Innovation Leadership Workshop

“Innovation Leadership in Africa: Transforming the Future” 

Hosted by UM6P Africa Business School, Excellence Center for Leading  Transformations in Africa, and ISPIM Innovation Leadership SIG 

Overview 

How is innovation leadership in Africa transforming the region? As the second fastest growing  region in the world, Africa benefits from a young and ambitious talent pool of leaders and  innovators. As the fifth largest economy, Morocco has embraced a rapidly changing, dynamic  and digitally connected environment through an entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, and innovation.  This has created a great demand for innovation leaders who can inspire, engage, and elevate their teams and organizations. The African region enables new opportunities to pursue research  and practice for leading innovation in a multicultural and digitally connected environment. 

Purpose 

In capturing the collective expertise of participating researchers and practitioners, the ISPIM  Innovation Leadership workshop intends to shape a regional research and practice agenda for  leading innovation with local impact. We will explore, discuss and enable innovation leadership  research and practice in Africa and beyond. It provides an opportunity to build on the ISPIM  Tallinn conference in June 2024 and prepare for the ISPIM Connects Cape Town Conference  on “Transforming Futures Through Innovation” that will take place in Cape Town, South Africa  from 17-19 March 2025. With dedicated discussions and a paper development session, we aim  to make progress on the development of the Innovation Leadership Competency Framework,  regional and local research papers and chapters for the next edition of the Innovation  Leadership in Practice book.  

Value 

- Contribute to the future development of innovation leadership research and practice in  Africa. 

- Share insights and learn from leading researchers and practitioners who are shaping a  new era of innovation leadership in Africa. 

- Develop papers for presentation at the ISPIM South Africa conference and chapters for  an Emerald book on Innovation Leadership in Practice. 

- Enjoy an inspirational setting at UM6P Africa Business School and Rabat, the beautiful  coastal city and capital of Morocco. 

Join us on Oct 18 & 19 to co-create the future of innovation leadership in Africa!  Apply and register by Sep 26 to make the limit of 50 participants.

Program Overview 

Friday Oct 18 

Morning Session (UM6P Rabat Campus/Africa Business School building) 8.30 Coffee and Tea / Meet and Greet 

9.00 Welcome and Overview  

9.15 Keynotes (Executives from UM6P and OCP Group in Morocco) 

9.45 Practice Focus – Innovation Leadership Challenges & Solutions  Moderator and Speaker Panel with discussion and exercise 

11.15 (Pause) 

11.30 Research Focus – Insights and Inspirations from Africa 

Selected paper presentations and exchange with researchers. 

13.00 (Lunch) 

Afternoon Session 

14.00 Innovation Leadership Sprints/Parallel Working Sessions 

o Practice: Future Mindsets and Competencies – review Innovation Leadership  Competency Framework 2.0 and identify priority levels for regional practices in Africa  through interactive group exercise. 

o Research: Future Discoveries & Contributions – identify and select research topics  from the Innovation Leadership Competency Framework 2.0 in designing a research  agenda and publication opportunities focused on Africa. 

15.30 (Pause) 

15.45 Group Summary Outcome 

16.30 Group Presentations and Discussion 

18.00 Conclusion and Campus Tour 

19.30 Moroccan Night Gala Dinner with entertainment 

Saturday Oct 19 

Morning Session (UM6P Rabat Campus/Africa Business School building) 9.00 Coffee and Tea / Meet and Greet 

9.30 Review Takeaways from Day 1 

9h45 Paper Development Session 1 

Develop proposal outlines for ISPIM 2025 South Africa Conference. 

11.15 (Pause) 

11.30 Paper Development Session 2 

Discuss and develop chapter topics for book project on Innovation Leadership in Africa.  12.45 – Conclusion and Next Steps 

13.00 (Lunch)  

13.30 - Open afternoon to explore Rabat cultural sights.

Cost for Participants: 

- Workshop Fee – None 

- Travel and Lodging Fees – paid by participants. There is a wide variety of four-and five star boutique hotels in central Rabat that offer rates from 482MAD/€45/$50 per  night to 1446MAD/€134/$150 per night. A list of recommended hotels will be provided to  you upon acceptance to the workshop. 

- Venue - Hosted by UM6P Africa Business School and the Excellence Center for  Leading Transformations in Africa, Rabat campus, Morocco 

- Meals – Breakfast, Lunch & Coffee for two days + gala dinner sponsored by Africa  Business School and the Center for Leading Transformations in Africa 

Transportation: 

Flights – nearest airport is Rabat-Salé Airport with direct connections from Africa, Asia,  Europe, Middle East and Americas via Paris Orly or CDG Airports (Royal Air Maroc, Air  France and Transavia). Additional airlines with routes to Rabat include Ryanair, Delta  Air Lines, KLM, Iberia, China Eastern, Easyjet, and more. 

Trains – direct routes to the Rabat Ville or Rabat Agdal stations available via speed  train (Casablanca, Marrakech, and Tanger). 

Discover UM6P Africa Business School – visit https://abs.um6p.ma/ Discover Rabat, Morocco – visit https://www.visitmorocco.com/en/travel/rabat 

Contact: For any questions regarding registration and participation in the ISPIM  Innovation Leadership workshop, please contact Karina R. Jensen, Professor in OB,  Leadership & Innovation at Africa Business School, email: karina.jensen@um6p.ma