Exploring over the Presumed Identity of Emerging Technology

While scientists are stepping up their efforts to develop new technologies, the ability of firms to determine the value of their technologies by identifying potential applications has become a major challenge. This article focuses on a particular phase of technology development: the emergence phase. When a promising new technology first sees the light of day in a fundamental research laboratory, its target markets often seem plentiful but are ill-defined. The inability to produce prototypes or to identify potential users makes it difficult to explore potential commercial applications. On the basis of four micro-nanotechnologies case-studies conducted within a multi-partner innovation project, this article aims to theoretically explain why the identification of applications from emerging technologies is not a trivial problem. That research analyses how technologists and non-experts interact during creative investigations on new applications. It shows that the technologists are victims of a form of cognitive fixation effect. Indeed, their beliefs and activities are guided by a stable cognitive representation of their technology: the presumed identity of technology. Based on a recent design framework, C-K Design Theory, the technological exploration process followed in our four case-studies is modeled and mechanisms to dismantle the presumed identity and to design an extended identity of technology are provided.management of emerging technology; technological exploration; identity of technology; C-K Design Theory, presumed identity; technology-push; technological innovation

Investigating co-innovation in exploratory partnerships: An analytical framework based on design theory

Intensive innovation contexts push organizations to search for new partnerships in order to explore value creation opportunities and to access external resources. Recent literature shows that more and more partnerships are established before the object and the terms of the partnership has been determined. In such exploratory partnerships (Segrestin 2006), motivated by the prospect of joint value creation and co-innovation, partners explore and progressively construct a common project and an agreement on the sharing of tasks and outputs. In this work we investigate co-innovation dynamics of exploratory partnerships within the context of MINATEC IDEAs Laboratory® (MIL). MIL comprises several industrial partners from different sectors and a major scientific partner specialized in micro-nanotechnologies. Partners of MIL share resources to explore new project ideas and co-innovation opportunities. A particularity of MIL is that all its industrial partners come from different business sectors. The diversity of agendas, competencies and design strategies exhibited at MIL allow the examination of different dimensions of exploratory partnerships: Are there different configurations of exploratory partnerships? What are the dynamics of exploration? How does the exploratory process converge? An analytical framework based on CK design theory is used in order to examine the dynamics of exploratory partnerships within MIL.co-innovation; exploratory partnership;design theory; design oriented organizations;collective action

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT OF INNOVATION FIELDS : APPLYING CK DESIGN THEORY IN CROSS INDUSTRY EXPLORATORY PARTNERSHIP

Our paper refers to an industrial practice based on an integrated theoretical framework of design, CK design theory (Hatchuel and Weil, 2002, Hatchuel and Weil, 2003, Hatchuel and Weil, 2008), to support people in management of innovation fields. This study is based on an empirical case in a new form of R&D partnerships, the Cross Industry Exploratory Partnerships. MINATEC IDEAs Laboratory® is composed of a broad scope of partners 2 which aims to co-explore opportunities of micronanotechnologies. The paper deals with a strategic design tool, OPERA, which has been experimented since 2007 and involved participation of design team work and powerholders. During two years, creative insights and projects of the two laboratory's major innovation fields have been collected and structured within CK theory. This tool permits power-holders to drive innovation projects by giving an overview of explored concepts (and still not explored), activation and production of competencies and knowledge.CK theory; innovative design; innovation partnership; OPERA; design theory; management of innovation

The Generation of Common Purpose in Innovation Partnerships : a Design Perspective

The official version of the article is available here : http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17042798&ini=aobInternational audiencePurpose - Scholars and practitioners have both emphasized the importance of collaboration in innovation context. They have also largely acknowledged that the definition of common purpose is a major driver of successful collaboration, but surprisingly, researchers have put little effort into investigating the process whereby the partners define the common purpose. This research aims to explore the Generation of Common Purpose (GCP) in innovation partnerships. Design/methodology/approach - An action-research approach combined with modeling has been followed. Our research is based on an in-depth qualitative case study of a cross-industry exploratory partnership through which four partners, from very different arenas, aim to collectively define innovation projects based on micro-nanotechnologies. Based on a design reasoning framework, the mechanisms of GCP mechanism are depicted. Findings - Regarding GCP, two main interdependent facets are identified: (1) the determination of existing intersections between the parties' concept and knowledge spaces ('Matching'); (2) an introspective learning process that allows the parties to transforms those spaces ('Building'). Practical implications - The better understanding of the GCP and the specific notion of "C-K profiles", which is an original way to characterize each partner involved in a partnership, should improve the capabilities of organizations to efficiently define collaborative innovation projects. Originality/value - This article explores one of the cornerstones of successful collaboration in innovation: the process whereby several parties define the common purpose of their partnership

A new methodology for advanced engineering design: Lessons from experimenting C-K Theory driven tools

International audienceThis research shows that C-K Design Theory provides fruitful connections between New Product Development and Knowledge Management issues. Our purpose is to go a step further on the benefits of C-K Theory-based design tools for managing the upstream phases of innovative design processes. Based on 14 industrial case studies conducted between 2009 and 2011, we find that C-K Theory-based design tools enable practitioners to generate and explore various design paths while converging on the most competitive one

Investigating co-innovation in exploratory partnerships: An analytical framework based on design theory

International audienceIntensive innovation contexts push organizations to search for new partnerships in order to explore value creation opportunities and to access external resources. Recent literature shows that more and more partnerships are established before the object and the terms of the partnership has been determined. In such exploratory partnerships (Segrestin 2006), motivated by the prospect of joint value creation and co-innovation, partners explore and progressively construct a common project and an agreement on the sharing of tasks and outputs. In this work we investigate co-innovation dynamics of exploratory partnerships within the context of MINATEC IDEAs Laboratory® (MIL). MIL comprises several industrial partners from different sectors and a major scientific partner specialized in micro-nanotechnologies. Partners of MIL share resources to explore new project ideas and co-innovation opportunities. A particularity of MIL is that all its industrial partners come from different business sectors. The diversity of agendas, competencies and design strategies exhibited at MIL allow the examination of different dimensions of exploratory partnerships: Are there different configurations of exploratory partnerships? What are the dynamics of exploration? How does the exploratory process converge? An analytical framework based on CK design theory is used in order to examine the dynamics of exploratory partnerships within MIL

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT OF INNOVATION FIELDS : APPLYING CK DESIGN THEORY IN CROSS INDUSTRY EXPLORATORY PARTNERSHIP

International audienceOur paper refers to an industrial practice based on an integrated theoretical framework of design, CK design theory (Hatchuel and Weil, 2002, Hatchuel and Weil, 2003, Hatchuel and Weil, 2008), to support people in management of innovation fields. This study is based on an empirical case in a new form of R&D partnerships, the Cross Industry Exploratory Partnerships. MINATEC IDEAs Laboratory® is composed of a broad scope of partners 2 which aims to co-explore opportunities of micronanotechnologies. The paper deals with a strategic design tool, OPERA, which has been experimented since 2007 and involved participation of design team work and powerholders. During two years, creative insights and projects of the two laboratory's major innovation fields have been collected and structured within CK theory. This tool permits power-holders to drive innovation projects by giving an overview of explored concepts (and still not explored), activation and production of competencies and knowledge

Brainstorming versus creative design reasoning: A theory-driven experimental investigation of novelty, feasibility and value of ideas

International audienceIn industrial settings, brainstorming is seen as an effective technique for creativity in innovation processes. However, bulk of research on brainstorming is based on an oversimplified view of the creativity process. Participants are seen as idea generators and the process aims at maximizing the quantity of ideas produced, and the evaluation occurs post-process based on some originality and feasibility criteria. Design theories can help enrich this simplistic process model. The present study reports an experimental investigation of creativity process within the context of real-life design ideation task. Results lead to the rejection of the classical 'quantity breeds quality' hypothesis. Rather, we observe that successful groups are the ones who produce a few original propositions that hold great value for users while looking for ways to make those propositions feasible

CO-DESIGNING BROAD SCOPE OF TECHNOLOGY-BASED APPLICATIONS IN AN EXPLORATORY PARTNERSHIP

8 pagesInternational audienceJoint-ventures, sub-contracts, co-developments, alliances, R&D consortia ; inter-firms partnerships have been strongly increasing for two last decades and becoming a major issue in the field of management and design research. This paper presents an industrial practice which consists in codesigning a broad scope of technology-based applications in an exploratory partnership [Segrestin, 2005]. First, we propose a brief overview of inter-firm R&D cooperations and focus on an emerging flexible organization in the field of innovation : exploratory partnerships. From a more detailed description and a presentation of MINATEC IDEAs Laboratory®, we emphasize on the strategic role of technology in partnerships which gather a large number of partners. Finally, we propose a useroriented technological design method called “D4 method” [Piat, 2005] through its recently implementation on a microfluidic technology. This method has been already tested in confidential EDF projects but its experimentation in a multipartners context has revealed some interesting aspects. We present D4 method's features with respect to other creativy tools and we finally argue that this method fits very well in technology-centred exploratory partnerships. Indeed, "D4 method" permits to identify and to manage carefully the shift from community based co-operation to complementary based co-operation

Understanding the generation of inter-firm cooperation's objects with a co-design reasoning theory

Les partenariats d’exploration constituent, pour les organisations contemporaines, une opportunité pour ouvrir leur portefeuille partenarial et coopérer sur des objets de plus en plus innovants et transversaux. Mais ces nouvelles formes de partenariats R&D sont déstabilisées par leur nature même : les objets de coopération ne sont pas connus ex-ante et doivent donc être conçus durant la coopération.A partir de l’étude d’un partenariat transectoriel technologique, MINATEC IDEAs Laboratory, cette thèse explique comment des partenaires différents parviennent finalement à s’accorder sur des sujets de coopération et à lancer des projets d’innovation.Pour comprendre et modéliser l’élaboration progressive de ces objets de coopération, nous proposons le modèle Matching/Building. Basé sur une extension de la théorie de conception C-K, ce modèle rend compte de la manière dont des acteurs développent et modifient leurs propres raisonnements de conception durant leurs interactions.De plus, cette recherche expose les résultats de deux instruments de gestion qui facilitent la génération de la coopération : OPERA, un outil de cartographie pour piloter des champs d'innovation et représenter l'évolution des objets de coopération et la méthode D4 qui permet de co-innover en revisitant collectivement l’identité de technologies émergentesFor contemporary organizations, exploratory partnerships constitute opportunities to open their portfolio partnership and to embrace objects increasingly innovative and cross-functional. But, in such new forms of R&D relationships, a major crisis is caused by the fact that the common purpose is unknown at the beginning and need to be designed during the cooperation process.From a single-case study of a cross-industrial technological exploratory partnership, MINATEC IDEAs Laboratory, that research explains how heterogeneous actors reach shared objectives and launch together innovation projects.In order to understand and to model those collective objects, we propose the Matching/Building model. Based on the recent advances of the C-K Design Theory, our model describes interactions patterns between the partners’ design reasoning during their cooperation.Furthermore, that research highlights two methodological tools for enhancing cooperation in innovation : OPERA is a cartographic system to manage innovation projects and to master the evolution of the cooperation, D4 method permits to co-innovate by challenging the identity of emerging technolog