Ghanaian Professor among world's top scholars -In innovation management

Professor Kwaku Atuahene-Gima

Professor Kwaku Atuahene-Gima of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) has been ranked among the top 10 innovation management scholars in the world.

He placed second in the ranking that was based on a recent study of 1,718 innovation management scholars for total number of articles published in the top leading academic journals for the past 20 years.

Using the top 10 journals during the 20-year period, 1,229 innovation articles were included in the analysis based on their original contribution to innovation management research.

Scholars were ranked by weighting each author of an article (one divided by the number of authors in the article), and second by giving full credit to each author of an article.

Through this process, Professor Atuahene-Gima was ranked No. 2 worldwide with an adjusted number of 11.33 articles to his credit and No. 5 for 17 articles to his credit. He is the first and so far the only African Scholar to be ranked among the world’s top innovation management scholars.

The study was reported in the February 2012 issue of the Journal of Product Innovation Management (JPIM), a peer-reviewed journal which is published by the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), an organisation which represents the world’s largest membership of innovation practitioners and academics.

In a similar study reported in the same journal in 2007, Professor Atuahene-Gima was ranked number 4 top management scholar in the world, for articles published but adjusted for number of co-authors. This indicated a marked improvement in his recognition.

This is also the first study to rank 625 universities for their current faculty research capabilities in this field. The university ranking was determined by tallying the publication records of current faculty at each university.

Universities were then split into first tier (50th and above) and second tier rankings. Using the number of current faculty research publications in the top 10 journals, CEIBS was ranked number 10 by weighting each author of articles co-authored by current faculty (13.66 articles) and number 25 for total number of innovation articles (21).

The study indicated that CEIBS high ranking was mainly due to Professor Atuahene-Gima’s contribution. He published 11.33 out of 13.66 articles published by CEIBS faculty over the study period.

Research in innovation, described as “the overall process whereby an invention is transformed into a commercial product that can be sold profitably,” yields critical economic benefits and insights, hence, articles published in top academic journals were one of the most important measures for high-quality intellectual research contributions.

Research productivity ranking of individual scholars is useful for identifying top scholars in the field, while a ranking of universities provided important information for prospective faculty recruits, doctoral students, companies seeking consulting help, potential donors and other stakeholders, according to the article.

“I feel delighted to be recognised by my peers, but I am even happier to see the increasing amount of good quality studies on innovation management being conducted in the world today, particular by scholars focusing on emerging economies.” said Professor Atuahene-Gima, who is widely considered among the pioneers in the field of innovation management research, particularly in China.

“My only regret is that few of the path-breaking innovation management studies that end up in the top academic journals are been conducted in Africa. This is something my colleagues and I, from the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) would like to remedy. We have already appointed two high-class research associates in our Accra office with this objective in mind.”

“Perhaps, what is most important however, it to see to it that the knowledge in these articles is applied effectively in companies to make a real difference to the companies and their stakeholders. This is happening around the globe and we will like to see that it happens more so in Africa. We need to build the innovation capacity in Africa to overcome the many challenges we face,” Professor Atuahene-Gima, said.

Professor Atuahene-Gima argued that promoting innovation in companies and organisations in Africa cannot be done by universities alone. Experience from other countries suggest that professional associations dedicated to innovation management is perhaps the best way to ensure the application of innovation management best practices in companies. For this reason, Professor Atuahene-Gima and several colleagues form around the world have established the International Foundation for Africa Innovation (iFAI) to promote innovation management best practices in Africa.

Professor Kwaku Atuahene-Gima is one of the most influential innovation thought leaders in the business world. He has spent more than 20 years studying the practices and pitfalls of innovation management and new product projects in hundreds of companies, mostly in China.

He has consulted and conducted problem-solving workshops for leading innovative companies in different industry sectors such as Philips, Trend Micro, AutoNavi, Sony, Tianyu, Barco, Sanofi-Aventis, Infinitus, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Danaher, GE (China), DSM, Eli Lilly, Bayer Technology Services, Ernst & Young (China), Atlas Copco, Alcatel-Lucent, GSK (China), Intertek, UBS Financial Services; Philips (China) Limited; Shanghai General Motors and many others.

His dynamic seminars, consulting advice and keynote presentations have been widely applauded by corporate and business event audiences throughout North America, Europe and Asia making him one of the most sought-after speakers. A prolific and award-winning author, he has published more than 40 academic articles and case studies on innovation management.

He is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the Best Professor in Marketing and Innovation Management at the Asia’s Best Business Schools Awards by CMO in Singapore in July 2010; Outstanding Reviewer Award for the Journal of Marketing in 2007; and the American Marketing Association best paper award for making the most significant contribution to substantive issues related to technology and innovation in 2007.