Fuzzy Front End Of Innovation Research Articles

Developing firm capabilities to utilise social media for the fuzzy front end of innovation

ABSTRACT Despite the growing importance of using social media to leverage external knowledge for new product development (NPD) in innovation, few studies have examined firm capabilities that underpin this knowledge acquisition route. This paper provides an empirical examination of firm capabilities that leverage external knowledge, utilising social media for the fuzzy-front-end (FFE) phase of the NPD process. With evidence from 27 interviews conducted with executives’ from large fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms, a thematic analysis using NVivo 12 is used to develop a conceptual framework capturing the key capabilities for using social media in the FFE. The findings reveal that the utilisation of social media is an ongoing process of experimenting with new technologies within the NPD phase of a firm’s innovation efforts. Hence, the results of the study suggest FMCG firms may consider developing the following capabilities to help effectively acquire external knowledge via social media: use staff specialised in social media for external knowledge identification; dedicate an independent department for social media knowledge acquisition; and encourage an open innovation culture.

User-centered requirements engineering to manage the fuzzy front-end of open innovation in e-health: A study on support systems for seniors’ physical activity

BackgroundAlthough e-health potentials for improving health systems in their safety, quality and efficiency has been acknowledged, a large gap between the postulated and empirically demonstrated benefits of e-health technologies has been ascertained. E-health development has classically been technology-driven, often resulting in the design of devices and applications that ignore the complexity of the real-world setting, thus leading to slow diffusion of innovations to care. Therefore, e-health innovation needs to consider the mentioned complexity already from the start. The early phases of innovation, fuzzy front-end (FFE) defined as “the period between when an opportunity is first considered and when an idea is judged ready for development” has been identified to have the highest impact on the innovation process and its outcome. The FFE has been recognized as the most difficult stage to manage in the innovation process as it involves a high degree of uncertainty. Such a phase becomes even more difficult when different sectors and organizations are involved. Therefore, effective methods for involving different organizations and user groups in the FFE of innovation are needed. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to manage the FFE of a collaborative, open innovation (OI) process, to define a software system supporting seniors’ physical activity (PA) by applying a framework of methods from software requirements engineering (RE) to elicit and analyze needs and requirements of users and stakeholders, as well as the context in which the system should be used. MethodsNeeds and requirements of three future user groups were explored through individual- and focus group interviews. Requirements were categorized and analyzed in a workshop with a multidisciplinary team: a system overview was produced by conceptual modelling using elicited functional requirements; high-level non-functional requirements were negotiated and prioritized. Scenario descriptions of system’s supportive roles in different phases of a behavioral change process were developed. ResultsUser-centered RE methods were successfully used to define a system and a high-level requirements description was developed based on needs and requirements from three identified user groups. The system aimed to support seniors’ motivation for PA and contained four complementary sub-systems. The outcome of the study was a Concept of Operations (ConOps) document that specified the high-level system requirements in a way that was understandable for stakeholders. This document was used both to identify and recruit suitable industrial partners for the following open innovation development and to facilitate communication and collaboration in the innovation process. ConclusionsApplying software RE methods and involving user groups in the early phases of OI can contribute to the development of new concepts that meet complex real-world requirements. Different user groups can complement each other in conveying needs and requirements from which systems can be designed. Empirical studies applying and exploring different methods used to define new e-health solutions can contribute with valuable knowledge about handling innovation FFE.

Illuminating Opportunities for Smart Tourism Innovation That Foster Sustainable Tourist Well-Being Using Q Methodology

Technology innovation has become one of the driving forces that advance the tourism industry, but the industry has yet to account for the manner in which personal technologies can foster tourists’ sustainable well-being. Generating innovation that promotes the sustainable well-being of individuals is deemed to be challenging because the experience needs to account for users’ psychological well-being and their attitudes towards technology. A holistic apprehension of these needs, which requires multidisciplinary perspectives, can help designers to identify design spaces for further design investigations at the fuzzy front-end of innovation. Hence, the goal of this study is to identify design opportunities for smart tourism innovation that foster sustainable tourist well-being by using Q methodology to gather participants’ attitudes on the future use of such technology. The study involved 43 participants ranking 46 statements derived from the extant literature. The results show four opinion clusters related to the optimal use of personal technologies for sustainable tourist well-being. These clusters, which highlight both hedonic and eudaimonic user experience considerations, provide directions for designers for developing innovations that promote well-being. Recommendations of using Q as an exploratory design research method are discussed.

AI-based audit of fuzzy front end innovation using ISO56002

PurposeThis paper aims to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) audit tool for auditing text-based evidence and determine its efficiency and effectiveness.Design/methodology/approachA manual audit checklist and an AI audit tool are developed with fuzzy front-end (FFE) from Innovation Management System Standard (IMSS) as the audit scope, First, a manual audit of five organisations is conducted to determine their compliance scores. The transcripts of the audit are recorded which are used by the AI audit tool to assign compliance scores for the same organisations. The effectiveness and efficiency of the AI audit tool are determined by comparing their results with the manual audit.FindingsThis paper demonstrates the development of the FFE AI audit tool which led to 92% improved efficiency while being 95% effective compared to a human auditor.Practical implicationsThe publication of new financial and non-financial standards (such as ISO56002: IMSS) have implications for internal auditing (IA). The scope of IA must expand to include new standards while remaining efficient. Emerging technologies, such as AI help achieve this. Even though the use of AI in financial auditing is widely studied, it has not received similar attention in non-financial auditing. This paper develops a non-financial AI audit tool to audit an essential component of the IMSS, the FFE of innovation and determine its efficiency and effectiveness.Originality/valueThe study develops an FFE AI audit tool for the first time. The methodology used has practical and academic implications for the use of AI in non-financial auditing.

Co-design-based learning for entrepreneurs in the digital age

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to adapt the design-based learning (DBL) approach for entrepreneurship education. Having in mind the aim to improve the innovative thinking competence of nascent entrepreneurs that operate at the fuzzy front end of innovation, the research identifies key characteristics of the co-design-based learning (Co-DBL) approach for nurturing entrepreneurs in the digital age.Design/methodology/approachThe exploratory research is based on qualitative and quantitative analysis. To get feedback and to evaluate the progress of innovative thinking competence of Co-DBL participants, the pre- and post-co-design workshop surveys were administrated. The statistical analysis of the surveys was carried out to determine the effects of the Co-DBL.FindingsThe research has revealed key dimensions relevant to Co-DBL in entrepreneurial learning (features of the project, facilities for project activities, features of the teaching process, features of learning context and assessment) and found the corresponding characteristics. The results of the current study show the perspective of the suggested Co-DBL approach in entrepreneurial learning to improve creativity, analyticity, intuition and flexibility of thinking of nascent entrepreneurs.Originality/valueThis paper presents a new look at co-design that can be applied to entrepreneurship education to enhance innovative thinking, improve the ability of nascent entrepreneurs to identify and create opportunity and to tolerate ambiguity and conditions of uncertainty in the search and development of innovative solutions.

New Product Idea Selection in the Fuzzy Front End of Innovation: A Fuzzy Best-Worst Method and Group Decision-Making Process

New product development (NPD) is essential to most business organizations to create new values and protect existing values for maintaining high profitability and sustainability. However, the success of NPD projects is deemed to be difficult and challenging owing to high organizational complexity, uncertain business environment, and time-critical innovation. Under the smart manufacturing paradigm, NPD is an active research area to establish effective measures through the adoption of systematic approaches so as to facilitate idea management in the fuzzy front end for the product innovation. In this paper, the domain of new product idea selection is focused on and enhanced by means of the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach, in which multiple criteria and sub-criteria can be considered in the selection process. Among a number of MCDM approaches, the fuzzy set theory and best-worst method (BWM) are integrated as the fuzzy BWM in this study to structure the new product idea selection process under a group decision-making process. The hierarchy structure for the new product idea selection is also established to consider the perspectives of finance, marketing, engineering, manufacturing, and sustainability. Overall speaking, this study contributes to the field of NPD through overcoming the new product idea selection problem, while the group decision-making process is incorporated into the fuzzy BWM.

The benefits of interdisciplinary scenario-building for hybrid radio applications

In this paper, we make the case for building interdisciplinary scenarios, integrating technological, business and user perspective during the fuzzy front-end of innovation. We start from a living lab framework, underpinning the iterative process to integrate insights from all three perspectives within research projects. Then, we explain how the approach was applied within the HRADIO project11https://www.hradio.eu/. This EU funded project focuses on the development of hybrid radio applications. We demonstrate how the process of building interdisciplinary scenarios and the involvement of multiple perspectives to evaluate these scenarios, has enabled both strategic decision making (1) and improved the technical development process within the HRADIO project (2). The first focuses on the (lack of) interest in certain scenarios from a business, technology and/or user perspective, to explain: (a) how these thresholds can be overcome and (b) what the consequences are for the project. The latter explains how we moved from interdisciplinary scenarios to a first Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that could be tested in the first pilot phase, to prototypes to be tested in the second pilot phase. To validate the importance of the scenarios, we also explain how the scenarios are integrated into the exploitation timeline. Finally, and importantly, we address how the process of multidisciplinary scenario building and evaluation can be improved.

Towards circular business models: Identifying consumer needs based on the jobs-to-be-done theory

Non-renewable resources form one of the boundaries of our current linear-growth model. Moving from product-oriented to product-service systems (PSS)-based business models may contribute to the circularity of resource flows while strengthening the competitive advantage of organizations. Scholars have been studying the win-win potential of circular business models from a strategic business perspective for some time. However, methods for increasing consumer participation in circular economy (CE)-linked PSSs are yet to be studied intensively. This is particularly problematic because consumers play a significant and active role in the success of closing material loops. We sought to contribute to the closure of this research gap with a case study, in which we use a mixed-method approach inspired by the outcome-driven innovation (ODI) approach. ODI aims to detect innovation potential based on the job-to-be-done theory at the fuzzy front end of innovation. This indicates user-centric connection points for new value proposition development for circular business models. In our case study of the consumer electronics industry, we exemplify how insights about consumer needs along the lifecycle of a TV can be derived. We first interviewed a sample of consumers in order to qualitatively analyze and identify the problems they currently face when trying to solve an entertainment interruption. This revealed 30 consumer needs. In a second step, we evaluated these needs in a survey to quantify their potential according to the degree of importance and satisfaction associated with each. Our analysis revealed that 11 of the 30 needs are currently not well satisfied. These needs are linked as innovation opportunities to potential PSSs, providing a foundation for customer-centric value propositions design to foster the implementation of the CE. Our study not only advances the understanding of consumer need-orientation in CE literature, but also yields valuable contributions to the methodological repertoire for customer-centric innovation management in the CE context. Additionally, it outlines directions for further research on refining ODI for the purpose of connecting individual consumer needs with societal needs.

The SDG-Check: Guiding Open Innovation towards Sustainable Development Goals

The fuzzy front end of innovation is argued to be crucial for the success and sustainability impact of a final product. Indeed, it is a promising area of focus in efforts to achieve the United Nations' 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which provide a globally accepted framework for sustainability. However, the usability of the 17 goals and the large number of sub-goals represent barriers to innovation practitioners. Moreover, this early innovation stage proves to be a challenge for corporate practitioners and innovators, largely due to the concept's intangible, qualitative nature and the lack of data. To help overcome these barriers, this article proposes a four-stage approach for structuring the innovation process using an online tool called the SDG-Check, which help assess an innovator's sustainability orientation in the early phases of product and service development. It is a semi-quantitative tool to gather and combine assessments by experts involved in innovation processes with implications for the United Nations' SDGs. Furthermore, this article presents our first experiences in applying the SDG-Check based on three living lab innovation cases. The results indicate that the tools can support and inspire a dialogue with internal and external stakeholders with regards to sustainability considerations in the early design stages of product and service development.

Fuzzy front end of innovation: a dual theoretical rationale

PurposeThe uncertainties, ambiguities and unknown issues that characterize the beginning of a new product development project have led practitioners and scholars to coin the term “fuzzy front end” to refer to this seminal stage. The causes of many product failures can be traced back to this fuzzy front end. Despite a growing realization of its importance, the meaning of the term “front-end fuzziness” itself remains vague. A theory-based framework is not available to guide thinking and research on this important topic. The purpose of this paper is to create a conceptual framework for fuzzy front end.Design/methodology/approachThis paper applies Daft and Lengel’s (1986) theory of organizational information processing to create a framework for research on the fuzzy front end of product innovation. This framework is used to clarify the concept of front-end fuzziness and identify three sources of fuzziness in the project team’s task environment.FindingsContrary to the current literature, the authors argue that equivocality rather than uncertainty is the dominant cause of front-end fuzziness. This new conceptualization: appropriately broadens the concept of front-end fuzziness; identifies new problem areas; highlights the need for new solutions; and suggests the need to focus on team vision as a front-end deliverable.Practical implicationsThe previous literature used a single uncertainty reduction rationale for integrative mechanisms. Thus, it did not consider that the implementation might change from front end to downstream. The dual theoretical rationale suggests that integrative mechanisms can be implemented differently to focus either on uncertainty or equivocality reduction. In the front end, equivocality is the dominant issue and mechanisms should be implemented in ways that create a rich channel to identify issues and share perspectives. In downstream activities where the dominant issue is uncertainty reduction, mechanisms might be implemented in ways that provide greater quantities of information on known issues.Originality/valueThis new conceptualization of front-end fuzziness provides a better theoretical rationale for how integrative mechanisms enable a project team to work through the fuzziness it faces, creating a clear team vision that guides its downstream efforts.

Collaborative Research Project Networks

Many businesses seeking enhanced innovation have corporate research teams that engage in collaborative research projects (CRPs), with external entities such as universities, public organizations, or customers. Anecdotal evidence, however, suggests mixed outcomes of CRPs in terms of corporate research impact, which implies successful transfer of novel knowledge generated within CRPs to company-internal business networks to develop radically innovative products. We use the multiple regression quadratic assignment procedure (MRQAP) and meta-analysis to analyze six CRP networks. Our findings indicate that the network’s relational characteristics (tie strength) and structural characteristics (network range) are important determinants of knowledge transfer at the fuzzy front end of innovation.

REASONING IN THE FUZZY FRONT END OF INNOVATION: FRAMING THE PRODUCT DNA

Designing a remarkable product innovation is a difficult challenge, which businesses today are continuously striving to tackle. This challenge is particularly present in the fuzzy front end of innovation, where the main product concept, the DNA of the innovation, is determined. A main challenge in the fuzzy front end is the reasoning process: innovation teams are faced with open-ended, ill-defined problems, where they need to make decisions about an unknown future but have only incomplete, ambiguous and contradicting insights available. We study the reasoning of experts, how they frame to make sense of all the insights and create a basis for decision-making in relation to a new project. Based on case studies of five innovative products from various industries, we propose a Product DNA model for understanding the reasoning in the fuzzy front end of innovation. The Product DNA Model explains how experts reason and what direct their reasoning.

EDITORIAL

Designing a remarkable product innovation is a difficult challenge, which businesses today are continuously striving to tackle. This challenge is particularly present in the fuzzy front end of innovation, where the main product concept, the DNA of the innovation, is determined. A main challenge in the fuzzy front end is the reasoning process: innovation teams are faced with open-ended, ill-defined problems, where they need to make decisions about an unknown future but have only incomplete, ambiguous and contradicting insights available. We study the reasoning of experts, how they frame to make sense of all the insights and create a basis for decision-making in relation to a new project. Based on case studies of five innovative products from various industries, we propose a Product DNA model for understanding the reasoning in the fuzzy front end of innovation. The Product DNA Model explains how experts reason and what direct their reasoning.

A Model for the Development of Sustainable Innovations for the Early Phase of the Innovation Process

Current industrial development is faced by the global challenge to meet the continuously growing demand for capital and consumer goods in emerging countries while simultaneously ensuring a sustainable industrial growth in the social, environmental and economic dimension. By means of market dynamics of cooperation and competition in global value creation and knowledge networks, innovations geared towards sustainability can be essential drivers for realizing a sustainable development. The targeted development of new sustainable innovations is consequently a key activity in order to move towards sustainable industrial growth. This paper will describe a model for the development of sustainable innovations. The model focuses on idea generation in the early phase of the innovations process, addressing the fuzzy front end of innovation. In this context, specific goals and principles of sustainable development are integrated into a problem-solving approach. This integrated approach is subsequently used as a foundation for the targeted development of sustainable innovations in the frame of a workshop concept.

Science communication and innovation: zooming out for micro-level insights close to reality

Much of science communication is peer-to-peer communication in collaborative networks for innovation from the fuzzy front-end of innovation until the marketing back-end. Scientists and engineers at meetings tables talking about new developments. Or scientists and engineers in collaboration with industry and policy makers, discussing various scenarios for implementation of e.g. health care services. However, this focus on science communication 'within the action' of uncertain development of science and technology and its attached academic domains such as innovation studies, high-tech marketing and branding, is not often discussed in the science communication literature. Lacking these considerations at this micro-level communication, means we have an incomplete picture of the ways that discourses develop and are shaped by actors, particularly during the upstream phases of innovation.

Beyond listening: the distinct effects of proactive versus responsive customer orientation on the reduction of uncertainties at the fuzzy front end of innovation

The extent to which the intensity of R&D employees' interaction with market‐oriented employees, proactive customer orientation, and responsive customer orientation affect the ability to reduce product‐related uncertainties at the fuzzy front end of innovation was analyzed. They investigated 160 product innovation projects in various high‐tech industries and identified proactive customer orientation as an important moderator of the link between R&D employees' interaction with market‐oriented employees and the reduction of product‐related uncertainties at the fuzzy front end. They also found that responsive customer orientation diminishes the ability to reduce product‐related uncertainties at the fuzzy front end. The theoretical and managerial implications of the results are discussed.

Book Review: Management of the Fuzzy Front End of Innovation

This book review examines 'Management of the fuzzy front end of innovation' edited by Oliver Gassmann and Fiona Schweitzer. The inadequate management of the early innovation phase if commonly referred to as the fuzzy front end (FFE); empirical research suggests the FFE is essential to successful innovation, but management continues to have difficulty designing this stage. This book aims to address this issue by presenting practical explanations, tools and examples of how to manage and implement the FFE of the innovation process. The research draws upon a wide range of knowledge within the field of innovation management and includes contributions by key scholars and practitioners in accessible language. The integration of empirical research with practical case studies makes the book a unique and compelling read which achieves its primary objective of explaining the FFE and the impact its effective management can have on innovation outcomes.

Mental innovation space of Vietnamese agro-food firms

Purpose – Vietnamese agro-food firms are often small and have short value chains. They are facing increasing competition from multinationals to serve the consumers of the rising middle class. It is assumed that co-creation or open-innovation can be a competitive innovation strategy for the Vietnamese firms. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to understand whether the agro-food firms have the “mental space” or an according mindset to innovate with their customers. Design/methodology/approach – A three dimensional model of “mental innovation space” (MIS) was developed, comprising of the: focus of innovation, level of innovation and degree of collaboration. A total of 14 Vietnamese agro-food companies agreed to embark on a process of problem definition for innovation according to these three dimensions. This process creates a deeper understanding of the firms’ fuzzy front end of innovation and results in less hypothetical findings, compared with traditional interviews. Findings – The results show that t...

Управление созданием прорывных продуктовых инноваций в сформировавшейся компании

Situational approach in management and continuous experimentation becomes a style of doing business for creators of breakthrough new products and innovative start-up companies. A company that successfully started with a breakthrough product, and developed into successful structured business, after some time, would start to lose its ability to create breakthrough new products. Internal corporate procedures and business processes, including the process of creating a new product become more formalized. Exploratory type of works at the initial stage, full of uncertainties in the process of new product development, is poorly formalized and requires flexible approach in management. Creative chaos that was on a start-up stage and that feed teams with fresh ideas disappears. Fireplace for creativity fades. Loss of this competitiveness is a serious argument to develop new approaches to arrange process of creating new products in a mature stage of business development. In the article based on experience in new product development we explore this actual problem and propose a novel approach for the passage of the high uncertainty stage, called “the fuzzy front end of innovation”, to create innovative products in matured businesses.

Exploring Management of the Fuzzy Front End of Innovation in a Product Driven Startup Company

Exploring Management of the Fuzzy Front End of Innovation in a Product Driven Startup Company