Innovation Management and the role of managers

7 August 2025

Innovation Management is today at the core of the strategies of companies and organizations in the global market. In a constantly changing context, characterized by technological transformations and significant variations in consumption models, the new market dynamics require adequate tools to understand, manage and drive change. In this scenario, the Innovation Manager becomes a key player in innovation management, a strategic lever to ensure sustainable growth and competitive advantage. Strategic vision, transversal skills and operational tools are the key points in the training of this new managerial profile.

 

What does Innovation Management mean today?

Innovation Management describes the set of methodologies, practices and tools that make it possible to introduce, develop and spread innovations within an organization.

This change may concern

• product innovation, the development of new solutions and services capable of meeting market needs
• process innovation: the improvement of operational flows, also thanks to technological innovations such as automation, artificial intelligence and big data
• organizational innovation, the redefinition of structures, leadership models and working methods to create greater agility and resilience.

The success of corporate innovation depends on the management’s ability to coordinate these different areas and channel the results into new operational practices.
Middle management is fundamental in operational implementation, while top management has the task of guiding the strategic vision of corporate innovation.

 

What skills are required of the Innovation Manager?

Becoming an Innovation Manager means developing a structured set of hard and soft skills.

• Hard: knowledge of emerging technologies, data analysis skills, expertise in project management and mastery of innovation management
• Soft: lateral thinking, uncertainty management, visionary leadership, communication skills and an aptitude for collaboration in multidisciplinary contexts.

 

What is the role of the Innovation Manager?

This new managerial profile has the precise task of identifying development opportunities, promoting innovative projects and fostering the spread of a culture oriented towards change. It acts as a bridge between strategy and operations, stimulating teams and stakeholders towards common goals.

 

How can a manager contribute to corporate innovation?

The Innovation Manager is a catalyst of tension towards novelty:

1. collects information from the entire surrounding environment to understand where and how spaces for change and improvement can be found
2. promotes an experimental approach oriented towards continuous learning
3. fosters collaboration between different functions and skills
4. enhances people as the primary resource of corporate innovation
5. adopts a leadership model that combines strategic vision and operational pragmatism.

 

For this professional figure there are indispensable requirements: interdisciplinary skills, ranging from economics to digital, from marketing to technology; experiences in dynamic contexts, capable of developing resilience and problem solving. And, above all, a solid academic or professional background, often reinforced by a master’s degree in innovation.

Bologna Business School offers programs such as the Executive Master in Innovation Management, the Master in Innovation and Digital Technologies and programs on technological innovation and organizational innovation, designed for managers and professionals who wish to lead change processes.

These programs not only provide practical tools, but also develop the mindset needed to interpret and govern ongoing transformations.

The Professional Master Artificial Intelligence and Innovation Management, full time, 12 months in Italian, is a program designed for those who want to start a managerial career or develop their own entrepreneurial idea by leveraging new technologies built around artificial intelligence. In a stimulating and international environment, in direct contact with the most important Italian companies, participants in this Master will be able to acquire innovative skills and accelerate their career thanks to a market-oriented educational path and the support of Career Service and internships in local and global companies.

The Global MBA Sustainability and Innovation is aimed at young managers who see in the challenges generated by climate change an opportunity to build a sustainable future. Full time, 12 months and in English, EFMD accredited, the Master is based on the pillars of Accountability, Ethics & CSR, Law, Technology Management and Strategy, Entrepreneurship and aims to provide skills and tools to manage resource efficiency in a company, and the planning of new and unprecedented scenarios.
The goal is to make a difference: trigger virtuous logics thanks to the knowledge of new technologies and add an ethical dimension to the manager’s role.

The Executive Master Technology and Innovation Management (EMTIM) was created to bring technological excellence to the center of the innovation process. Part time weekend, in Italian and lasting 12 months, this Master allows professional growth without putting one’s career on hold, to become part of a technical-managerial elite capable of having a deep impact on the company.
Focus sessions, visits to leading companies and project work complete a path capable of making managers and professionals true leaders of technological innovation.

The Executive Master Artificial Intelligence for Business, part time, hybrid (part online, part on campus), in English and lasting 12 months, is a program aimed at providing a solid set of skills to exploit the potential of artificial intelligence in business contexts.
Dedicated to entrepreneurs, successful managers and professionals from all sectors who want to implement AI in their professional path, this Master is also the ideal starting point for consultants who want to acquire advanced skills now required in all markets.
The hybrid formula, which integrates evening online classes with two Smart Weeks on Campus, is the ideal compromise to combine a high-quality study program, guaranteed by the international BBS Faculty, with meetings with industry professionals and networking activities, without having to put one’s career on standby.
Workshops, Leadership Talks and Company Visits with the final Project Work complete a cutting-edge educational path, able to keep pace with business models and competitive scenarios in continuous transformation.

The Executive Master Public Management and Innovation, part time, weekend, in Italian and lasting 15 months, is a program dedicated to Public Administration managers who want to acquire advanced skills to manage performance, auditing, control and risks in order to generate and administer public value.
10 core courses and applicative and experiential activities make this Master a laboratory where a new territorial leadership class is formed, shaping profiles capable of operating beyond the boundaries of the traditional role, able to effectively dialogue between the public and private sectors.

 

The profile of Innovation Manager is no longer an option, but a necessity. It represents the core of a strategic process that interprets the challenges of the present to transform them into opportunities for growth.
BBS Masters are the best key to accessing a profile in the making, one that markets can no longer do without.