readers agree to that.

Why should someone read your book?

Practitioners should read the book for gaining an understanding of the relation between innovation management and marketing, and especially the diffusion of innovation. Researchers can find new insights into related topics and find a contribution to a highly relevant field of innovation and marketing research.

You can find out more about Adoption of Innovation; Balancing Internal and External Stakeholders in the Marketing of Innovation and/or purchase the book, here