JOE TIDD is a physicist with subsequent degrees in technology policy and business administration. He is professor of technology and innovation management at SPRU, and visiting Professor at University College London, and previously at Cass Business School, Copenhagen Business School, and Rotterdam School of Management. Dr Tidd was previously Deputy Director of SPRU and Head of the Innovation Group and Director of the Executive MBA Program at Imperial College.

He has worked as policy adviser to the CBI (Confederation of British Industry), presented expert evidence to three Select Committee Enquiries held by the House of Commons and House of Lords, and was the only academic member of the UK Government Innovation Review. He is a founding partner of Management Masters LLP.

He was a researcher for the 5-year International Motor Vehicle Program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which identified Lean Production, and has worked on technology and innovation management projects for consultants Arthur D. Little, CAP Gemini, and McKinsey, and numerous technology-based firms, including American Express Technology, Applied Materials, ASML, BOC Edwards, BT, Marconi, National Power, NKT, Nortel Networks, and Petrobras, 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 has written 9 books and more than 60 papers on the management of technology and innovation, with than 17,000 research citations, and is Managing Editor of the International Journal of Innovation Management (http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscinet/ijim), the official journal of International Society of Professional Innovation Management. He hosts the Innovation Masters YouTube channel and is part of the Intrapreneurship Hub, a collaborative venture between Sussex, Bocconi, and Renmin business schools.

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 Erlangen-Nuremburg, Queensland University of Technology, and the National University of Ireland.