Claudio Dell’Era, Stefano Magistretti, Marina Candi, Mattia Bianchi, Giulia Calabretta, Ileana Stigliani and Roberto Verganti
Design 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…
Abstract
Purpose
Design 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.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a survey methodology and a knowledge-intensive empirical setting, this study analyzes a data set of 221 innovation consulting projects based on design thinking conducted by European consulting firms and design agencies.
Findings
By analyzing the survey data, the authors 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. The authors also identify configurations of these design thinking practices that are used to address different innovation project goals and levels of uncertainty.
Practical implications
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.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors knowledge, 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.
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Mattia Bianchi, Anthony Di Benedetto, Simone Franzò and Federico Frattini
The purpose of this paper is to bring new empirical evidence to the controversial role of early adopters in the diffusion of innovations in industrial markets.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to bring new empirical evidence to the controversial role of early adopters in the diffusion of innovations in industrial markets.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors apply an actor market configuration perspective to the analysis of four longitudinal case studies regarding the commercialization of new products in the textile, plastic and energy industries.
Findings
The diffusion of innovation is an interactive and iterative process where the commercializing firm engages in repeated interactions with different categories of companies that are targeted as potential early adopters. This process ends when the commercializing firm identifies a category of early adopters that can stimulate subsequent acceptance in the later market, by playing one of the following two roles, i.e. word-of-mouth trigger and industry benchmark. During this process, through which the role of the early adopters is constructed proactively by the commercializing firm, the product innovation is also subject to changes to provide a better fit with the selected category of early adopters.
Research limitations/implications
The paper calls for a re-conceptualization of the diffusion process, from a passive identification of early adopters to an interactive process that entails a trial-and-error approach in the targeting and involvement of different categories of early adopters, which ends when the innovation reaches the desired levels of diffusion.
Practical implications
The study provides managers with a number of recommendations for selecting the most proper category of early adopters for their innovations, depending on the role they are more likely to play and the influence they will exert on subsequent acceptance in the later market.
Social implications
The study provides managers with a number of recommendations for targeting, through a trial-and-error process, early adopters and working with them to champion the dissemination of new technologies.
Originality/value
This paper significantly adds to existing literature on the diffusion of innovation, which has up to now conceived early adopters as static and given entities, which cannot be proactively selected by the commercializing firm, and innovation as an immutable object.
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Mattia Bianchi, Vittorio Chiesa and Federico Frattini
External technology commercialization (ETC) refers to the firm's transfer of technological assets, disembodied from products, to another organization involving a contractual…
Abstract
Purpose
External technology commercialization (ETC) refers to the firm's transfer of technological assets, disembodied from products, to another organization involving a contractual obligation for compensation. The purpose of this paper is to identify the managerial and organizational antecedents that are capable of explaining superior capabilities in ETC.
Design/methodology/approach
Starting from an in‐depth analysis of the literature about technology commercialization and adopting the dynamic capabilities strategic perspective, the study develops a theoretical framework that shows how a number of concepts (resources, capabilities and microfoundations) may affect performance in ETC. A case study analysis is conducted with illustrative purposes.
Findings
The paper shows that adequate management and organization of ETC activities are needed to successfully undertake ETC. Combining evidence from a case study and findings from prior studies, research propositions are developed regarding key process, organizational and human resource mechanisms that lie at the heart of superior capabilities in ETC.
Practical implications
The paper provides technology and innovation managers with a number of suggestions for organizing and managing ETC that are likely to improve performance.
Originality/value
Owing to the complexity of ETC related activities and the high transaction costs characterizing the markets for technologies, only few companies are reaping the gains from the commercialization of their technologies while the majority fail to realize their potential. This paper is the first attempt, to the best knowledge of the authors, which adopts the dynamic capabilities perspective to unearth the managerial levers driving superior performance in ETC.
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Abstract
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Otto Herman Pedreira Goecking, Cristiana Fernandes De Muylder, Henrique Cordeiro Martins and João Luiz da Matta Felisberto
The main goal of this paper is to systematically evaluate the bibliographic production on neuromarketing from 1945 to 2018, with an emphasis on consumer behavior, to identify…
Abstract
Purpose
The main goal of this paper is to systematically evaluate the bibliographic production on neuromarketing from 1945 to 2018, with an emphasis on consumer behavior, to identify possible convergence of interests among health and marketing fields.
Design/methodology/approach
This article was based on a systematic literature review (SLR) with the intention of investigating research related to neuromarketing by means of network analysis of citations.
Findings
The research reveals that there are formed networks in the health and management areas, but they are insufficient to enhance the neuromarketing results. Ethics has been mentioned in some studies, but the maps do not suggest that it is a developing field. Similar results can be seen within the sales area that can be capitalized on by research of gains related to consumer behavior.
Research limitations/implications
One limitation of this study was the use of only one database (Web of Science®) that published several works from 1945 to the present time, but certainly has not exhausted the possibilities of research in the area.
Originality/value
This article helped to highlight the importance of ethics in clinical and business processes using neuroimaging, which could be an easy way to understand the behavioral and physiological mechanisms.
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The purpose of this paper is to review recent applications of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other neuroimaging techniques in marketing and advertising, and to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review recent applications of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other neuroimaging techniques in marketing and advertising, and to present some methodological and statistical considerations that should be taken into consideration when applying fMRI to study consumers’ cognitive behavior related to marketing phenomena.
Design/methodology/approach
A critical approach to investigate three methodological issues related to fMRI applications in marketing is adopted. These issues deal mainly with brain activation regions, event-related fMRI and signal-to-noise ratio. Statistical issues related to fMRI data pre-processing, analyzing and reporting are also investigated.
Findings
Neuroimaging cognitive techniques have great potential in marketing and advertising. This is because, unlike conventional marketing research methods, neuroimaging data are much less susceptible to social desirability and “interviewer’s” effect. Thus, it is expected that using neuroimaging methods to investigate which areas in a consumer’s brain are activated in response to a specific marketing stimulus can provide a much more honest indicator of their cognition compared to traditional marketing research tools such as focus groups and questionnaires.
Originality/value
By merging disparate fields, such as marketing, neuroscience and cognitive psychology, this research presents a comprehensive critical review of how neuroscientific methods can be used to test existing marketing theories.
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Mattia Olivero, Matteo Ferrai, Piero Pantaleone, Ivan Perkovic, Antonella D’Amato, David Moroni, Pierluigi Perugini and Matteo Tirelli
This activity dealt with the thermal analysis of the launch vehicle Vega C through a lumped parameter model. The Vega C is the upgrade of the actual launch vehicle Vega within the…
Abstract
Purpose
This activity dealt with the thermal analysis of the launch vehicle Vega C through a lumped parameter model. The Vega C is the upgrade of the actual launch vehicle Vega within the Vega Consolidation and Evolution Program, whose objective is to develop a consolidated – hence the C – version of the Vega by 2020. The main aim of the study was verifying the thickness of the external thermal protection of the launch vehicle, such that the structure and equipment temperatures were kept within their operating ranges.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis has been performed by means of ESATAN–TMS during a time-frame that included the stand-by on ground phase and a flight phase up to the separation of the second stage from the third one. Two operating conditions have been considered, i.e. the worst hot and worst cold cases. The study has been divided as follows: geometry definition through spatial discretization; application of materials and optical properties; application of thermal loads; thermal analysis; and post-processing of the results in ThermNV.
Findings
It was concluded that the calculated temperatures were within the supposed project specifications, while their trends reflected the expected behavior.
Originality/value
During the flight phase, the mutual separation of the investigated stages has been explicitly modelled through a routine specifically developed for this purpose. Therefore, the submodels of each stage have been disabled at the correct instant according to the known time-sheet.
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Dang Thuan An Nguyen and Liwei Hsu
As humans are influenced by their environment, this study explores how different construal levels of ambient scent temperature affect consumers’ food choices.
Abstract
Purpose
As humans are influenced by their environment, this study explores how different construal levels of ambient scent temperature affect consumers’ food choices.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed a series of experimental methods from three studies, totalling five experiments. The experiments involved both laboratory and field settings, as well as neuroscientific techniques, thus generating empirical evidence.
Findings
Three studies were conducted to investigate how construal levels of both ambient scent temperature and tasks influenced food choice. Study 1 found that the construal level of ambient scent temperature significantly affected the type of food consumed. Study 2 included the task’s construal level as another factor to examine whether it interacted with the ambient scent temperature construal level. Both factors were significant, but only when perceived by the participants simultaneously. If the task’s construal level was manipulated before exposure to the ambient scent temperature, the latter did not have a significant effect. Study 3 employed a neuroscientific method to explore the mechanism behind the match between ambient scent temperature and food choices based on construal levels. The congruence of ambient scent temperature and food choice based on construal level enhanced positive emotions.
Research limitations/implications
The sample size, although in line with other neuroscientific studies, was not sufficiently large for robust generalizability. This limitation can encourage future research to increase the number of participants and thus enhance the accountability of the findings. Another limitation is the participants’ cultural background.
Practical implications
This study’s practical implications are twofold. First, odour intensity was perceived to be the strongest in hot samples (Kähkönen et al., 1995), and we confirmed how ambient scent temperature can influence one’s food choice. Thus, food business operators can use warm ambient scent temperatures to promote hedonic food or snacks. Second, participants’ positive emotions were enhanced by the congruence of ambient scent temperature and food choice.
Social implications
The association between ambient scent temperature and food choice has been extensively researched. However, this study provides an empirical explanation for the application of CLT. Accordingly, we performed a series of laboratory and field experiments using behavioural and neuroscientific approaches. The results confirmed that the construal level of ambient scent temperature significantly affected food choice. Moreover, the FAA revealed that one’s positive emotions would be prompted if there was congruence in the construal levels of ambient scent temperature and food choice.
Originality/value
This study has theoretical and managerial value because people’s poor understanding of food selection is affected by ambient scent temperature. Moreover, its novelty lies in the application of a neuroscientific approach to one experiment.
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Mattia Tassinari, Elisa Barbieri, Giovanni Morleo and Marco Rodolfo Di Tommaso
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the efficiency and effectiveness of industrial policies by focusing on the peculiar experience of South Korea. It analyzes Korean…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the efficiency and effectiveness of industrial policies by focusing on the peculiar experience of South Korea. It analyzes Korean structural change from a historical and empirical standpoint, highlighting industrial policy interventions involved in this process. The analysis presented offers important insights to inform the debate on the contemporary industrial policy, identifying specific elements and circumstances that can contribute to mitigate government failures and to improve the effectiveness of public action.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts a historical and empirical perspective. Concerning the empirical analysis, a composite indicator to assess the process of structural change of economies is presented. This methodology provides annual rankings based on the different economic relevance of the manufacturing sectors over the period 1963–2012.
Findings
The paper shows that industrial policy has been extensively involved in South Korean structural development but public intervention interacted with several other factors, including gradual markets liberalization, education, societal and cultural characteristics and low level of income inequalities. As a result, economic development is conceived as systemic process, namely as the outcome of a balance in the roles played by government, markets and civil society. In this framework, government failures, as inability of the government to respond effectively and efficiently to the general interest of the society, are intimately inherent to the mechanisms that rule the relevant relationships within the system.
Originality/value
In the post-crisis debate, very little attention has been devoted in academic and political debate to the ways to mitigate government failures. By analyzing the historical and recent Korean experience with industrial policy, the paper addresses an issue insufficiently analyzed offering an innovative contribution.