سازماندهی برای نوآوری در یک پروژه توسعه محصول : ترکیبی از روش های ابتکاری و نتیجه گرای کارکردن - مطالعه موردی

This case study investigates how leadership and management support creativity and innovation in the operative work of a product development project team. The aim of the study was to investigate factors that support the generation of new and innovative ideas as well as the efficient evaluation and implementation of ideas into a product. The aim was also to enhance the understanding of innovation when a project is characterized by pressure in terms of tight schedules, the need for progress, and a shortage of competencies. The investigated project provides an example of how innovation in a PD project benefits from pressure. The result shows how the following support a project team’s performance and enhance innovation: a clear vision – accompanied by freedom in the realization of that vision, transparency in the product architecture, enhanced communication and problem ownership. The results show also the interplay between leadership skills, individual characteristics (such as competence, attitude and motivation) and project characteristics (such as sense of urgency and a unique product).

This paper presents a study that investigates how leadership and management support creativity and innovation in the operative work of a project team within a product development (PD) project. The leading idea in this paper is that successful projects of this type depend on the generation and implementation of new ideas in a project and on opportunities for explorative work. The case presented provides an unusual example of how a project can achieve creative solutions and innovations and at the same time maintain a strong orientation toward results and progress. The case is an example of how new knowledge and solutions were developed and managed during the execution phases. Many companies treat innovation as an issue for the early phases of a project, separate from execution phases. This is an approach in accordance with the principles of established linear project models in new product development [1]. However, in this case creativity and innovation were critical to maintain throughout the whole PD project for developing new knowledge and testing new solutions. Exploitation and explorations were managed simultaneously and the creative processes were stimulated while at the same time they were held “within the box”. A flexible organization, with high levels of freedom and risk taking, is commonly proposed as a way to support innovation. However, not only is that difficult to achieve, modifications are needed for the PD project context. Project organizations face a tough but necessary challenge: to have projects that run efficiently according to plan but that still leave room for exploration and the creation of new knowledge. Some researchers argue that too much formalization can be detrimental for innovation [2] and [3]. The study presented in this paper was made with the purpose of investigating how organizational and product-related factors encourage or hinder creativity and innovation in a PD project team.

This study provides advice on and an example of how the organizing and management of a project can support creativity and innovation and at the same time live up to strong requirements on progress and keeping time plans and budget. Flexibility in plans enables openness to new technical solutions and ideas throughout a project. This study further claim that there is not necessarily a contradiction between ways of working that support innovation and that has an orientation toward results and progress and sense of urgency. The factors presented in the study allow the project and project members to continuously adjust and improvise on the specific content of the project. These factors further support the development of new knowledge and insights both among project members and at a project level. They also provide support for keeping a focus on progress and for contributing to the final goal of the project—the new product. The leadership within projects is crucial to facilitate the successful implementation of these factors. The four factors and advice are presented below: • Implement problem ownership among project members. The responsibility must be extended to include not only to find solutions to technical problems but also to make sure that they are implemented within the final product or system. This responsibility is intimately related to motivational factors and adequate recruitment. • Seek transparency in the product architecture. This can serve not only as a planning tool, allowing less detail, but also as a motivational factor to be able to see how individual efforts fits into the overall technical system. • Use clear visions and goals with freedom in the realization of that vision. Visions, goals and expectations on deliveries should be made clear to everyone by project management but the interpretation and transformation of those into appropriate technical solutions should be at sole discretion and responsibility of the project members. • Maintain good communication. Both formal as well as informal means should be introduced by project management such as physical location, meetings and enabling arenas for spontaneous interaction.