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Teaching the Fuzzy Front End of Innovation: Experimenting with Team Learning and Cross‐Organizational Integration
Author(s) -
Martinsuo Miia
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
creativity and innovation management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1467-8691
pISSN - 0963-1690
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8691.2009.00526.x
Subject(s) - experiential learning , front and back ends , knowledge management , front (military) , business simulation , team management , team composition , front cover , new product development , team effectiveness , product (mathematics) , plan (archaeology) , computer science , business , psychology , marketing , mathematics education , engineering , mathematics , mechanical engineering , cover (algebra) , geometry , archaeology , history , operating system
How can the extremely uncertain front end of innovation – managing the fuzzy front end – be taught to graduate students? This paper describes and analyses experiments with experiential, problem‐based learning focused on the front end of innovation. The focus is on the learning and cross‐organizational integration of student teams; factors that have been identified as central to the success of teams involved in the front end of innovation. An experiential course, ‘From an idea to a business plan in product development’, was developed in conjunction with an actual company, and piloted with four student groups in 2007 and 2008. Data on this novel course were collected through participant observation, team self‐assessment and questionnaires. This paper reports favourable results for the effectiveness of the course design; it discusses the impact of team size and cross‐organizational team composition on team performance; and identifies the implications for teaching the front end of innovation.