INNOVATION MANAGEMENT EXPERTS RANKED WORLD'S TOP SCHOLARS

Dr. Robert G. Cooper and Dr. Scott J. Edgett have been named the world’s top innovation management scholars in the May 2007 issue of the prestigious Journal of Product Innovation Management.

Based on a study of nearly 1,200 scholars, Dr. Cooper ranks as the world’s top scholar and Dr. Edgett, seventh. The peer-reviewed journal is published by the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), an organization which represents the world’s largest membership of innovation practitioners and academics. The study, by Dr. Jeff Thieme at the University of Memphis, examines almost 1,000 technical papers and articles written by academics around the world over the past 15 years.

 “It’s great to be recognized by your peers, but it’s even more gratifying to see the amount of good scholarly work on innovation management that now exists,” said Cooper, who is widely considered the pioneer in the field of innovation management. 

“Most importantly however, it is that the knowledge in these articles is being applied and is making a real difference to companies around the globe.”
                                                                                                                       
In addition to writing about new product development and innovation management, Dr. Cooper is a Professor at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Management, a consultant to industry and a popular keynote speaker.  Dr. Edgett, a former Professor at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Management and long-time partner of Cooper, is the Chief Executive Officer of the rapidly growing innovation management specialty company, Stage-Gate Inc.  Edgett continues to provide hands-on advice to business executives seeking to improve the efficiency and profitability of their innovation processes.

“Obviously, innovation management is not simply a ‘flavour of the month’ issue, it is a management challenge that requires persistent and focused attention,” added Dr. Edgett.

“Our mission at Stage-Gate Inc. is to make sure our research actually makes a difference in companies − that it helps them innovate more efficiently and profitably.”
                                                                                                           
Dr. Cooper and Dr. Edgett are recognized as the world’s foremost experts on the world’s most widely implemented innovation process, Stage-Gate®.  Their best practices research and resulting methodologies have led to some of the most important discoveries in product innovation today. They were the first to pinpoint what discriminates the winning products from losing products, to build the most accurate product success predictive tool (85% accuracy) and the first to introduce the concept of portfolio management for new products. Their collective works are considered to have achieved the most powerful impact on performance in product innovation today.  

Inspiring  Keynote Speakers
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