Emeritus Professor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Exeter
John Bessant is a highly accomplished and results-oriented innovation management expert with a distinguished career spanning research, education, and consultancy.
As Emeritus Professor from the University of Exeter and Principal Research Fellow at Made4Impact Ltd, John brings deep expertise in driving organizational renewal, fostering continuous improvement, and implementing radical change. Author of over 45 books and 150 refereed papers, including the seminal “Managing Innovation,” John have shaped the field of innovation management globally.
His work focuses on translating research insights into practical strategies and tools that enable organizations to build and sustain innovation capabilities. He has secured over £20 million in research funding and provided strategic counsel to governments, international agencies, and leading organizations worldwide.
Related posts
Keynotes at R&D Management Conference
Now is the time to change – inspirational speakers provide their insights in the three plenary sessions at the R&D Management Conference
Innovation Fitness Test – a tool to help scoring
John Bessant recommends this tool developed by colleagues in Canada which helps with using the Innovation Fitness test framework.
Assessing innovation and technology management capabilities in an organisation
To extract best value from investments in technology and innovation, managers need to address a wide range of aspects. The emerging ISO standards provide an opportunity for improved tools to assist. One such tool, the Innovation Technology Management (ITM) process framework was shown to provide insights into performance trends and identify issues commonly faced across the oil and energy sector.
Portfolio Management techniques
Portfolio management is crucial to balance benefit against risk. A number of techniques are discussed in this workbook created by Joe Tidd and John Bessant of the Innovation Portal.
The innovation disconnect
There is a disconnect between R&D spend and performance, says Professor Magnus Karlsson. Ahead of the launch of the international standard ISO 56000 he explains that the purpose of an Innovation Management System is to improve an organisation’s ability to realise value under conditions of uncertainty.
