Empathy in Innovation – The Human Side of Innovation

Abstract

The increasingly dynamic and global business environment calls for continuous and rapid innovation. Creativity and innovation are the key sources of competitive advantage in the globally connected knowledge economy. Organizations continuously face the need to introduce new technological, product, or service innovations. Such continuous and rapid innovation calls for a close understanding of customer needs as well as discovering new ways of work engagement among individuals, teams and organizations. This symposium explores innovation and brings in a discussion on empathy and the use of empathic methods for producing rapid innovation. Based on research on socio cognitive neurosciences, appreciative social construction, and innovation management this symposium discusses the role of empathy and emotions in fostering innovation and creativity in organizations, teams and individuals. The symposium presentations will illustrate different ways of conceptualizing and analyzing empathy in the contexts of innovation. In doing so, it brings together researchers from multi-disciplinary backgrounds from Europe, Asia, and North America. Empathy at the Front End of the Innovation Process Presenter: Päivi Eriksson; U. of Eastern Finland Presenter: Hanna Lehtimäki; U. of Eastern Finland Presenter: Tero Montonen; U. of Eastern Finland Neuroscientific Evidence on Empathy in Ideation Presenter: Mikko Salminen; Aalto U. Presenter: Niklas Ravaja; Aalto U. Network Perspective on Leading Innovation in Organizations Presenter: Gopakumar Gopalakrishnan; Infosys Limited Presenter: Daniel Halgin; U. of Kentucky An Appreciative Inquiry Approach to Empathic Process Innovation Presenter: Ravi S. Behara; Florida Atlantic U. Presenter: Tojo Thatchenkery; George Mason U. Presenter: Con Kenney; National Defense U.