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11 – 20 of over 4000Qian Chen, Mats Magnusson and Jennie Björk
New opportunities to nurture good ideas for innovation arise as firms use web-based ideation platforms for collective idea generation and development. What influences creative…
Abstract
Purpose
New opportunities to nurture good ideas for innovation arise as firms use web-based ideation platforms for collective idea generation and development. What influences creative performance in firm-internal collective idea development is however not as well researched as idea generation and thus an important area of research is the feedback and commenting on ideas. More specifically, the purpose of this paper is to explore the role of feedback timeliness and knowledge overlap between feedback providers and ideas in collective firm-internal online idea development.
Design/methodology/approach
An empirical study has been performed, drawing on data collected from a Swedish multi-national company using a web-based system for collective firm-internal ideation. The investigation explicitly captures the effects on ideation performance played by idea development contributions, in terms of feedback timeliness and knowledge overlap between feedback providers and ideas.
Findings
The empirical results show that idea development is significantly influenced by feedback timeliness as well as by the knowledge overlap between feedback providers and ideas. Specifically, it is found that longer time to feedback and an increased knowledge overlap result in an increased likelihood of idea acceptance. However, beyond a certain point, the positive effects of a longer time to feedback and increased knowledge overlap decrease, resulting in curvilinear relationships with idea acceptance.
Research limitations/implications
The results do not only shed new light on theory about collective idea development, but also provides management implications for collective firm-internal ideation. As the data used in the study has been collected in one single firm, care should be taken in generalizing the results to other domains.
Practical implications
The results inform managers that it is not always better to involve more individuals in these emergent and distributed ideation systems, but that it might be beneficial to take measures to exercise some control in terms of when distributed and diverse employees can freely join in and out, especially considering the diversity of ideas, comments and creators.
Originality/value
The results from the empirical study reveal the effects of feedback timeliness and knowledge overlap on idea development. This provides us with new insights on the complex dynamics at place in collective firm-internal idea development and offers implications for how we can fruitfully manage this process.
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Qian Chen, Mats Magnusson and Jennie Björk
Firms increasingly rely on both external and internal crowdsourcing to capture ideas more broadly and enhance innovative problem-solving. Especially in internal crowdsourcing…
Abstract
Purpose
Firms increasingly rely on both external and internal crowdsourcing to capture ideas more broadly and enhance innovative problem-solving. Especially in internal crowdsourcing, knowledge sharing that contributes to develop or further the understanding of the problem the idea is focused on solving can take place between critical employees, and in that way improve ideas generated by others. This far, most crowdsourcing practices have focused on identifying solutions to proposed problems, whereas much less is known about how crowds can be used to share problem-related knowledge. There is thus an untapped potential in leveraging crowds not just to generate solution-oriented ideas but also to share knowledge to improve ideas and even to reframe problems. This paper aims to explore the effect of problem- and solution-related knowledge sharing in internal crowdsourcing for idea development.
Design/methodology/approach
Data on ideas and comments were collected from an idea management system in a Swedish multinational company. The investigation captures the influences of the problem- and solution-related knowledge sharing on ideas based on content analysis and logistic regression analysis.
Findings
The results from this study show that sharing knowledge related to solutions in idea development impacts idea acceptance positively, whereas sharing knowledge related to problems in idea development has a negative effect on the likelihood of idea acceptance and these effects of knowledge sharing are moderated by the active author responses.
Practical implications
This research provides managerial implications for firms to deliberately manage knowledge sharing in peer communities in internal crowdsourcing, especially by providing suggestions on problem reframing and solution refining for ideas.
Originality/value
The results contribute to existing theory in terms of extending the view of crowdsourcing in ideation to include how crowds contribute to the development of the problem and the solution during the development of ideas and providing new insights on knowledge sharing in internal crowdsourcing based on problem-solving theory.
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Abram L.J. Walton, Brian Glassman and Darrel L. Sandall
This paper aims to investigate the phenomenology behind how an idea stock market created employee engagement of 80 per cent+ within the largest telecom company in Portugal. More…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the phenomenology behind how an idea stock market created employee engagement of 80 per cent+ within the largest telecom company in Portugal. More importantly, this case study investigates the results created using this system, and whether the “investment/betting” process yielded successful and replicable results.
Design/methodology/approach
This critical review took the form of an exploratory-grounded theory study. Initial conversations led to creation of questionnaires regarding the internal workings of Sonaecom’s idea market, implementation methods, incentive structures, necessary cultural adjustments, system outcomes and topics related to idea screening, types of users, herd behavior, idea storage, diffusion, implementation and perceptions of the idea market and its success.
Findings
The idea market produced engagement outcomes nearly twice that of standard industry engagement methodologies and showed promise for increasing corporate innovation outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
This study was limited to a single idea market within one company. As such, the conclusions from the study are limited in their generalizability to other companies implementing idea markets.
Practical implications
Because the challenges faced by Sonaecom are the same challenges faced by any company implementing an idea market, the findings from the study have important practical implications for any organization implementing an idea market.
Social implications
There are behavioral, psychological and leadership implications for organizations implementing an idea market.
Originality/value
Based on a thorough literature review, no other study has been made of Sonaecom’s Idea Market system, nor has a study of this depth and breadth been completed with any idea market system. The findings of the study have broad implications for any organization seeking to implement an idea management system.
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Tiago Ribeiro de Araujo, Daniel Jugend, Marcio Lopes Pimenta, Gessica Mina Kim Jesus, Gladys Dorotea Dorotea Cacsire Barriga, José Carlos de Toledo and Ari Melo Mariano
This study aims to propose and test a research framework for analyzing the relationship between new product development (NPD) best practices and performance in companies that…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to propose and test a research framework for analyzing the relationship between new product development (NPD) best practices and performance in companies that belong to innovative industries in Brazil.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative survey was conducted, involving several industries, including agricultural machinery, automotive and pharmaceutical. Data was analyzed through multiple linear regression.
Findings
Among the best practices investigated, the main results show that “innovative culture” and “project climate” are factors that significantly affect the performance of the NPD.
Research limitations/implications
The choice of best practices can be considered a major limitation of this study, as this is a dynamic concept depending on a continuous analysis that must take into account the economic and technological environment.
Practical implications
This study highlights a relationship between an innovative culture and performance. Some practices may be adopted to address an innovative culture, such as stimulating employee creativity, acceptance and partnership with external actors for the joint development of technologies and employee involvement with NPD.
Originality/value
The findings expand the debate on best practices in NPD and innovation management by presenting results on the topic in an emerging country, in this case, Brazil.
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Firms today seek sustainable competitive advantage through their ability to provide a dynamic and unique mix of product, pricing, promotion, distribution channel, and technology…
Abstract
Firms today seek sustainable competitive advantage through their ability to provide a dynamic and unique mix of product, pricing, promotion, distribution channel, and technology. Hyper‐competitive markets bring pressure for firms to shorten product lifecycles, rapidly identify and penetrate new market segments, dramatically increase operational efficiencies, and disintermediate supply chains and distribution channels.
Kari-Pekka Tampio, Harri Haapasalo and Jere Lehtinen
The research problem in this study is how a client (as a project owner) should organise early stakeholder involvement and integration in the front-end phase of a project. This…
Abstract
Purpose
The research problem in this study is how a client (as a project owner) should organise early stakeholder involvement and integration in the front-end phase of a project. This study aims to create normative managerial statements as propositions from the client's perspective and to combine them into a set of activities enabling efficient organisation in the front-end phase of a hospital construction project.
Design/methodology/approach
Action design research (ADR) was carried out in a large hospital construction project where the first author acted as an “involved researcher” and the other authors acted as “outside researchers”.
Findings
The authors created seven normative managerial propositions that were verified by the case project stakeholders and developed a managerial framework describing the client's essential stakeholder involvement and integration activities in the front-end phase of a hospital construction project based on these propositions. The authors have also depicted the subphases of the front-end phase: value definition phase in the client permanent organisation, value proposition phase in the client Programme Management Office (PMO) and finally development phase in the alliance organisation ending on the final investment decision.
Practical implications
The collaborative contract delivery model enables the early involvement and integration of stakeholders. It has been somewhat surprising to note the extent to which collaborative contracts change the client role in the project front-end. The results offer practical activities for how clients can manage front-end activities in collaborative contracts.
Originality/value
The case project offered a platform to analyse how the collaborative contract delivery model changes the emphasis of activities in the front-end of a project. One of the key benefits of collaborative contracts is that development, design and delivery occur partially in parallel, thereby enabling contributions from production to be included in the design and development. The benefit of having a real-life case under study provides the possibility to triangulate and analyse rich data, however limited by the qualitative case method.
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Antonella Petrillo, Gianpaolo Di Bona, Antonio Forcina and Alessandro Silvestri
The purpose of this paper is to build a theoretic and practical framework, based on agile project management, to support the decision-making process in order to help companies in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to build a theoretic and practical framework, based on agile project management, to support the decision-making process in order to help companies in optimizing the reengineering production processes and improve management costs.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper seeks to propose an agile Reengineering Performance Model (ARPM) for managing projects of reengineering of processes and applies it in a real case study concerning a water bottling plant.
Findings
The proposed model should serve as a valuable tool to facilitate a successful business process reengineering design in the project management and intends to assist companies as they operate projects of transferring and optimizing production lines. Thanks to the use of ARPM tools, it is easy to modify the evolution of the project, with the possibility of extending or enhancing the application if necessary.
Research limitations/implications
The main limits of the ARPM model are: it requires close collaboration among team; it is rather intense for developers; and it is necessary flexibility to change course as needed and to ensure delivery of the right product.
Practical implications
The main implications of the authors’ work for research and business are to propose a structured methodological approach, rigorous but simple, suitable to implement in any companies.
Originality/value
The novelty of the approach is to apply the agile approach not for software development but in a manufacturing company.
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Qingyu Zhang, Mei Cao and William Doll
The uncertainties, ambiguities and unknown issues that characterize the beginning of a new product development project have led practitioners and scholars to coin the term “fuzzy…
Abstract
Purpose
The uncertainties, ambiguities and unknown issues that characterize the beginning of a new product development project have led practitioners and scholars to coin the term “fuzzy front end” to refer to this seminal stage. The causes of many product failures can be traced back to this fuzzy front end. Despite a growing realization of its importance, the meaning of the term “front-end fuzziness” itself remains vague. A theory-based framework is not available to guide thinking and research on this important topic. The purpose of this paper is to create a conceptual framework for fuzzy front end.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper applies Daft and Lengel’s (1986) theory of organizational information processing to create a framework for research on the fuzzy front end of product innovation. This framework is used to clarify the concept of front-end fuzziness and identify three sources of fuzziness in the project team’s task environment.
Findings
Contrary to the current literature, the authors argue that equivocality rather than uncertainty is the dominant cause of front-end fuzziness. This new conceptualization: appropriately broadens the concept of front-end fuzziness; identifies new problem areas; highlights the need for new solutions; and suggests the need to focus on team vision as a front-end deliverable.
Practical implications
The previous literature used a single uncertainty reduction rationale for integrative mechanisms. Thus, it did not consider that the implementation might change from front end to downstream. The dual theoretical rationale suggests that integrative mechanisms can be implemented differently to focus either on uncertainty or equivocality reduction. In the front end, equivocality is the dominant issue and mechanisms should be implemented in ways that create a rich channel to identify issues and share perspectives. In downstream activities where the dominant issue is uncertainty reduction, mechanisms might be implemented in ways that provide greater quantities of information on known issues.
Originality/value
This new conceptualization of front-end fuzziness provides a better theoretical rationale for how integrative mechanisms enable a project team to work through the fuzziness it faces, creating a clear team vision that guides its downstream efforts.
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Miia Maarit Martinsuo, Lauri Vuorinen and Catherine Killen
Infrastructure projects are expected to deliver value to their stakeholders long after completion. Project value is multi-dimensional and subjective and evolves over the project…
Abstract
Purpose
Infrastructure projects are expected to deliver value to their stakeholders long after completion. Project value is multi-dimensional and subjective and evolves over the project lifecycle. How stakeholders frame the expected value is central to the public debate about proposed infrastructure projects and influences the financing decisions; however, this framing is inadequately understood. The purpose of this paper is to develop new knowledge for shaping infrastructure projects by identifying the ways in which stakeholders frame project value at the project front end.
Design/methodology/approach
Three transport infrastructure projects are compared in a qualitative, document-based study. The authors map the dimensions of value at the project front end and identify stakeholders’ approaches to lifecycle-oriented framing of value.
Findings
Financial, social and comparative values are dominant in the project front end. The authors frame value into positive and negative dimensions and identify four themes in the lifecycle-oriented framing of value, including uncertainties, timing of cost and benefit realization, project relations and external sponsorship.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited through the focus on transport infrastructure projects and project front end only, the selection of cases from a single country and the use of document-based data. The systematic analysis approach has yielded novel analytical frameworks that will be useful for further research.
Practical implications
This study identifies value dimensions that are specific to transport infrastructure projects and proposes a framework to assist stakeholders and project managers to better assess and negotiate value when designing their projects.
Originality/value
Regional and comparative values are revealed as novel aspects of value specific to infrastructure projects. The alternative lifecycle-oriented frames offer a new way to understand and structure the co-creation of value and shape negotiation for investment decisions in the project. A portfolio perspective to investment decision making is proposed.
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