Raleigh, N.C., and Rochester, N.Y., Nov. 14, 2007  -- Xerox Corporation and the North Carolina State University College of Management today announced a three-year collaborative project to fund research that will lead to new courses in professional service management and innovation management.
"We are operating in a service-led economy and increasingly larger segments of our Xerox research portfolio are dedicated to developing differentiated technologies for services," said Sophie Vandebroek, Xerox chief technology office and president, Xerox Innovation Group. "Our collaboration with faculty at NC State, who are global leaders in services and innovation management, is an excellent way to advance knowledge in this area."
"Establishing such industry-academic partnerships reflects the university's commitment to economic development," said James Oblinger, chancellor of NC State University. "Our students benefit through relevant coursework and employment opportunities that evolve from these relationships, and both the faculty and industry benefit through a dynamic exchange of knowledge."
The new academic programs and research are being developed and delivered through NC State College of Management's Service and Product Innovation Initiative (SPI) and the Center for Innovation Management Studies (CIMS), a collaborative venture between academia and corporate R&D centers based at the college.
The new courses include the Service Innovation Lab where graduate and undergraduate students will work with companies to develop innovative service concepts. In addition, a new graduate-level service management course will be taught in partnership with Indiana University, using emerging virtual world tools and technology.
"At the College of Management, our faculty has leveraged NC State's strengths in engineering and design to establish a technology focus in all our programs," said Ira R. Weiss, dean of the college. "Working in collaboration with engineering, textiles and design faculty, as well as industry leaders such as Xerox and IBM, assures a depth of relevance to our research and coursework in this area."
A CIMS partner since 2002, Xerox recently hosted the biannual CIMS meeting at the Xerox Research Center Webster (XRCW), one of the company's four worldwide research centers.