Status: Current project
Schedule: 2011-01 – 2011-12 (phase 1), then 4 years
CBI staff: Maria Elmquist, Lisa Carlgren, Ingo Rauth
Funding: CBI Internal/Vinnova funding for first phase
Description: Recently, research has pointed at the field of design as one potential area of knowledge for companies with innovation ambitions. One of the most advocated approaches is design thinking, a concept put forward by practitioners like Tim Brown (IDEO) and Roger Martin (Rotman School of Design and Management). Many companies have also engaged in applying the approach.

The ambition of the project is to contribute to a better understanding of how design thinking can be implemented in large firms and what value design thinking creates in those organizations. More specifically it investigates how design thinking is perceived to create value in these firms and how the approach is integrated with the existing innovation and product development processes.

The project is designed as an explorative project in collaboration with the HPI School of Design Thinking in Potsdam, Germany, an institution providing executive education on design thinking. The data collection is based on a series of qualitative, semi-structured interviews. The sample will consist of 10 companies who have been formally trained at the HPI School of Design Thinking and have been using design thinking for more than two years in their own organizations. The interviewees will be managers in R&D who participated in the training or who work with people that participated. The first results from the study will be presented during fall 2011.