Whitman’s Snyder Innovation Management Center Hosts 2024 PDMA Doctoral Consortium

Leading scholars and doctoral students studying new product development and innovation management at universities in the U.S. and abroad gathered at Syracuse University from July 30 to August 2 for the 2024 Product Development & Management Association (PDMA) Doctoral Consortium.

The Consortium was co-sponsored by the Snyder Innovation Management Center, which is housed in the Department of Marketing at Whitman, and by the PDMA, which publishes the Journal of Product Innovation Management (JPIM). The Consortium is held every other year at an academic institution that is noted for scholarly excellence in the field of innovation management. According to event chair S.P. Raj, director of the Snyder Center and distinguished professor of marketing at Whitman, the selection of Snyder as this year’s venue is a reflection of the prominence of the research happening in the areas of marketing and innovation at the Whitman School.

“The primary focus is grooming future thought leaders, particularly students researching emerging topics in market focused innovation,” explains Raj. “This is consistent with the primary areas of focus of the Snyder Center. Traditionally, innovation is thought of as only developing new products. However, the Snyder Center and this Consortium have a broadened innovation focus that expands into innovative new services; innovations in marketing as this business function is undergoing dramatic changes due to digital transformation technologies that enable innovations related to promotion, pricing, and distribution; and innovations in emerging economies, such as India.

The event began with an overview by Raj and a welcome from Syracuse University’s Vice Chancellor and Whitman Executive Dean J. Michael Haynie. After that, the doctoral student fellows broke into small groups to present and receive feedback on their dissertation proposals from assigned faculty scholars.

Doctoral students applied to be selected to the Consortium, and the selected students came from universities in the U.S., Europe and India. According to Raj, the event is purposefully limited to 25 students so that each student fellow has the opportunity to receive personalized feedback and mentoring.

Most of the student fellows at the Consortium were in the early stages of research for their dissertations, so feedback on their proposals, guidance on using a thematic agenda to build their research portfolios, and advice on career management are critical to their success and also help to build a “community of learning” among innovation scholars.

After the small group sessions, the faculty fellows selected seven student fellows to present to the entire group of attendees on the next day. Arabella Pollack from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, won the Best Dissertation Proposal Award, and Chi Zhang from Texas A&M University was the runner-up.

In addition to the focus on providing doctoral fellows with feedback and mentoring, the Consortium featured sessions on a variety of topics to help enrich students’ research. These topics included Future Directions in Innovation Research, Data and New Research Ideas; Emerging Methodologies & Tools in Innovation Research; and Developing a Research Paper and a Thematic Research Agenda and concluded with a workshop on Theory Building.

Participants also toured Baxter International, a global healthcare and medical technology provider, in nearby Skaneateles, New York. Organized through an invitation from Whitman alumna Michelle McGrath ’88 (NEW), ’97 MBA, the group had the opportunity to walk through the innovation process from an industry perspective. Other events, designed to enhance networking and informal mentoring, included a cruise on Skaneateles Lake and a dinner at the renowned Dinosaur Bar-B-Que restaurant in downtown Syracuse.

Luigi M. DeLuca, professor of marketing and innovation at Cardiff University, says, “What an intense week of research discussions, ranging from future of innovation research to AI methods, theory building, career management, and excellent innovation teaching.  A huge ‘Thank You’ to the Snyder Innovation Center and Syracuse’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management for hosting this event!”

Holding the Consortium at Whitman’s Snyder Center had special significance, according to Raj. Not only is the Center celebrating its 30th year this year, but the late Professor David Wilemon, who founded the Center, was also a co-founder of PDMA, which dates back to 1976.

Members of Whitman’s marketing faculty also participated in the Consortium, as did alumni Gloria Barczak ’87 Ph.D., K. Sivakumar ’92 Ph.D. and Gerard Athaide ’94 MBA, ’95 Ph.D.

The four-day event received a great deal of positive feedback from both student fellows and faculty.

“I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to receive valuable feedback from esteemed professors and editors of the JPIM on my doctoral dissertation and future research scope,” says Mahak Bisen, a student fellow from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. “The Consortium gave me an opportunity to interact with numerous professors and make new friends, further enriching the experience.”

The faculty fellows agreed. Frank Piller, professor of innovation management at RWTH Aachen University notes, “When S.P. Raj from the Syracuse University/Martin J. Whitman School of Management asked me to serve on the faculty of this year's Doctoral Consortium, I volunteered, thinking I would be doing a service to our academic community. But, in the end, I was the recipient of the service. The Consortium was a great experience, learning from 25 great doctoral students and the very ambitious work they are doing at the intersection of innovation, marketing and technology management. But, also being together with 25 other colleagues for three days with lots of panels, reflections and networking was really priceless.”

Alina Sorescu, professor of marketing at Texas A&M University, says, “There are so many conferences these days, that many become a blur as soon as they are finished, but this one will definitely stand in memory as a lovely and engaging event.”

By Caroline K. Reff