The CINet PhD Seminar on Research in Continuous Innovation

The seminar
The CINet PhD Seminar on Research in Continuous Innovation was successfully launched in 2003. After Brussels (host: EIASM) and two times Aalborg (host: Center for Industrial Production - Aalborg University), the seminar now moves to Valencia (host: Universidad Politécnica de Valencia).

Continuous innovation
Continuous innovation, the basis for sustainable success, requires companies to combine continuity and innovation in several different ways. First, successful companies continuously develop new product-market-technology-organisation (PMTO) combinations. Making the right strategic choices is one of the prerequisites for the successful implementation of these innovations. At the same time, however, successful companies also ensure continuity and improvement of their existing PMTO-combinations. Thus, continuously innovative companies successfully combine operational, innovation and strategic excellence.

Successful continuous innovation is beneficial to a wide variety of stakeholders, including customers, employees and owners/shareholders of companies. The achievement of such benefits requires company-wide involvement and commitment, cross-departmental and inter-organisational collaboration, ongoing learning (and unlearning), and deep insight into the process of continuous innovation. Continuous innovation is an essentially cross-disciplinary field of research.

Participants
The seminar offers space to max. 20 PhD students researching continuous innovation or a related topic, who are in a relatively early phase of their studies.

Working mode
The seminar features a combination of faculty teaching and student presentations, plenary sessions, and small-group work. The programme is highly interactive and includes ample opportunity for exploring emerging themes in continuous innovation, related theory and methodology, background and seminal contributions.

Each morning a specific topic, a related challenge and relevant methodological issues will be addressed based on the lecturer's own research. During the afternoon the participants will present, and discuss with their fellows and staff, their own research.

Credits
Upon successful completion of the seminar, the participants are given a certificate and granted 5 ECTS.