Dr Ian Elsum

BSc(Hons); PhD
Associate Professor (Honorary)
ANU College of Business and Economics

Areas of expertise

  • Innovation And Technology Management 150307
  • Organisational Planning And Management 150312
  • Entrepreneurship 150304

Research interests

Management of radical / breakthrough innovation

Business model innovation in established firms

Open innovation

Commercialisation of major inventions from public research insitutes

The role of social networks in innovation

Complex social and environmental problems

 

Biography

Dr Ian Elsum is an Honorary Associate Professor in the Research School of Management.  He is also an Adjunct Professor at Swinburne University of Technology and a member of Innovation Research Interchange (formerly the Industrial Research Institute).

Ian worked for CSIRO from 1984 to 2012 where he gained extensive experience in the strategic management of applied research with an emphasis on increasing research effectiveness through strategic planning, priority setting and research assessment as well as work on factors necessary for excellence in applied research.  He also has extensive involvement in practitioner-led research undertaken by the Innovation Research Interchange aimed at improving the effectiveness of the management of technology-based innovation.

Ian has investigated knowledge management in R&D; venture capital practices and established firms; radical innovation; managing high uncertainty innovation; challenges of business model innovation; and, managing speed-to-market for new products in his work with the Innovation Research Interchange.

Before joining CSIRO Ian carried out fundamental research in chemistry at universities in Australia and the USA.  He has been a member of a number of company boards and management and advisory committees, and has also been a regular participant in forums for developing industry and innovation policy.

Ian has broad research interests aimed at improving the effectiveness of the management of innovation.  They include management of radical innovation, business model innovation in established firms, open innovation, commercialisation of major inventions from public research institutes and the role of social networks in innovation.  His main emphasis is on high-uncertainty innovation and the commercialisation of broadly applicable new technologies.

He also investigates the effectiveness of practices for tackling complex social and environmental problems. 

 

 

Publications

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Updated:  28 March 2024 / Responsible Officer:  Director (Research Services Division) / Page Contact:  Researchers