Innovation management explores and develops the processes used in organisations.

Our innovation management research identifies the information that businesses need to enhance their processes and become more efficient. We also help organisations and governments to consider environmental concerns and sustainability demands when designing and optimising processes, such as the growing demand to reduce food and packaging waste.

Our research investigates innovations in low technology and process-based industries, including the food sector, as well as industries using advanced technologies like AI. We identify current industry trends and challenges, as well as the factors contributing to success, and work to predict future developments in these areas with technological forecasting.

We explore topics including data science applications, public sector and eco-innovations, and Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) intelligence, where we investigate the potential implications of technologies such as blockchain and AI.

We build our holistic, yet detailed, view of innovation by using research methods including natural language processing, machine learning, social media analytics, systematic literature review and survey methods.

Our research has a measurable impact on the organisations we work with. We maintain relationships with a range of businesses and have successfully secured Knowledge Transfer Partnership funding on multiple occasions.

Our work covers the following topics

Innovation in the food industry
Innovation and technology intelligence to identify opportunities and predict future trends
New packaging solutions for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG)
Innovation in manufacturing processes and product development
Creation of innovations catering to the elderly market
Sustainable product development, eco-innovation, and strategies to reduce food waste
Innovations in the public sector
STI policymaking

Partnerships and collaborations

We have extensive experience of working on collaborative research projects with industry. We worked with Crown Holdings, a leading metal packaging manufacturer, to gather information on elderly consumers' experience of packaging.

This information was used by Crown Holdings to develop new product ideas that better meet the needs of older people. We have recently completed a project with KernPack, a packaging machinery specialist, to explore how investment in production processes can impact the development of new products and reduce time-to-market.

We've received government grants and funding from industry collaborators, including small and large firms – and we have extensive experience of gaining Knowledge Transfer Partnership funding.

Facilities

Our understanding of the management of innovation and new product development is combined with the University's facilities within the Future Technology Centre, the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Science. This enables us to combine our understanding of effective innovation management with scientific and technical resources.

Publication highlights

Advanced manufacturing technology adoption and innovation: a systematic literature review on barriers, enablers, and innovation types

Stornelli, Aldo ; Ozcan, Sercan ; Simms, Chris. / Advanced manufacturing technology adoption and innovation: a systematic literature review on barriers, enablers, and innovation types. In: Research Policy. 2021 ; Vol. 50, No. 6. pp. 1-18.
An international exploration of barriers and tactics in the public sector innovation process

Cinar, Emre ; Trott, Paul ; Simms, Chris. / An international exploration of barriers and tactics in the public sector innovation process. In: Public Management Review. 2021 ; Vol. 23, No. 3. pp. 326-353.
Collaborative public sector innovation: an analysis of Italy, Japan, and Turkey

Cinar, Emre ; Simms, Chris ; Trott, Paul. / Collaborative public sector innovation: an analysis of Italy, Japan, and Turkey. In: Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions. 2022.
Older individuals and digital healthcare platforms: usage motivations and the impact of age on post-adoption usage patterns

Frishammar, Johan ; Essén, Anna ; Simms, Chris et al. / Older individuals and digital healthcare platforms: usage motivations and the impact of age on post-adoption usage patterns. In: IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. 2022.
Packaging-integrated-products: capturing new opportunities in the front end of product development

Simms, Chris ; Trott, Paul. / Packaging-integrated-products: capturing new opportunities in the front end of product development. In: European Journal of Marketing. 2022.
Packaging-integrated-products: capturing new opportunities in the front end of product development

Simms, Chris ; Trott, Paul. / Packaging-integrated-products: capturing new opportunities in the front end of product development. In: European Journal of Marketing. 2022.
Stakeholder green pressure and new product performance in emerging countries: a cross-country study

Adomako, Samuel ; Simms, Chris ; Vazquez-Brust, Diego Alfonso et al. / Stakeholder green pressure and new product performance in emerging countries : a cross-country study. In: British Journal of Management. 2023 ; Vol. 34, No. 1. pp. 299-320.
Technological forecasting based on estimation of word embedding matrix using LSTM networks

Gozuacik, Necip ; Sakar, C. Okan ; Ozcan, Sercan. / Technological forecasting based on estimation of word embedding matrix using LSTM networks. In: Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 2023 ; Vol. 191
Technology roadmapping using text mining: a foresight study for the retail industry

Ozcan, Sercan ; Homayounfard, Amir ; Simms, Chris et al. / Technology roadmapping using text mining: a foresight study for the retail industry. In: IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. 2021.
Technology roadmapping using text mining: a foresight study for the retail industry

Ozcan, Sercan ; Homayounfard, Amir ; Simms, Chris et al. / Technology roadmapping using text mining: a foresight study for the retail industry. In: IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. 2021.
The changing context of innovation management: A critique of the relevance of the stage-gate approach to current organizations

Trott, Paul ; Baxter, David ; Ellwood, Paul et al. / The changing context of innovation management: A critique of the relevance of the stage-gate approach to current organizations. In: Prometheus. 2022 ; Vol. 38, No. 2. pp. 207-227.