As of today, the new DSM Chair of Innovation Management has been established at RSM Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The chair will be held by Prof. Harry Barkema, who until now was Professor of Strategy and International Management at the School of Economics and Business Administration at Tilburg University, the Netherlands.

As Executive Director, Barkema will be responsible for the setting-up and organization of the Innovation-Cocreation Lab (ICCL). This is the first time a lab of this kind will be created in Europe. The objective of this lab is to develop, in alliance with top companies, top researchers and top institutions, new strategies and organizational designs in order to provide high value product innovation and new business models. This will be achieved through innovative methodologies – the co-creation of knowledge with companies.

The Board of Directors of the ICCL consists of Feike Sijbesma (chairman of DSM’s Managing Board), Han van Dissel (dean RSM), Kathy Eisenhardt (Stanford) and Jan Willem Oosterwijk (President of Executive Board of Erasmus University).

By supporting this initiative, DSM is once again showing its commitment to innovation. Feike Sijbesma, chairman of DSM’s Managing Board, commented: “ For DSM, innovation is of the utmost importance. It’s one of the driving forces to realize our strategy, Vision 2010 – Building on Strengths. By sponsoring this Innovation Management chair and the Innovation-Cocreation Lab, we aim to accelerate our own innovation efforts as well as raise the level of knowledge and expertise in the field of innovation management.”

Prof. Han van Dissel, dean of RSM, is also delighted with the new chair: “ Today, innovation is a very important theme, both for society and for the business community. RSM Erasmus University wants to be on top of this development. We are pleased that DSM, a top innovative company, is enabling us to start this lab, with a top research team, which will act as a multiplier for innovation.”

“The most successful companies today are the ones that are able to systematically develop new products and, increasingly, new business models. Not only by using their own internal resources but, increasingly, by co-creating knowledge and ideas with others outside the company as well. What strategies and organizational designs help companies to do this successfully over long periods of time? That is the core question of this lab, and a new exciting and important research area for management researchers and companies alike. The lab will co-create knowledge with top researchers around the world and with the most innovative companies. I am delighted that a very innovative company such as DSM is committed to working with us to “crack the DNA code” of long-term, successful innovation”, according to Harry Barkema.

RSM Erasmus University
RSM Erasmus University is an internationally top-ranked business school renowned for its ground-breaking research in sustainable business practice and for the development of leaders in global business. Offering an array of bachelor, master, doctoral, MBA and executive education programs, RSM is consistently ranked amongst the top 10 business schools in Europe. www.rsm.nl.