Bangalore: The Indian School of Business (ISB) in association with the Biocon Limited, India's pioneering biotechnology company, has launched the Biocon Cell for Innovation Management (BCIM) to promote innovation in business.

The Cell will be established under the aegis of the Centre for Leadership, Innovation, and Change (CLIC) at the ISB.

BCIM at the ISB will help organizations find answers to questions such as the gaps in a company's ability to innovate, assessing the required understanding to manage and mitigate risks associated with innovation and how to produce high value, high quality, strategic innovation at low cost. Biocon is contributing an initial investment of Rs.1 crore to setup BCIM.

Commenting on the new initiative, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman & MD of Biocon Ltd., and Executive Board Member, ISB, said, "We have to find new solutions for the unique challenges we face in India and Innovation is the key to forge this. At Biocon, innovation has been our driving force right from inception. I would like the Biocon Cell for Innovation to understand the process of innovation and create and develop champions who will make innovation a part of company culture."

The partnership between Biocon and ISB further strengthens the trend started by ISB when its founding fathers attracted the support of industry to establish an international quality business school in India.

"The ISB ushered in several innovative practices in Indian management education. We are proud to partner with Biocon for setting up a Cell for studying innovation and spreading the knowledge of the process that underlies innovation. It is a befitting partnership for I know that innovation is in Biocon's DNA. I am confident that this Biocon Cell within the CLIC at ISB will produce high quality research and educational output in business innovation," said Ajit Rangnekar, Dean, ISB.

The primary objective of the BCIM is to foster innovation and link it to operational excellence. "India and other emerging markets have developed breakthrough ideas in the process of facing challenges unique to their countries.

BCIM will focus on understanding and streamlining these knowledge processes through research. We will discover best practices, success stories and processes that have worked for various organisations and prepare a framework that can be implemented by any company across the world," said Professor Prasad Kaipa, the Executive Director of CLIC at the ISB, who will drive BCIM.

A representative of Biocon, the Executive Director of CLIC, other prominent industry leaders and academics in the area of innovation and strategy will comprise the Board of BCIM.

The board will play an advisory and enabling role by providing research ideas that will assist the activities of BCIM to create maximum impact.

Biocon will provide funding over a minimum 10 year period as and when required.