Adapting, Improving and Disseminating an INnovation Management Training package through Blended Learning

Innovation is vital to both enterprises and countriesthat need to transform new ideas rapidly into technical and commercialsuccesses in order to maintain growth, competitiveness and jobs. Nevertheless,innovation is probably the least understood and controlled of any company’smain processes. Due to this, businesses require continuous training ininnovation in order to remain competitive. One way to accomplish this isthrough benchmarking innovation management techniques from successfulenterprises to less successful ones. SMEs account for 99% of Europe’s companiesand approximately two-thirds of employment, playing an important and essentialrole in the European economy and contributing to fostering the “innovationculture”. Given that SMEs are almost synonymous with the European Union, it isimperative that these organisations are supported and encouraged to pursueinnovative processes and mechanisms. Rapid changes in information andcommunication technologies, as well as the recent enlargement of the EU have resultedin differing levels and approaches to innovation across Europe, which vary fromone country to another, as well as across regions, industries and enterprises.

This Transfer ofInnovation Project (TIP) seeks to adapt, update and promote the findings of aformer Leonardo project which primarily dealt with innovation managementtechniques and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), while simultaneouslydeveloping relevant and innovative e-learning content (in accordance to Priority 3 in the Call for Proposals2007). The primary target group for this project is made up of owners, managersand high-level personnel of SMEs in targeted industrial sectors. The secondarytarget group includes University departments of Industrial Engineering &Management courses, as well as trainers, designers and managers of trainingprogrammes.