Teaching innovation to technologists (non-business people) and non-technologists (business people): Scotch Whisky as an exemplar of process changing product an alternative to traditional lectures

•Process and product change simultaneously with food products (eg whisky), chemicals and engineering materials.•Exercise focused on taste and smell can be used to teach technology management concepts.•Need to understand difference in perspective of technologists and managers and ensure that both are integrated

Technologists and non-technologists have different perspectives that complicate their understanding of innovation. The taste and smell of Scotch Whisky is offered as a sensual experience (smell and/or taste) to assist people in gaining an understanding and appreciation of how process innovation leads to and is intertwined with product innovation for foods, chemical and engineered materials. The contribution of this paper is to demonstrate how to enhance learning and understanding about innovation through a straightforward exercise in experiential learning.