Fall 2009: Innovation

Apple, known for being an innovation leader, has sold over 21 million iPhones since the product was launched in June 2007. As consumers, we are always looking for the next best thing. In this issue of the Baylor Business Review, we look at the evolution and expansion of business innovation, as well as its role within the Hankamer School of Business.

The phrase “business innovation” conjures specific types of images for those of us past a certain age. We imagine The Coca-Cola Company’s secret recipe locked away in a vault, Google’s mind-boggling search algorithms scribbled on a white board or brilliant IBM and P&G scientists tinkering in their research & development (R&D) lairs. Those of us past a certain age need to look again.

There has been a shift in business innovation. Leaving behind a once internalized process, companies are becoming more resourceful and sustainable by collaborating with external sources for R&D, a practice known as “open innovation.” We take a look at the evolution of open innovation along with considerations for entering into an open innovation agreement.

As hockey legend Wayne Gretzky once noted, you will always miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take. It’s a hockey player’s way of saying, “Don’t fear taking risks,” and it’s valuable advice for anyone trying to figure out where to go from here.

Taking a shot-or in my case, a road I had not traveled much before-brought me to California immediately after I graduated from Baylor. The road led me to a variety of places, most recently to Splunk, where we solve technology challenges for companies with large, complex IT infrastructures.

n the fast-paced world of social networking in general and Facebook specifically, the question is not whether changes are coming. Instead, it’s “What’s next?” One answer is using the massive people-connector to link workers and jobs. Research that Dr. Hope Koch’s Management Information Systems Leadership class conducted in early 2009 for Wal-Mart reveals that at least for students, sites like Facebook are the preferable way to find jobs.

Whether they are streamlining processes, providing technology solutions, connecting people through online channels, or challenging the realm of creativity, these alumni are involved with innovative businesses that are changing the way business is done. All found through social networking sites, we wanted to connect with these bears in innovation to find out more.

Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business continues the celebration of its 50th anniversary of maintaining international accreditation through the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). AACSB accreditation represents the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide.

How do you teach innovation? How do you inspire and motivate others to be creative? The Baylor Entrepreneurship Program enhanced its efforts by creating an exciting new learning opportunity for students with the Entrepreneurship Living -Learning Center (ENT-LLC) on campus.

The ENT-LLC, equipped with roughly over 70 students, debuts this fall at the North Village residential community. The group is composed of students who have chosen to live on a single floor and participate in activities centered on entrepreneurship. The women will be housed on the third floor of Texana and the men will be on the third floor in University.

He is a premed student in the Honors Program with second majors in Finance and Economics and minors in Biology and Biochemistry. As if that isn’t enough to keep him busy, he serves as the vice president of the Baylor Medical Service Organization and Response Team, and is a member of the Future Healthcare Executives graduate organization. He has already completed an internship with M.D. Anderson in Houston, and will be studying in Madrid, Spain, for the fall 2009 semester.

Dr. Greg Leman, director of University Entrepreneurial Initiatives and the Curtis Hankamer Chair in Entrepreneurship at Baylor, is a big fan of innovation. Among other courses, he teaches the “Initiating and Sustaining Innovation” Entrepreneurship class and serves as director of Baylor’s i5 program: Immersion Into International Interdisciplinary Innovation.

Angels have descended on the Hankamer School of Business-angel investors that is, in the form of a new organization called the Baylor Angel Network (BAN). BAN is a seed and early stage investor network for friends and family of Baylor University and the Hankamer School of Business. It is “essentially a framework for connecting entrepreneurs with investors with a priority for involving students in internships,” said Dr. Bill Petty, BAN executive director.

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Rogers Pope Sr., BBA, was honored with the 50-Year Banker Award at the Texas Bankers Association’s annual meeting in San Antonio. Pope serves as chairman of the board and CEO of Texas Bank and Trust, and is also chairman of the board of First State Bank of Van, Lindale State Bank and First State Bank of Overton. Pope has formerly served on the Hankamer School of Business Advisory Board.