Uni.lu and CCL Partnership
On the occasion of the official launch of the joint Business Education Partnership between the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance of the University of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce (CCL), guest speaker Prof John Bessant, Chair of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Exeter shared his recipe for successful innovation.
The launch event was opened by Mr Gérard Eischen, Member of the Management Board of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce followed by Prof Rolf Tarrach, President of the University of Luxembourg and Prof Stefan Braum, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance.
Prof Denise Fletcher, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Luxembourg moderated the evening and started by saying that, “We are very honoured to have Prof Bessant as guest professor at our University and delighted that he agreed to assist us in launching our new partnership with the Chamber of Commerce.”
The Business Education Partnership between the University of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce was signed in May 2014 in order to create a centre of excellence in business management by establishing a new business education field at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance. The new partnership, for the period 2014 – 2017, aims to further develop the University’s programme of offerings in the domains of entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as accounting and audit.
Prof Bessant began by attempting to correctly define what is meant by innovation, which he feels is often misunderstood. “We have a problem with innovation in so far as it is everywhere. Everyone talks about innovation, politicians especially claim that we are going to innovate our way out of the crisis.” However, what does that really mean?
For Bessant innovation is, “Creating commercial and social value from knowledge,” and in his experience this knowledge can come from many varied and surprising sources, what he refers to as knowledge spaghetti.
That said, he did also warn that knowledge and bright ideas are not enough. “Innovation must be managed and we need to keep on checking that we are doing the right thing. It requires a strategy and a roadmap in order to get buy in.”
The key ingredient, according to Bessant, is people. We must create company structures that make is easier for people to be creative, something he claims is easier in stat-ups that in bigger, longer established companies.
UNI.lu - Chamber of Commerce : Challenges from the edge of innovation - Prof. John Bessant from Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce on Vimeo.