HR: 13:40h
AN: H53G-01 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: Innovation in Hydrology: Lessons from the Business World
AU: * Schwartz, F W
EM: schwartz.11@osu.edu
AF: Y.C. Fang, Byrd Polar Research Center The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 United States
AU: Fang, Y C
EM: fang.29@osu.edu
AF: Franklin W. Schwartz, Department of Geological Sciences The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 United States
AB: There are more and more indications that contributions to research in science and engineering are stratified. A few influential papers distinguish themselves among large numbers of quite ordinary papers. The most influential papers are typically pioneering, commonly marking the beginning of some important new research strand and encouraging follow-on papers. In many respects, the pattern of activity in a research strand follows a life-cycle growth curve or a business product cycle. Our analysis of papers published in Water Resources Research shows that as a strand matures, papers lose their impact. In many respects, business is ahead of science because the process of innovation is accepted as a normal business practice for successful companies. While researchers acknowledge the importance of innovation, the topic is not commonly considered as something that one would learn or even talk about. Our paper here explores some of the lessons on designing for innovation, which come from the world of business. For example, leadership gurus like Tom Peters have much to say about the need for purposefully destroying successful enterprises, in other words, providing the motivation to adjust the focus of research to new strands or directions. Writers like Joel Barker let us understand ways to innovate within research strands. A more formalized understanding of the innovation process in hydrology will yield important dividends.
DE: 1847 Modeling
DE: 1899 General or miscellaneous
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005