Institute Reborn, Highlighting Innovation’s Powerful Role at Haas

The Institute of Management, Innovation, and Organization is being "renewed and reborn" as the Institute for Business Innovation to emphasize the importance that innovation plays in business and at the Haas School, Dean Rich Lyons announced in a letter to staff, faculty, and students on Friday.

Professor Michael Katz will continue as director of the renamed institute. It will continue to house approximately ten centers and programs, including the Fisher Center for the Management of Technology; the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation; the Center for Open Innovation; and the Management of Technology Program, a joint program with Berkeley's College of Engineering.

The institute also is expanding to include Haas@Work, the school's applied innovation program in which students drive innovation in larger organizations, and Cleantech to Market, a program in which business students help Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists commercialize their technologies.

"The change to IBI reflects the critical role that innovation plays in successful business strategy," says Lyons. "Internally, it also underscores the central role that IBI plays in our school’s mission to support pioneering research and to educate the innovative business leaders of tomorrow."

The institute will serve as the central hub, or one-stop shop, that connects faculty, students, and outside companies interested in promoting, managing, and benefiting from innovation.

Looking to the future, the institute is planning to pursue efforts in the areas of business model innovation, innovation leadership, and innovation in health care and the life sciences, according to Katz.

Back