1,720,972 research outputs found
Successful design management in small and medium businesses
No full textReports from research on conditions that facilitate or hamper collaboration between design and busines
Product Design: A Review and Research Agenda for Management Studies
Full text linkThis paper reviews research on product design in the broad domain of business studies. It highlights established and emerging perspectives and lines of inquiry, and organizes them around three core areas, corresponding to different stages of the design process (design activities, design choices, design results). Avenues for further research at the intersection of these bodies of research are identified and discussed, and the authors argue that management scholars possess conceptual and methodological tools suited to enriching research on design and effectively pursuing lines of investigation only partially addressed by other communities, such as the construction and deployment of design capabilities, or the organizational and institutional context of design activities
ORGANIZING THOUGHTS AND CONNECTING BRAINS: MATERIAL PRACTICES AND THE TRANSITION FROM INDIVIDUAL TO GROUP-LEVEL PROSPECTIVE SENSEMAKING
No full textA growing body of research is drawing attention to the material practices that support verbal exchanges and cognitive processes in collective sensemaking. In this paper, building on an ethnographic study of a design consulting firm, we develop a process model that accounts for the interplay between conversational and material practices in the transition from individual to group level sensemaking, and we begin to unpack how the “materialization” of cognitive work supports the collective construction of new shared understandings
Valuing products as cultural symbols: A conceptual framework and empirical illustration
No full textA theory of symbolic value creation as resting on the development and deployment of cultural and symbolic capital, illustrated through the case of Piaggio and Vespa
Framing the multifaceted nature of design thinking in addressing different innovation purposes
Full text linkScholars and practitioners acknowledge the role of design, and specifically design thinking, as a driver of innovation and change. Design thinking is gaining attention in the business community beyond the traditional product innovation realm and is increasingly promoted as an engine for the creation of novel user experiences, new businesses, strategic transformation, organizational and cultural change. Is it reasonable to assume that the same set of practices fits such a broad range of applications equally well? This study addresses how design thinking applications are differently framed when addressing diverse innovation purposes. Specifically, we compare two purposes: innovation of solutions, encompassing traditional product and service development projects, and innovation of direction, encompassing strategic and organizational renewal projects. Based on data collected from 146 design thinking projects conducted by European consulting firms we investigate the relationships between the design thinking practices adopted and the value generated by the projects. We then analyze how these relationships vary depending on the purpose of the innovation project, namely whether focused on innovating solutions or direction. The results show that different purposes indeed call for different practices. In projects aimed at innovating solutions, market value is positively related to capturing current user needs and envisioning future society. Conversely, in projects aimed at innovating direction, market value is positively related to challenging current assumptions
Design thinking in action: a quantitative study of design thinking practices in innovation projects
Full text linkDesign thinking is widely recognized as an effective problem solving approach in the professional and academic world, albeit with varying interpretations. It has been studied in multiple forms – as a tool, a practice, a skill, and a mindset – leading to ongoing debates about its fundamental nature. This study aims to explore the use of design thinking in practice and determine how its application varies depending on the characteristics of the innovation projects, namely the types of goals pursued and the level of uncertainty involved.
Using a survey methodology and a knowledge-intensive empirical setting, this study analyzes a dataset of 221 innovation consulting projects based on design thinking conducted by European consulting firms and design agencies.
By analyzing the survey data, we identify six distinct sets of design thinking practices: discovering user needs, understanding the problem addressed, challenging existing assumptions, navigating the problem-solution pair, ideating through visualizations, and learning through prototypes. We also identify configurations of these design thinking practices that are used to address different innovation project goals and levels of uncertainty.
The study draws attention to the need for design thinking practitioners to be aware of how different innovation project goals and levels of uncertainty can be pursued/addressed through the use of alternative configurations of design thinking practices.
This study is one of the first large-scale quantitative analyses of the nature of design thinking in action, providing a solid foundation for future research on design thinking
Unpacking experimentation in design thinking [Elektronisk resurs] : Contributions to innovation performance and the moderating role of digital technologies
Full text linkDesign thinking is an innovation approach that emphasizes developing and testing hypotheses about the desirability, feasibility, and viability of an idea through iterative experimentation. Although widely used, there is limited empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of experimentation practices in design thinking projects. Similarly, the impact of integrating digital technologies into experimentation processes remains underexplored. This study addresses these gaps by analyzing data from 246 design thinking projects to examine how early and frequent experimentation influences innovation performance, specifically in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. It also examines how the use of digital technologies moderates these relationships. The results show that both early and frequent experimentation positively influence innovation effectiveness, while only early experimentation significantly improves innovation efficiency. Moreover, the use of digital technologies strengthens the positive effects of early experimentation on both effectiveness and efficiency. This research provides valuable theoretical and practical insights by deepening our understanding of how experimentation and digital tools drive innovation performance in design thinking projects. •Experimentation practices and digital technologies are recognized as germane for design thinking projects•Early and frequent experimentation practices are positively related to innovation effectiveness•Early experimentation practices are positively related to project efficienc
Following up on “A Letter to the Male ‘Good Apples’”
Full text linkDrawing on the Letter to the Male “Good Apples” recently appeared in this section, my letter has a twofold aim: to provoke all the Male “Good Apples” in academia and to offer them an olive branch. As I provide them with a few practical suggestions, I hope to illuminate their way forward to truly “getting it”. It’s time to stop talking a good game and to start playing a better game
Navigating an academic maze: experiences of an international female scholar
Full text linkAcademia is a world filled with bright people searching for explanations for phenomena around us, and developing and testing new theories to explain the hows and whys of our experience. It is a world defined by a drive to expand the boundaries of knowledge, and is ostensibly characterized by intellectual enlightenment and relentless progress. But is academia truly progressive? Perhaps for some of us. For others, however, it is still a world where many people struggle to be seen, to be heard, and to succeed—especially if you are in the minority (e.g., you are female, international, a person of color, or have other features that put you in a minority category). In this essay, I share some of my personal experiences as an international female academic, with the hope that my challenges—and the ways I work to overcome them—will resonate with other people in the margins of our presumably progressive field
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