20 March 2015
Growth through innovation – it’s a key point of the SA Government’s plan and a mantra of the wider business community - to strengthen South Australia’s economic future.
Innovation also explains why some firms grow faster than their rivals, and how they innovate is a subject which global thought-leader in Innovation Management for Business Growth, Professor George Day will explore at a UniSA Business Growth Advisory Forum on Monday March 23.
Prof Day, of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has spent the past 25 years working to understand what distinguishes consistent growth leaders from their rivals and his book, Innovation Prowess: Leadership Strategies for Accelerating Growth, sets out those observations.
In interviews Prof Day has spoken of the importance of matching growth-seeking discipline with innovation ability and the ability to take risks as vital precursors to business growth.
“Growth leaders really invest heavily in understanding their markets. They are very good at open innovation, partnering and sharing,” Prof Day says.
“They do a lot of experimenting. They don’t feel they have the answers, but they’re going try a lot of different things.
"They’ll follow those mantras of 'start small but think big, 'fail fast, and scale quickly, if you get it right'.
“Why do some firms grow faster than their rivals? The answer is that they have developed their innovation prowess with steady leadership commitment, a supportive culture and a growth strategy that stretches their organisation.
“This talk will reveal the five drivers that firms can use to accelerate their organic growth rate.”
Prof Jana Matthews, ANZ Chair in Business Growth and Director, Centre for Business Growth, is delighted to have Prof Day provide the keynote speech at the Business Growth Advisory Forum.
This event is one of the highlights in a busy calendar of programs and events that the Centre is delivering to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in SA.
“Prof Day is a leading expert in innovation management, organisational change, and competitive strategies in global markets,” Prof Matthews says.
“His insights will prove relevant and applicable, adding to the wider conversation we will be having on how the UniSA Business School can provide support for business growth in South Australia.”
The Centre for Business Growth provides executives of SMEs (companies with $5million to $50Million in revenue and 5 to 200 employees) with the knowledge and skills they need to lead, manage and grow a high-performance company and to compete globally.
Media contact: Will Venn office (08) 8302 0096 email will.venn@unisa.edu.au
