Innovation and Product Management: A Holistic and Practical Approach to Uncertainty Reduction

Marketplace complexity and dynamics create an environment that increases the uncertainty of innovation activities. In this context systematic management of innovation and product management are increasingly important for company success. This book presents the fundamentals of innovation and product management and introduces the reader to a holistic process model with particular focus on innovation and uncertainty. This integrated consideration of innovation management and product innovation within an interdisciplinary approach represents a unique characteristic of this book. The book is designed to address the needs of managers who want a practical but well-researched guide to innovation and product management. Graduate and advanced undergraduate students would also find the chapters in this book particularly useful.

About the Authors

Kurt Gaubinger is a Professor of Innovation Management & Industrial Marketing at University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria. He is Head of the Master´s Degree Programme Mechatronics and Business Management and Vice-Dean of the School of Engineering & Environmental Sciences. He received his Ph.D. in social and economic science from the Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria. After teaching at the Universities of Applied Sciences Burgenland and Salzburg, Kurt Gaubinger became a full-time professor at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria in 2005 and was named Head of Department for Innovation, Design and Industrial Marketing in 2009. In 2013 he developed the Master´s Degree Programme Mechatronics and Business Management. Prior to his career in academia he worked as a medical engineer for Siemens AG Austria and afterwards for an Austrian IT service provider as business unit manager. He presented his research at numerous conferences and has published several books and articles. His research interests include strategic innovation and product management, front end of innovation, commercialization of innovations as well as IT based innovation management.

Michael Rabl is Professor of Sensor Technology and Mechatronics at University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria. He is Head of the Bachelor’s Degree Programme Innovation Engineering and Management and the international Master’s Degree Programme Innovation and Product Management. He is acting as an independent expert for the European Commission for Research and Technological Development. As a senior researcher he was part of an international research group at the University of California Los Angeles working on the development of methods to cultivate algae as a feedstock for biofuels. In 2002 Michael Rabl became a full-time professor of Sensor Technology at the University of Applied Sciences in Wels, Upper Austria, and was named Head of Study of Innovation and Product Management in 2003. In 2000, he received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen, Germany. In 2013 he received his MBA in Innovation and Business Creation from Technische Universtät München, Germany. From 1999 to 2002 he worked for Siemens AG in Munich, first as an R&D engineer and later as a product manager. His current research interests are in the field of mechatronics, innovation management and the development of international study programmes.

K. Scott Swan is a Professor of International Business, Design and Marketing at The College of William & Mary (rated #1 undergraduate Marketing program by BusinessWeek). He has lectured internationally at Tsinghua University in Beijing; Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo; WHU in Koblenz, Germany; Corvinus University, Hungary; the Vienna Business School; Management Center Innsbruck; and University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria. He has also conducted economic impact studies for the Virginia Port Authority and Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority. His research interests include design, sourcing strategies, cooperative strategies, global product development, as well as the interaction between innovation and culture that have lead to publications in journals such as Strategic Management Journal, Journal of International Management, Journal of International Business Studies, Management International Review, Journal of Business Research, and The Journal of Product Innovation Management. He is on the Editorial Review Board of The Design Journal and The Journal of Product Innovation Management. Professor Swan has worked in project management for Flour-Daniel, marketing management for Foremost Corporation of America, as well as founding several small businesses related to design.

Thomas Werani is Associate Professor at the Institute for Retailing, Sales and Marketing and Head of the Department for Business-to-Business-Marketing, Johannes Kepler University Linz. He studied business administration with a specialization in marketing, advertising, and marketing research at the University of Augsburg and the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration (WU Wien). Dr. Werani started his academic career in 1993 at the Marketing Department of the University of Klagenfurt. In 1995 he joined Johannes Kepler University Linz, where he finished his doctoral thesis on the value of cooperative business relationships in 1998. After completing his habilitation Dr. Werani was appointed Associate Professor in 2004. He has received several prestigious research awards, including the 1996 Business Marketing Doctoral Support Award of the Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM) at the Pennsylvania State University and the Fourth Nestlé-Prize for Economics. Dr. Werani has presented his research at numerous international conferences and has published in several journals and books. He is on the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of Business Market Management and the International Journal of Marketing. His main research interests are in the field of business-to-business-marketing with special emphasis on pricing/value, innovation, branding and relationship issues. In addition, Dr. Werani is a marketing consultant for a number of national and international companies.