The Impact of Technology on Creativity in Design: An Enhancement?

Technology may be considered as an interface between individuals and the products they create, but we have to determine whether the use of new systems effectively enhance individuals' creative activities. In this paper, we present a new angle of reflection that we illustrate in the field of creative design, since it is a constant challenge for designers to introduce creativity in the projects they work on. The approach we propose is centred on designers' cognitive processes. We argue that both the development of new CAD (computer‐aided design) systems and their assessment should be conducted on the basis of a deep understanding of designers' cognitive processes. In accordance with this view, we present three empirical studies that were conducted in order to analyse the impact of new design support systems on designers' cognitive processes. Therefore, the results we present contribute to further our knowledge of whether new CAD technologies effectively facilitate designers' activities and enhance their creativity.     

Shifting intra‐ and inter‐organizational innovation processes towards digital business: An empirical analysis of SMEs

The literature suggests that increasing investments in information and communication technologies (ICTs), knowledge exchange and sharing help SMEs tackle the current global and dynamic environment. Given that much of the useful knowledge resides outside the enterprises’ boundaries, these technological tools foster the gathering of big data and information. Despite these premises, few studies have considered the role of ICTs and big data in intra‐ and inter‐organizational ties and the consequent effects on enterprises’ innovation performance. The paper investigates whether ICTs oriented to intra‐organizational (in‐house research and development [R&D]) and inter‐organizational (open innovation) processes improve SMEs’ innovation performance. Therefore, via structural equation modelling (SEM), the study analyses a sample of 239 knowledge‐intensive SMEs located in Italy. The noteworthy results are that ICTs oriented to intra‐ and inter‐organizational innovation processes improve both these processes in generating new products and/or services. On this basis, managerial and academic implications are provided, along with avenues for further research.     

User‐centred design and educational data mining support during the recommendations elicitation process in social online learning environments

Social online learning environments provide new recommendation opportunities to meet users' needs. However, current educational recommender systems do not usually take advantage of these opportunities. To progress on this issue, we have proposed a knowledge engineering approach based on human–computer interaction (i.e. user‐centred design as defined by the standard ISO 9241‐210:2010) and artificial intelligence techniques (i.e. data mining) that involve educators in the process of eliciting educational oriented recommendations. To date, this approach differs from most recommenders in education in focusing on identifying relevant actions to be recommended on e‐learning services from a user‐centric perspective, thus widening the range of recommendation types. This approach has been used to identify 32 recommendations that consider several types of actions, which focus on promoting active participation of learners and on strengthening the sharing of experiences among peers through the usage of the social services provided by the learning environment. The paper describes where data mining techniques have been applied to complement the user‐centred design methods to produce social oriented recommendations in online learning environments.     

Working Together Apart? Building a Knowledge‐Sharing Culture for Global Virtual Teams

A new impetus for greater knowledge‐sharing among team members needs to be emphasized due to the emergence of a significant new form of working known as ‘global virtual teams’. As information and communication technologies permeate every aspect of organizational life and impact the way teams communicate, work and structure relationships, global virtual teams require innovative communication and learning capabilities for different team members to effectively work together across cultural, organizational and geographical boundaries. Whereas information technology‐facilitated communication processes rely on technologically advanced systems to succeed, the ability to create a knowledge‐sharing culture within a global virtual team rests on the existence (and maintenance) of intra‐team respect, mutual trust, reciprocity and positive individual and group relationships. Thus, some of the inherent questions we address in our paper are: (1) what are the cross‐cultural challenges faced by global virtual teams?; (2) how do organizations develop a knowledge sharing culture to promote effective organizational learning among culturally‐diverse team members? and; (3) what are some of the practices that can help maximize the performance of global virtual teams? We conclude by examining ways that global virtual teams can be more effectively managed in order to reach their potential in this new interconnected world and put forward suggestions for further research.     

The Impact of Tangible User Interfaces on Designers' Spatial Cognition

ABSTRACT

Most studies on tangible user interfaces for the tabletop design systems are being undertaken from a technology viewpoint. Although there have been studies that focus on the development of new interactive environments employing tangible user interfaces for designers, there is a lack of evaluation with respect to designers' spatial cognition. In this research we study the effects of tangible user interfaces on designers' spatial cognition to provide empirical evidence for the anecdotal views of the effect of tangible user interfaces. To highlight the expected changes in spatial cognition while using tangible user interfaces, we compared designers using a tangible user interface on a tabletop system with 3D blocks to designers using a graphical user interface on a desktop computer with a mouse and keyboard. The ways in which designers use the two different interfaces for 3D design were examined using a protocol analysis method. The result reveals that designers using 3D blocks perceived more spatial relationships among multiple objects and spaces and discovered new visuo-spatial features when revisiting their design configurations. The designers using the tangible interfaces spent more time in relocating objects to different locations to test the moves, and interacted with the external representation through large body movements implying an immersion in the design model. These two physical actions assist in designers' spatial cognition by reducing cognitive load in mental visual reasoning. Further, designers using the tangible interfaces spent more time in restructuring the design problem by introducing new functional issues as design requirements and produced more discontinuities to the design processes, which provides opportunity for reflection and modification of the design. Therefore this research shows that tangible user interfaces changes designers' spatial cognition, and the changes of the spatial cognition are associated with creative design processes.     

基于学习情境分析的E_Learning系统用户视图设计

设计符合学习者认知特性的E_Learning系统用户视图,有助于提高学习者的学习效率、促进组织的知识转移.给出了基于学习情境分析的E_Learning系统用户视图的设计框架,在设计过程中,通过学习情境更新方法获取学习者的认知特性,通过用户视图生成方法保证设计出的E_Learning系统用户视图符合学习者的认知特性.最后的实例说明了所给设计的具体实用和实际效用.     

Crises as Learning Triggers: Exploring a Conceptual Framework of Crisis‐Induced Learning

This article contributes to the debate on organizational learning from crisis by shedding light on the phenomenon of crises as learning triggers. To unveil theoretical patterns of how organizational crisis‐induced learning may appear and develop, I suggest a conceptual framework based on concept categories and answers to four fundamental questions: what lessons are learned (single‐ or double‐loop)?; what is the focus of the lessons (prevention or response)?; when are lessons learned (intra‐ or intercrisis)?; is learning blocked from implementation or carried out (distilled or implemented)? The framework's applicability is explored in a study of how a Swedish utility and the city of Stockholm responded to two large‐scale blackouts in Stockholm. The final sections suggest four propositions for further research.     

Leadership Ideals as Barriers for Efficient Collaboration During Emergencies and Disasters

In an emergency or disaster situation, it is likely that a conglomerate of societal resources will respond to various needs. In such a multi‐organizational setting, collaboration becomes necessary. Empirical findings suggest that collaboration can be very problematical and this paper argues that a possible explanation can be found in intra‐organizational leadership ideals, dysfunctional in a collaborative context. In order to facilitate a principal discussion, an analytical framework for discussing leadership and collaboration is suggested. Moreover, literature findings suggesting individual qualities facilitating collaboration are presented. Three leadership archetypes are used to problematize intra‐organizational ideals in inter‐organizational settings. It is suggested that more attention must be paid to qualities enabling individuals to operate simultaneously in different, and partly conflicting, management contexts.     

Supporting user participation design using a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process approach

There are three fundamental problems that may occur in the process of user participation design: first, the participants/users may not be able to express their requirements clearly; second, they have little knowledge about design; and third, they are generally unfamiliar with the software that designers use. Based on this understanding, a method that considers design rationale is proposed in this work to support the process of user participation design. In addressing the user participation process, a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach is applied to grasp people's ideas, in the initial design phase. A case study on creating house layout design is employed to illustrate the proposed approach. In this regard, to help participants/users create layout designs, it is proposed that a 3D generative system is used, which integrates navigational concepts, direct manipulation, and the design rationale theory. In a nutshell, this research proposes a system to implement a design rational model and improve design communication in the user participation process. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed prototype system, a user test is performed and we put forward some findings and research questions for further research and industry practices.     

Open for Entrepreneurship: How Open Innovation Can Foster New Venture Creation

This paper explores how an open approach to new venture creation – purposefully managing knowledge flows across the venture's organizational boundary – can be beneficial for start‐up entrepreneurs. Our inductive case study, of both failure and success, identifies the key attributes of this open approach and how they affect start‐ups' short‐term survival. We find that ecosystem collaboration, user involvement and an open environment directly influence new venture survival, and that their effects were moderated by the entrepreneurs' open mindset. These findings carry a number of implications for entrepreneurship and innovation research and practice, providing some attention points for researchers, entrepreneurs, investors and policy makers interested in developing successful new ventures.     

Exploring students' learning effectiveness and attitude in Group Scribbles‐supported collaborative reading activities: a study in the primary classroom

Improving students' reading comprehension is of significance. In this study, collaborative learning supported by Group Scribbles (GS), a networked technology, was integrated into a primary reading class. Forty‐seven 10‐year‐old students from two 4th grade classes participated in the study. Experimental and control groups were established to investigate the effectiveness of GS‐supported collaborative learning in enhancing students' reading comprehension. The results affirmed the effectiveness of the intervention designed. In the experiment group, students' learning attitudes, motivation and interest were enhanced as well. Further analyses were done to probe students' interaction processes in the networked collaborative classroom and different collaboration patterns and behaviours were identified. Based on the findings obtained, implications for future learning design to empower L1 learning were elaborated.     

Performance management of public–private collaboration in innovation

The open innovation literature has highlighted that more focus should be placed on non‐pecuniary sources such as public research institutes (PRIs) and their performance management (PM), while innovation network studies have highlighted the growing importance of universities and PRIs in public‐private research partnerships. Building on PM capability and portfolio management perspectives, this research aims is to examine the relationship between knowledge resources and collaboration outcome in such public‐private collaborations, and the mediating role of senior management team's (SMT) ability to govern project portfolio approval and management processes. Examining 153 innovation commercialization collaboration projects between PRIs and firms in Singapore, our study has made several significant contributions to the existing research on innovation and performance in public‐private partnership. First, we empirically demonstrate that there is a direct positive relationship between PRIs' knowledge resources and collaboration outcome. Second, our findings establish that the PRIs' SMT ability to govern project portfolio processes mediates this positive relationship. Third, this research highlights that the SMT ability to govern project portfolio processes fully mediates the conversion of market knowledge into innovation. Only partial mediation is observed in the case of technological knowledge, which directly creates value by virtue of generating discoveries or breakthroughs.     

User interface development processes and methodologies

The way in which designers choose between alternatives in user interface design can affect both the design process and also the quality of the outcome, i.e., the user interface. However, little is known about the knowledge drawn on during, or the processes that guide, the choice between design alternatives. This paper presents the results of an empirical study aimed at modelling 'trade-off decision making' in user interface design. It is argued that a single abstract vocabulary can capture important aspects of the rich knowledge drawn on during design problem solving. It is also argued that designers' reasoning during 'choice episodes' is not sophisticated. In choosing between alternatives in design, designers invariably limit the range, or nature, of the alternatives considered. The implications of this finding are discussed.     

A Longitudinal Study of Workspace Design for Knowledge Exploration and Exploitation in the Research and Development Process

In order to leverage organizational learning, scholars have already defined but are still discussing the interpretation of two different learning types, exploration and exploitation. Exploring new frontiers across knowledge domains and maintaining the balance with exploiting the existing knowledge is critical for the prosperity of an organization. The spatial dimension of organizational learning considers that proximity of employees has an influence on their learning activities, but from a rather macro perspective without taking workspace design into account. We account for these issues by examining the impact of workspace design on knowledge exploration and exploitation on the micro level at distinct stages along the value chain (i.e., the research, development and project market team unit) of Novartis, a pharmaceutical company. In a longitudinal study, employees of the three cases have been interviewed and observed over the course of three years, before and after workspace redesign. With the change from a cellular to an open workspace, employees become closer and highly visible to each other, which influences knowledge work. As the cases occurred sequentially in time, design principles were derived. The findings suggest that exploitation is supported by workspace design that leads to high proximity inducing faster feedback cycles and first‐hand information. Exploration, however, is supported by workspace design that leads to high visibility triggering more cross‐functional interactions and thereby the variability of knowledge. The later the stage in the research and development process, the higher the need for balanced learning activities. This balance is well reflected in a ‘multi‐space’ workspace consisting of shared meeting areas, quiet zones, central staircases and integrated laboratories and desk areas.     

Key Resources and Internationalization Modes of Creative Knowledge‐Intensive Business Services: The Case of Design Consultancies

In the ‘knowledge economy’, knowledge‐intensive business services (KIBS) are a key driver for innovation and competitiveness. The internationalization of these businesses raises challenges given their specificities such as knowledge intensity, the importance of customer interaction and intimacy in service delivery. This paper focuses on design consultancies as a specific type of creative KIBS for which these characteristics are emphasized. The objective of this research is to analyse the resources leveraged by the firms to compete internationally. It is based on 11 case studies of design consultancies located in five different countries (France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the UK) that were selected for their capacity to perform at the international level for several years. The paper advances three internationalization modes depending on contingent variables and focusing on specific resources that enable international competitiveness: star‐based, process‐based and glocality‐based. In star‐based creative KIBS, the individual designer has developed a reputation that attracts customers internationally, operating as a brand. In process‐based creative KIBS, the reputation of a collective creative process attracts clients from other countries. In glocality‐based creative KIBS, the geographical proximity obtained by opening international offices helps to develop a close understanding of the client through frequent interactions, and also to know the client's market well and to better understand local codes and signs. These modes complement those presented in the existing internationalization literature which takes the peculiarities of creative KIBS into consideration.     

‘Salesman? Hell no!’ Identity struggles of nascent design entrepreneurs

The present study offers new input to the discussion of how entrepreneurship education and training programmes can be tailored to suit design professionals. To a large extent, existing entrepreneurship teaching for creative people is based on a traditional administrative management logic that often results in a clash between entrepreneurial demands and creative identities. The paper is based on the following rationale: the better we understand designers' reasoning and their struggles concerning becoming entrepreneurs, the better we are able to design entrepreneurship learning experiences that meet their needs. Since designers' career‐making tends to be highly driven by their strong sense of identity, the paper takes an identity perspective. The empirical foundation of the research is based on observation studies and phenomenological interviews conducted during an eight‐week entrepreneurship training program. Twenty‐five nascent design entrepreneurs with a professional background as designers participated in the voluntary programme. The paper offers novel and critical insights into designers' experiences of the entrepreneurial identity and reasoning as they participate in entrepreneurship training.     

Safety Cultural Preconditions for Organizational Learning in High‐Risk Organizations

The research on organizational accidents shows that both safety culture and complex technology make members of high‐risk organizations blind to hazards and signals of danger. I discuss how these forms of ignorance can be reduced by means of cultural redundancy, which I understand as the organizational promotion of several co‐existing frames of reference of equal standing. This approach is contrary to the main stream research on safety culture, which promotes the ideal of a ‘unitary safety culture’. Previous research shows that organizational learning occur trough comparison of perspectives and reflection upon practice. I argue that cultural redundancy is a precondition for processes of learning and culture change that may reduce ignorance to hazards and signals of danger in high‐risk organizations. Such processes are, however, contingent on a climate of trust and openness in which co‐existing safety cultures can meet and set forth processes of organizational learning.     

Capturing smart service systems: Development of a domain‐specific modelling language

Over the last years, the nature of service has changed owing to conceptual advances and developments in information technology. These developments have given rise to novel types of service and smart service systems (SSS), ie, resource configurations capable of learning, dynamic adaptation, and decision making. Currently, the internet of things (IoT) is turning physical objects into active smart things, bridging the gap between the physical and the digital world. Smart things advance SSS as they observe the physical environment, access local data, immerse into individuals' everyday lives and organizational routines. In line with the emergent nature of both phenomena, the impact of the IoT on SSS yet needs to be explored. Building the basis for explanatory and design‐led research and for the analysis and design of SSS, a means for the conceptual modelling of SSS that accounts for novel IoT‐enabled concepts is in high need. Hence, we designed, demonstrated, and evaluated a domain‐specific modelling language (DSML) for SSS. We evaluated the DSML by using it in the modelling of real‐world scenarios from all functional IoT domains, by submitting it to the scrutiny of industry experts, by discussing it against generic DSML requirements, and by analysing to what extent it meets domain‐specific design objectives compared with competing artefacts. To demonstrate the DSML, we included a complex real‐world scenario centred around the Nest Learning Thermostat.     

Eliciting user preferences through a guided design personalization process

In building industry, sound methods are needed to determine the design options that respond to the requirements of the potential house buyers. A new method is presented that consists of two main concepts: a user centred design approach through a non-designers interface and Bayesian networks for learning the housing preferences and responding to design choices. In a design session, the network is used to collect data about the housing preferences and to check for design inconsistencies. An experiment with the system in a housing project shows how the subjects responded to the system feedback on their design decisions.     

More than providing ‘solutions’: towards an understanding of customer‐oriented citizenship behaviours of IS professionals

Information systems (IS) support in organizations has undergone dramatic changes over the years. IS professionals in the support function have become an important knowledge source to colleagues who seek assistance with their IS usage. Our understanding of IS professionals' customer‐oriented behaviours is limited, however. Focusing on IS post‐implementation support and drawing upon organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) theory, this paper seeks to understand IS professionals' citizenship behaviours in supporting colleagues. Our analysis of 630 support tasks performed by IS professionals with regard to two systems at three periods reveals five types of customer‐oriented OCB: anticipation, education, justification, personalization‐technology and personalization‐business. Our results also show different associations between four contextual factors of IS support (i.e. system, user, task and problem) and the OCBs. In instances of user deficiency, more personalization‐business and anticipation OCBs were observed across all the four problem domains (functionality, data, workflow and role). By contrast, in instances of system deficiency, more personalization‐technology OCBs were observed among the two problem domains of data and functionality. Moreover, the occurrence of OCBs revealed a temporal pattern such that personalization‐business OCBs are more pronounced in early post‐implementation periods whereas anticipation OCBs and personalization‐technology OCBs become more dominant later. The categorization scheme of the customer‐oriented OCB, the OCB dynamics and the patterns between OCB types and the contextual factors advance our understanding of the evolving and challenging work of organizational IS support. Our findings extend the OCB literature on customer orientation and enrich the limited studies on knowledge‐intensive IS support work. Practical implications of the findings on IS management and policies are discussed.