College Profile: MGIM
New graduate program offers global view on innovation management
by Anna Rzewnicki
March 13, 2008
Business schools on both sides of the Atlantic – and beyond – are hearing a call from companies seeking employees who know how to manage technical teams in a global innovation-focused marketplace.
A new partnership signed Feb. 27, 2008, by deans of the North Carolina State University College of Management in Raleigh, N.C. and the IAE Graduate School of Management in Aix-en-Provence, France, is the latest response to that call.
[Photo: Alain Ged, dean, IAE, left, and Ira Weiss, dean, NC State College of Management]
The new dual degree Master of Global Innovation Management program creates an international cohort of students with varied technology and scientific backgrounds. Courses are held in both France and the United States and prepare students to manage innovation in a global context. The program will welcome its first students in fall 2008.
The students will be together for a year of graduate studies that will prepare them to manage innovation, either in entrepreneurial ventures or as part of the R&D function within large firms.
Courses will be taught in English, and will be held in both France and the United States. The curriculum is designed to prepare students to manage innovation in a global context.
“Innovation on other than a global basis doesn't make a lot of sense in today's interconnected environment," said Jack Goldfrank, president of the Center for Packaging Innovation of MeadWestvaco Corporation located on NC State University’s Centennial Campus.
"That is because the key to successful companies is to harness innovation wherever it happens in the world and to be able to leverage that innovation in existing and other new emerging markets," Goldfrank said.
"So, to have the marriage of a technology background with an understanding of how to optimize innovation in the marketplace, and to be able to apply this globally, could be a significant strategic advantage," Goldfrank said.
Ged, dean of IAE Graduate School of Management, which includes IAE’s graduate programs at Aix en Marseilles and IAE at Aix en Provence, said that while firms value employees with scientific and engineering training, they find that “when we ask them to be (a) manager of an R&D department, they collapse sometimes because they do not have the skills.”
What’s missing, he said, is the ability to manage teams, budgets, and an understanding of the commercial development process.
[Audio] Listen to Dean Ged describing the kinds of roles firms are seeking to fill with the skills that the MGIM program is designed to provide. [Length: 2 minutes 22 seconds]
Véronique Moncada, director of international relations for IAE, said the MGIM's strong international cohort structure provides the vital global perspective, and the course content provides the skills needed to manage innovation in a global environment. "That is what makes this a unique program," she said.
“Learning in one cohort for the two semesters enables (the students) to build a strong global network. Another unique feature is the program’s focus on global innovation management," she said.
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