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The authors describes the innovation they made in teaching management accounting competencies. They discuss how the students' desire to give each other real-time feedback following presentations allowed them to increase their communication skills and their collaboration and motivation skills; the use of cases, podcasts, and articles to deepen students' understanding of reporting and control, technology and analytics; and the use of resources to enrich and enhance the course curriculum.

The article discusses how management accountants can use the design thinking problem solving tool to achieve a competitive edge for their organizations. According to IDEO's Tim Brown, the tool can be used to integrate people's needs, technology, and business success factors to achieve innovation. Other topics include the potential applications of the tool like boosting customer value, new product development, and value-creation programs.

The article discusses innovation for chief financial officers (CFOs). The authors describe how firms innovate by making use of what they call six levers of innovation and examine how these can be applied to the corporate finance function. Commentary is presented on the three types of innovation including incremental, breakthrough, and radical.

They're eternal questions in business: Does management control kill creativity? How can organizations manage efficiency within innovating processes? Do control and creativity call for a balance within processes of innovation-or is balancing a bad idea? The answers to these questions are probably bedeviling entrepreneurs and executives everywhere around the world. While a controlled working environment has its advantages, too much control can hamper the creativity, as well as the ability to innovate, that leads to new products and to growth and profitability. In this article, we address these issues by offering insights from a medium-sized company in the fashion industry that has used formal and informal control tools to manage its need for both standardization and innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses intrepreneurship and the adoption of continuous monitoring (CM) management strategy as forms of innovation management. The concept of Intrepreneurship is defined as someone in a large corporation pursuing entrepreneurial activities and accepting the risk and responsibility for innovative ideas. The management accountant's role as an intrepreneur who affects the company's strategy for continuous monitoring (CM) of internal controls is mentioned.

The article presents a series of considerations for chief financial officers who are hoping to encourage innovation while keeping an eye on the bottom line. The article suggests establishing a strategic environment that fosters innovation; establishing an enabling environment; establishing a social environment that supports innovation; and promoting creative discipline in managing the new product or process. A series of questions that reveals openness to innovation is presented.

The article discusses the balanced approach to project selection and management. Analysts say a balanced scorecard approach offers project managers the chance to recognize and capture hidden value in discrete projects. Identifying and selecting the right team members for a project is also considered a critical success factor for any initiative. For most projects it's advisable to assemble a team with a range of experiences and perspectives.

The article discusses the role of finance in the electronic supply chain. Experts say the e-commerce flow demands that finance play a more innovative role in moving money where and when it's needed throughout the supply chain. Internet technology offers the opportunity to intensify the role of funds along the flow of e-commerce. A compelling funding tool is electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP). INSETS: BOXES, BYTES, AND BUCKS.;UPS Capital Corp. Delivers Financial Services..

An interview is presented with Linda A. Hill, Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration and chair of the Leadership Initiative at Harvard Business School, discussing innovation and collaboration in business. Questions address topics such as what kinds of leadership foster innovation, the concept of Collective Genius, and major points highlighted by her book "Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation."

The article discusses aspects of intellectual capital management. Experts say the wealth of firms depends largely on the creation, transformation, and capitalization of knowledge. Corporate knowledge has become a leading competitive factor through knowledge wrapped up in intellectual assets/intellectual property such as information, patents, trademarks, copyrights, and customer relations.

The article provides information on how to promote successful new product development. The author discusses aspects of product performance, product costing, and project budget designed to increase competitive advantage. Problems and risks typically associated with innovation management, product design, and decision making are discussed. The author mentions the importance of selecting the right team members for such projects.

The article addresses Disruptive Innovation Theory (DIS) as a guide to investment decisions. The author defines DIS as a company's tendency to overimprove one aspect of a product past the point of customer interest, leaving those other elements that might add value to the product out of the equation. The continued improvements of compact disk technology and the entrance of MP3s are used as an example. The article explains how companies can use DIS to guide innovation investment.

This article discusses the emergence of robotics as a dominant technological innovation in the 21st century. The author examines various applications of robotics in different industrial sectors and manufacturing industries and discusses the market prospects for artificial intelligence technology. The author also provides the three laws of robotics.

The article presents guidelines for boosting group creativity. Techniques for creative thinking focus on setting a quota for generating alternative approaches to problem solving, selecting a random noun from a dictionary and relating that word to the problem, and reversing some situational elements and exploring the implications of these changes. Rules for keeping promising ideas from being ignored are noted.

The article presents information about the insecurities of working in a business corporation. A discussion is presented about using creativeness in answering business related problems. Details related to methods of conception of ideas through logic are presented. The disadvantages of selfrighteousness are mentioned.

The article discusses certain traits associated with leading-edge finance departments. The qualities identified by effective finance departments include the ability to work on teams, the capacity to be business partners, strategic insight, and up-to-date technological tools. A forward-looking perspective is recognized as an essential facet of successful organizations.

The article presents insights on the performance edge of leading companies in the U.S. Economic performance plays an important role in achieving success but a number of intangibles do as well. These include innovation, leadership capacity, talent, and quality. Some of the U.S.' leading firms adopt practices that incorporate aspects of employee empowerment and occupational mobility.

The article discusses efforts by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) to foster innovation within the organization and the profession at large. Particular focus is given to the integration of innovation into the IMA's Core Values document and to the formation of an Innovation Council within the IMA's staff. Other topics include the IMA Accounting Honor Society (IAHS), online courses, and student leadership.

The article discusses the use of interdepartmental project teams as an opportunity for professional growth. Competitive and cost pressures are making cross-functional teams imperative for streamlining systems and developing cohesive strategic initiatives. These teams also offer firms a chance to broaden their understanding of the issues that challenge their peers in areas such as systems technology, operations, and customer service.

The article reports on a 2000 survey concerning global firms and electronic commerce. The firms surveyed report that they're coming up short on addressing electronic business (e-business) priorities and servicing customers online. Some of the barriers cited for e-business investment are large and uncertain costs of implementation, lack of accepted standards, and the low use of the Internet by customers and suppliers.