Newswise — Babson College Professor and Entrepreneurship Division Chair Andrew Corbett, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor Gina Colarelli O'Connor, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Associate Professor Lois S. Peters have co-authored Beyond the Champion: Institutionalizing Innovation Through People.

Drawing on the results of a four-year study and two decades of related research, Beyond the Champion outlines three fundamental competencies necessary for innovation:

  • discovery,
  • incubation, and
  • acceleration.

According to the book authors, large, mature companies often struggle when it comes to the uncertain process of breakthrough innovation. The professors argue that innovation is a talent all its own that requires distinct skills and expertise, just like finance or marketing. Breakthroughs require an organizational design with clearly delineated roles, responsibilities, and career tracks for those who shoulder the responsibility for new products. The authors ultimately deliver a blueprint for sustainable innovation by mapping these skills onto roles and opportunities for advancement.

Beyond the Champion is available via Stanford University Press, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and Ebooks.com.

About The Authors

Andrew Corbett is the Paul T. Babson Chair of Entrepreneurship and serves as Chair of the Entrepreneurship Division.

A recent research study named Corbett one of the Top 25 Entrepreneurship Researcher in the World. This independent research article in the Journal of Business Management noted that his work was among the most cited and impactful since the turn of the century. Corbett’s primary areas of emphasis are corporate entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial learning and cognition, and entrepreneurship education.

In addition to his roles as professor and chair, Corbett mentors Babson entrepreneurs in the College’s Butler Launchpad, is a visiting professor of entrepreneurship at Nord University Business School in Bodø, Norway, and serves as editor for the Journal of Business Venturing, and co-editor of the Advances in EntrepreneurshipFirm Emergence, and Growth book series.  His extensive, practical experience also finds him consulting and teaching to corporate clients across the globe. 

Gina Colarelli O'Connor is Professor of Marketing and Innovation Management and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lally School of Management and Director of the Radical Innovation Research Program. She is the lead author of Grabbing Lightning: Building a Capability for Breakthrough Innovation (2008).

Lois S. Peters was Associate Professor at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lally School of Management and Director of the MS-Technology, Commercialization, and Entrepreneurship program. She was the co-author of Grabbing Lightning: Building Capability for Breakthrough Innovation (2008).

About Babson College

Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds®. The top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value.