A Hybrid Approach to the Study of Inter-Organization High Performance Teams

In a world of smart, connected objects, we offer five strategies for manufacturers still on the fence about how to approach this multi-trillion dollar opportunity.

There is an urgent need for policies to close the existing financing gap for civil infrastructure. However, identification of the desired scenarios for the closure of the financing gap is complex because there are many factors that affect investment in infrastructure.

Green buildings are a proposed holistic solution to reduce energy consumption while simultaneously improving an array of factors affecting the indoor quality of life for building occupants. However, green building performance varies and may not achieve intended design goals.

This paper codifies a form of expertise that is tailored to framing and addressing the classes of complex, multifaceted, multistake holder challenges affecting organizations and society, here termed 'major challenges'.

As an increasing number and proportion of engineers engage in endeavors that involve technical, socio-economic, and cultural complexity, there is likely an increased need for broader skill sets than those honed in typical engineering coursework. In particular, much of engineering education is focused on developing problem-solving skills in situations for which there is an accepted problem-solving paradigm.

The objective of this paper is to propose an analysis framework based on the System of Systems approach to overcome existing methodological problems in System of Innovation studies. The concept of System of Innovation has been an important focus of innovation policy studies over the last decade.

The pursuit of major innovations is often seen as a risky endeavor. However, there is a lower-risk way to commercialize certain types of high-impact innovations — by "viewing initial applications as “lily pads” that a company can reach before leaping to the next market."

Complex socio-technical challenges, often referred to as grand challenges or wicked problems, lack a robust method for their holistic framing. Current approaches to framing fall into two primary categories.

The competencies and outcomes of entrepreneurial activities spark the interest of many stakeholders across innovation ecosystems – governments, companies, entrepreneurs, and educational institutions alike.

A methodical, consumer-driven approach to cutting features, benefits—and costs

Systematically exploring alternative approaches to value creation can allow companies to find new opportunities for growth.

According to the National Academy of Engineering, innovations such as intelligent transportation systems, alternative fuels, smart grids, and financial innovations are critical to enhancing the resilience and sustainability of infrastructure systems. The key to expansion of infrastructure innovations is effective policymaking.

Innovation is a fountain of economic growth and prosperity. It’s the source of leadership in many arenas and the way you make an impact. In industry, innovation drives competitive advantage. In academia, it’s a basis of thought leadership and scholarly excellence. In the nonprofit sector, it holds the key to sustainable solutions to intractable problems, often referred to as Grand Challenges. Today, innovating is no longer simply an aspiration — it is an imperative.

Due to the growing demand for civil infrastructure, financial innovations are required to close the financing gap. However, a lack of theories has inhibited a complete understanding and, thus, creation and diffusion of financial innovation. A lack of theory about financial innovations in infrastructure is mainly due to the absence of a framework to conceptualize these innovations.

Building an engine that produces a steady stream of innovative growth businesses is difficult, but companies that are able to do it differentiate themselves from competitors.

As an increasing number and proportion of engineers engage in endeavors that involve technical, socio-economic, and cultural complexity, there is likely an increased need for broader skill sets than those honed in typical engineering coursework.

Gaps between cash outflows and inflows throughout the life cycle of construction projects can create extended periods of low cash availability for a construction contractor, jeopardizing the financial stability of the business. A number of researchers have therefore attempted to model cash availability at a project level. However, at a firm level, financial stability is more thoroughly examined as a function of the cash flows related to multiple projects.

Automated tools augment structured thinking in the divergent-convergent thought process towards Innovation Science.

Social innovators are working to address some of the most pressing challenges facing society --economic mobility, environmental resilience, community health, food insecurity, intergenerational poverty, and racial, social, and economic inequality. Rather than looking at each of these challenges in isolation, could a single innovative concept create a cascade of impact improving conditions across a multitude of vexing societal issues?

Self-organization--a characteristic of complex adaptive systems (CAS)--has been explored in organizational research, in management theory [Mihm et al. 2003; von Foerster 1984], firm internationalization [Chandra and Wilkinson 2017], organizational design [Clement and Puranam 2017], and strategic change [Foster 2015].

Problem specification is a key front-end step in the innovation process. This paper aims to introduce ‘purpose-context’ – a conceptual framework to systematically explore problem-specification across mapped contexts.

Ideas can come from anywhere. But that doesn’t mean managers can afford to rely on haphazard, hit-or-miss approaches to idea generation.

The world’s most pressing challenges are testing the limits of existing approaches to problem exploration, innovation, and design. Be it equitable provision of clean water (OECD 2012), creation of single-dose vaccines (Varmus et al. 2003), clean-energy agriculture (Ferguson 2014), or restored and improved urban infrastructure (NAE 2008), complex systems-level problems that broadly affect society are driven largely by the extraordinary growth in the human population and its demand for essential resources such as water, food, and energy, as well as the compounding implications that manifest as longer human lifespans increase encounters with formidable medical conditions.

This paper employs the theory of resilient complex adaptive systems (RCAS) to offer a versatile and universal foundation for the concept of a business model that facilitates connections between prior works while enabling future exploration with a common language.

The biggest bang for the innovation buck comes from finding ways to create new markets.

Not every company needs to build a digital platform for their industry, but doing so can generate enormous value for your firm and your customers. These five lessons will help you achieve an optimal IIoT platform strategy.