David Pyke's Blog

USD alumni in Silicon Valley have a great opportunity for research-based learning about innovation next Tuesday evening, March 26. I heard Professor Priya present to the SBA Board of Advisors last fall, and I saw how much the successful entrepreneurs in the room engaged with her on the ideas she discussed.

Professor Priya, who teaches strategic management at USD School of Business, will present the results of her research on innovation within companies. Her research has big implications for questions that …Read Full Article

Car body being dipped in water as a demonstration; at a factory it would be in a cleaning solution to prepare it for painting

After the European Alumni weekend in Caserta, Italy, we headed north to Milan. There, I visited the Pardis Innovation Center, an amazing facility that is part of Geico S.p.A.  This Geico (pronounced JAY-co) is not the company you see advertised in the U.S. with the Aussie-sounding gecko; it is the company run by Dr. Reza Arabnia, …Read Full Article

I stopped by the Social Innovation Challenge (SIC) presentations this afternoon with the idea of getting a taste of the creative ideas students were bringing to the event. However, instead of hors d’oeuvres, I feasted on an innovation banquet. Every aspect of the event was about innovation.

When I arrived, Patricia Marquez, Director of the Center for Peace and Commerce, handed me a “plantable” SIC bookmark. Produced by a company here in San Diego, this bookmark has seeds embedded in the …Read Full Article

Carsten and Philipp Zimmermann, with student-created ibags, teaching Global Innovation Strategy

MBA students entering Carsten Zimmermann’s intersession class thought they were seeing double. Carsten’s twin brother, Philipp, who is a Principal at Capgemini Consulting, Europe, joined him to teach Global Innovation Strategy. This team, combining Philipp’s experience in the area of innovation management with Carsten’s expertise as a professor of strategic management, was itself an innovative approach to teaching the course.

The three-day class was highly interactive. Students redesigned the standard …Read Full Article

Speaking of creative integrative problem solving, picture the buildings that neighbor the business school on USD’s campus. They house programs in peace studies, leadership and education, science and technology, and nursing. And of course, this neighborhood extends up the street to include the law school and all of the arts and sciences programs. What better community for networking to find interdisciplinary approaches to complex problems?

Turns out I’m not the only one who thinks so. USD has been named a Changemaker …Read Full Article