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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 August 2022

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…

1463

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.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 26 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 August 2019

Qian 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…

4479

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.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 August 2005

Michael D. Mumford and Samuel T. Hunter

Recognizing the impact of innovation on organizational performance, scholars from a number of disciplines have sought to identify the conditions that make innovation possible…

Abstract

Recognizing the impact of innovation on organizational performance, scholars from a number of disciplines have sought to identify the conditions that make innovation possible. Although these studies have served to identify a number of key variables, the relationship between these variables and innovation is complex. In this chapter, we argue that the apparent complexity of these relationships may be attributed to cross-level differences in the requirements for innovation and the existence of complex interactions among the phenomena operating at a given level of analysis. The implications of this multi-level perspective for understanding how innovation occurs in organizational settings are discussed.

Details

Multi-Level Issues in Strategy and Methods
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-330-3

Article
Publication date: 14 October 2013

Tua Bjorklund, Dhruv Bhatli and Miko Laakso

Innovations lie at the heart of both entrepreneurship and marketing. While research has long focused on the idea generation phase at the beginning of the innovation process, ideas

Abstract

Purpose

Innovations lie at the heart of both entrepreneurship and marketing. While research has long focused on the idea generation phase at the beginning of the innovation process, ideas need to subsequently be realized through efforts in idea development and implementation. This paper aims to study the antecedents and practices of idea advancement behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Seven product developers of an international company were interviewed in-depth based on a critical incident technique.

Findings

Idea advancement behavior was found to be distributed in time and between people, pervasive in the development process. Antecedents for efforts were identified at personal, interpersonal and work organization levels. Although personal antecedents were most numerous, interpersonal and work organization antecedents distinguished successful and unsuccessful efforts. Key idea advancement behaviors were centered on the inclusion of others and communication channel choices.

Research limitations/implications

The current study offers a complementary micro-level point-of-view to championship literature, illustrating the situated and dispersed nature of everyday advancement efforts as opposed to the dominant depictions of heroic relentless championing individuals. However, as the study was conducted in a single company, the findings still need to be validated in more varied settings.

Practical implications

The results highlight the need for supporting idea advancement behavior across organizational levels and function, instead of focusing on identifying individual champions. Time management, supporting switches in the driving force, and communicating value are necessary for sustaining advancement efforts.

Originality/value

Idea advancement practices have been largely ignored in previous innovation literature, with the exception of systematic processes and championing. This paper explores idea advancement as a commonplace proactive behavior, revealing several levels of key antecedents for successfully advancing ideas into innovations.

Details

Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, vol. 15 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-5201

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 August 2015

Tanawat Hirunyawipada, Audhesh K. Paswan and Charles Blankson

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate asymmetric effects of team cohesion and team members’ relational qualification on the creativity of new product ideas.

1656

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate asymmetric effects of team cohesion and team members’ relational qualification on the creativity of new product ideas.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modeling was conducted on survey data collected from 195 new product development practitioners in various US high-technology industries.

Findings

The study suggests that creative and potentially successful product ideas include three dimensions – usefulness for customers, and novelty for customers and usefulness for the firms (i.e. enhancement efficiency and effectiveness of companies’ new product development process). By focusing on a relational aspect of new product development teams, the study shows that team task cohesion mediates the relationship between the antecedents (team members’ organizational commitment and social competency) and the three outcome dimensions of a successful product idea (novelty, usefulness to customers and usefulness to the firm). The team members’ interpersonal relationship has no positive association with task cohesion and the desirable qualifications of product ideas.

Research limitations/implications

An ideation team’s socially competent members who identify with their organization are likely to be attracted to a given task. This task cohesion, in turn, enhances the creativeness of the development of product ideas.

Practical implications

To generate fruitful product ideas using a team approach, companies should make sure that their new product ideation teams achieve a sense of mutual commitment to the given ideation tasks, develop a feeling of belongingness and ownership toward the firms and include members who have good social and interpersonal skills. However, the possession of strong social cohesion is not essential for the teams.

Originality/value

This study provides novel insights concerning the relational aspect of product development teams assigned to the initiation phase (front end) of a new product development process.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 30 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 March 2010

Anssi Smedlund

The purpose of this paper is to propose that there is not one ideal network structure of knowledge flow, but many, and that the network structures of knowledge flows between…

1245

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose that there is not one ideal network structure of knowledge flow, but many, and that the network structures of knowledge flows between employees in teams are task‐related.

Design/methodology/approach

Ideal knowledge network structures in teams are examined on the basis of the literature. A case study of a well‐established team, presented with social network analysis methods, reveals the different structures of knowledge flow.

Findings

According to the case study, it is shown that the network structures of knowledge flow are different in different tasks. It is suggested on the basis of theory that the ideal knowledge network structures are hierarchical for routine tasks, core‐peripheral for development tasks and ego‐centric for idea generation tasks.

Research limitations/implications

The research design presented in this paper should be applied to more cases to ascertain its validity.

Practical implications

This paper provides means for understanding, assessing and managing knowledge networks in teams.

Originality/value

Flows of knowledge have been found to be an important area in network research. This paper shows how they are structured according to the nature of the tasks.

Details

Team Performance Management: An International Journal, vol. 16 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7592

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 December 2021

Giustina Secundo, Gioconda Mele, Giuseppina Passiante and Francesco Albergo

The paper aims to contributes on the debates about University Idea Incubation by investigating the role and the engagement of different University's stakeholders in the process of…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to contributes on the debates about University Idea Incubation by investigating the role and the engagement of different University's stakeholders in the process of opportunity recognition in an entrepreneurship education program targeted at students with an interdisciplinary background.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a longitudinal case study methodology, the Contamination Lab at University of Salento (Lecce, Italy), the learning approaches and the knowledge process to create an entrepreneurial awareness, mindset and capability in students with different educational background are presented.

Findings

The findings demonstrates the crucial role of stakeholders' engagement for business idea presentation, open innovation challenge, contamination workshop on specialized topics, enterprise projects are important vehicle for effective students' business ideas and innovative projects development in a multidisciplinary environment. The close interaction among students, academia, companies and institutions creates a favourable environment that enables opportunity identification, idea generation through a deep contamination of knowledge, skills and experiences.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations include the need to generalise the results even if this limitation is typical of the case study methodology. Other research is necessary for an in-depth analysis in deep of the other Contamination Lab in Italy and to derive the “invariance traits” of this environment according to the features of the local entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Practical implications

Implications for practices include recommendations for designing innovative programs where the interactions between University-Institutions-Industry are realized.

Originality/value

A conceptual framework is proposed by defining all the entrepreneurial knowledge process and knowledge creation within the Contamination Lab, highlighting the contribution of the stakeholders in each phase and learning initiative of the program.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 26 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 November 2021

Sam Prince, Stephen Chapman and Peter Cassey

The paper introduces a new conceptualisation of entrepreneurship that promotes a broader perspective of the phenomenon. The purpose of the paper is to re-conceptualise the act of…

20259

Abstract

Purpose

The paper introduces a new conceptualisation of entrepreneurship that promotes a broader perspective of the phenomenon. The purpose of the paper is to re-conceptualise the act of entrepreneurship so as to reduce it to the fundamental behaviours and processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper sets out the motivations for and challenges in establishing a broader definition of entrepreneurship. Following this, current approaches to defining entrepreneurship are reviewed. In light of these, a definition of entrepreneurship is offered that captures a new perspective in understanding entrepreneurship. A critique of the offered definition is offered with regards to promoting theory development, empirical research, quality predictions and a distinctive research domain.

Findings

The authors argue that a definition of entrepreneurship that is focussed on the development and validation of ideas provides a thought-provoking re-conceptualisation of entrepreneurship. Extant perspectives on entrepreneurship as business/organisation creation, uncertainty, innovation, value creation and opportunity recognition/creation are drawn on to demonstrate the applicability of the definition.

Originality/value

The pursuit for an encompassing definition of entrepreneurship has been both extensive and earnest, which has inadvertently resulted in a sizable pool of definitions. The authors offer a re-conceptualisation of entrepreneurship with the intent to provide a broad yet coherent definition that encompasses all acts of entrepreneurship. A benefit of this conceptualisation is the establishment of the endpoint of the entrepreneurship process that delineates it from the domain of management.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 27 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 July 2012

David J. Hansen, Javier Monllor and Leslie McMurchie

The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the development of entrepreneurial opportunities within the context of environmentally‐sustainable business. The “4P”…

835

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the development of entrepreneurial opportunities within the context of environmentally‐sustainable business. The “4P” creativity framework (person, process, press/situation, and product) was used.

Design/methodology/approach

Three cases were used to examine opportunity development. Each case involved an entrepreneur in the process of starting a new environmentally‐friendly business. The entrepreneurs were interviewed on a weekly basis.

Findings

Findings suggest that the 4Ps are useful framework for examining entrepreneurial opportunity development. Furthermore, they are strongly interrelated.

Research limitations/implications

Given their inherent creative nature, a creativity perspective is useful for examining opportunities. Additionally, the findings suggest that future research should consider the interaction within the constellation of creative factors – person, process, press and product – when using a creativity perspective.

Originality/value

This study provides one of the few accounts of the development of entrepreneurial opportunities in which data were collected contemporaneously.

Details

Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-5201

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 8 April 2005

Petri Suomala

The essential investments in new product development (NPD) made by industrial companies entail effective management of NPD activities. In this context, performance measurement is…

Abstract

The essential investments in new product development (NPD) made by industrial companies entail effective management of NPD activities. In this context, performance measurement is one of the means that can be employed in the pursuit of effectiveness.

Details

Managing Product Innovation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-311-2

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