The key ingredients for establishing high-performance, double-digit growth companies are entrepreneurs or business leaders who are fired up for change and who have assembled a strategic toolkit for designing, developing and delivering a breakout strategy.  

That is the central message that Thomas Lawton will outline during his forthcoming InterTradeIreland 2011 Innovation Lecture at University College Dublin. Thomas Lawton is an author and Professor of Strategy and International Business at EMLYON Business School (France), one of Europe’s top ten business schools, and visiting Professor at the renowned Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (USA). 

 
Professor Thomas Lawton

According to Professor Lawton, “A breakout strategy is a structured and purposeful approach to corporate change and market or industry transformation which leads to a dramatic improvement in business performance and market success.”

Professor Thomas Lawton is the author several books including Breakout Strategy: Meeting the Challenge of Double-Digit Growth which has been widely commended for its global focus and relevance to practicing managers and aspiring leaders.

Next week Professor Lawton will share his expertise with business leaders of early-stage or established companies on achieving double-digit growth during an innovation lecture entitled Innovate for Advantage: A Strategic Toolkit for Designing and Delivering a Breakout Strategy. Organised by NovaUCD this lecture will take place on Thursday 16 June at 6 pm in the UCD William Jefferson Clinton Auditorium, Belfield, Dublin 4.

Professor Lawton has spent more than 15 years consulting for and advising business leaders and managers of large and small companies and organisations such as Bombardier Transportation, EDF Energy, IBM, the Singapore High Technology Association and Volvo Group on business development and market growth.

During his innovation lecture he will provide an insight into the trajectories and techniques that management teams need to adopt to move towards the ‘sweet spots’ that exist in all industries. He will emphasise the need to harmonise the hard, financial and technology processes with the softer, leadership and people factors which result in an inclusive picture of successful strategy formulation and execution. 

Speaking in advance of his lecture, Professor Lawton said, “For enterprising business leaders who want to raise a company from a subordinate to a more dominant market position by creating double-digit growth, it is crucial both to pursue the optimal business strategy and to exceed in its execution.”

This innovation lecture is being delivered as part of the InterTradeIreland All-island Innovation Programme. This Programme, a partnership between InterTradeIreland, Queen’s University Belfast, NovaUCD and the Centre for Innovation and Structural Change at NUI Galway, aims to promote and encourage innovation across the island of Ireland.

Aidan Gough, InterTradeIreland Strategy & Policy Director commented, “For the ambitious firm, achieving sustainable, innovation-led growth is both a complex and challenging imperative. Internal capabilities are no longer sufficient to gain and sustain competitive advantage as companies must draw on external resources and expertise across the island and beyond to be successful. This next lecture in the InterTradeIreland All-island Innovation Programme will enable companies to benefit from international best practice in innovation to help drive change and growth in their business.”

Click here for further details on Professor Lawton’s innovation lecture at University College Dublin.

All are welcome to attend this lecture which is free of charge.

ENDS

7 June 2011

For further information contact Micéal Whelan, NovaUCD, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: +353 1 716 3712.

Editors Notes

Thomas Lawton, an Irish national, is Professor of Strategy and International Business at EMLYON Business School (France) one of Europe’s top ten business schools. He is also a visiting Professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (USA) and a visiting faculty member at Imperial College London. He has spent more than 15 years consulting for and advising leaders and managers on business development and market growth.

He has worked with a wide range of international companies and organisations in developing their current and future strategic leaders and charting their strategic trajectories. He has facilitated senior management and board level workshops and led executive and graduate programs on corporate strategy, leadership and international business dynamics at universities and corporations.

His research expertise focuses on business model innovation, strategic political management and organisational capabilities, political risk and internationalisation strategy and strategy process and practice. He is also a leading global authority on strategic management in the airline business.

He is the author or editor of 6 books including Strange Power (2000) and Cleared for Takeoff (2002). His book, Breakout Strategy: Meeting the Challenge of Double-Digit Growth, was published by McGraw-Hill Professional, New York, (2007) and has been widely commended for its global focus and relevance to practicing managers and aspiring leaders.

The InterTradeIreland All-Island Innovation Programme aims to promote and encourage innovation across the island of Ireland. Best international practice in an area of innovation is shared with business leaders, students, academics, knowledge transfer professionals and policy makers in each region via innovation lectures, seminars and master classes. The Programme is a partnership between InterTradeIreland, Queen’s University Belfast, NovaUCD and the Centre for Innovation and Structural Change, NUI Galway.

NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre, is the hub of innovation and knowledge transfer activities at University College Dublin. NovaUCD is responsible for the commercialisation of intellectual property arising from UCD research and for the development of co-operation with industry and business. NovaUCD as a purpose-built centre also nurtures high-tech and knowledge-intensive enterprises. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx.