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Nurturing innovation in industrial design: Quantifying innovation propensity in industrial design by means of a novel innovation trait index. / Ian Martin Walsh

Swansea University Author: Ian Martin Walsh

Abstract

This thesis describes the outcomes achieved by an industrial design school that has for a decade directed the energies of its students and Faculty to the question of innovation and the generation of intellectual property. Developing a culture of innovation is no easy task. Firstly, there has to be a...

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Published: 2008
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42589
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Abstract: This thesis describes the outcomes achieved by an industrial design school that has for a decade directed the energies of its students and Faculty to the question of innovation and the generation of intellectual property. Developing a culture of innovation is no easy task. Firstly, there has to be a desire within the organisation to be innovative; secondly, there is the problem of how to identify what constitutes innovation; and finally one has to combat the natural tendency toward risk aversion. Successful industrial design should be, by its very nature, innovative. Therefore, generating a culture of innovation is a vital requirement in the development of a successful industrial designer. Do we know how to stimulate, incubate and nurture innovation? What are the factors that give rise to an innovative mindset? How can this culture of innovation be quantified? The research was conducted using the grounded theory paradigm involving three distinct phases supported by detailed study of the established literature. Theory was developed by comparing innovation outcomes and by alternating data collection and data analysis. The study examined the effect on innovation propensity resulting from an iterative development of pedagogy. Strategies were developed which led to the creation of a distinctive pedagogical model for the promotion and nurture of innovation in industrial design. The emerging theory is substantive in that it is developed for a particular area of inquiry in a specific context. A statistical test of project innovation was developed and a psychometric test for the evaluation of innovation propensity employed. The objective of the thesis is threefold. Firstly, it demonstrates that environment, culture and mindset affect the innovativeness of the industrial designer; secondly, it presents a blueprint for innovation pedagogy in industrial design and finally, it provides a verifiable psychometric measurement tool of innovativeness in industrial design.
Keywords: Industrial engineering.;Design.
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering

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