Professor John Bessant
Originally a chemical engineer, John Bessant has been active in the field of research and consultancy in technology and innovation management for over 35 years. He is currently holds the Chair in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Exeter and has visiting appointments at the universities of Luxembourg, Erlangen-Nuremburg, Queensland University of Technology and the National University of Ireland. In 2003 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy of Management. He has acted as advisor to various national governments and international bodies including the United Nations, The World Bank and the OECD.
He is the author of 30 books and many articles on the topic and has lectured and consulted widely around the world. Clients have included Toyota, Novo-Nordisk, Hella, Lego, Morgan Stanley, Coloplast, Corus, Danfoss, GSK, Grundfos, Hewlett-Packard and Kumba Resources.
Professor Joseph Tidd
Joe Tidd is a physicist with subsequent degrees in technology policy and business administration. He is Professor of technology and innovation management at SPRU (Science Policy Research Unit), University of Sussex, U.K. and visiting Professor at University College London. He was previously Head of the Management of Innovation Group and Director of the Executive MBA Programme at Imperial College, and Deputy Director and Director of Studies at SPRU.
He worked as policy adviser to the CBI (Confederation of British Industry), responsible for industrial innovation and advanced technologies, and presented expert evidence to three Select Committee Enquiries held by the House of Commons and House of Lords. He was a researcher for the five-year International Motor Vehicle Program organised by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, which developed the concept of lean production.
He has worked on research and consultancy projects on technology and innovation management for consultants Arthur D. Little, CAP Gemini and McKinsey, and technology-based firms, including American Express Technology, Applied Materials, ASML, BOC Edwards, BT, Marconi, National Power, NKT and Nortel Networks, Petrobras and Pfizer, and international agencies such as UNESCO in Africa. He is the winner of the Price Waterhouse Urwick Medal for contribution to management teaching and research, and the Epton Prize from the R&D Society. He is a director of MBA Authors Ltd, and a founding partner of Management Masters LLP, academic services and licensing companies.
He is also Managing Editor of the International Journal of Innovation Management ( www.worldscinet.com/ijim/ijim.shtml ), the official journal of the International Society of Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM). He has written nine books and more than sixty papers on the management of technology and innovation, with more than 8,500 citations on Google Scholar.