Mickaël Gardoni

Macro process of knowledge management for continuous innovation

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to explore the mechanisms of knowledge management (KM) for innovation and provide an approach for enterprises to leverage KM activities into continuous innovation.Design/methodology/approach – By reviewing the literature from multidisciplinary fields, the concepts of knowledge, KM and innovation are investigated. The physical, human and technological perspectives of KM are distinguished with the identification of two core activities for innovation: knowledge creation and knowledge usage. Then an essential requirement for continuous innovation – an internalization phase – is defined. The systems thinking and human‐centered perspectives are adopted for providing a comprehensive understanding about the mechanisms of KM for innovation.Findings – A networking process of continuous innovation based on KM is proposed by incorporating the phase of internalization. Three sources of organizational knowledge assets in innovation are identified. Then, based on the two core ac...

Fostering continuous innovation in design with an integrated knowledge management approach

In the global competition, companies are propelled by an immense pressure to innovate. The trend to produce more new knowledge-intensive products or services and the rapid progress of information technologies arouse huge interest on knowledge management for innovation. However the strategy of knowledge management is not widely adopted for innovation in industries due to a lack of an effective approach of their integration. This study aims to help the designers to innovate more efficiently based on an integrated approach of knowledge management. Based on this integrated approach, a prototype of distributed knowledge management system for innovation is developed. An industrial application is presented and its initial results indicate the applicability of the approach and the prototype in practice.

LA ESTRATEGIA DE CREATIVIDAD SISTEMÁTICA TRIZ CON EQUIPOS MULTIDISCIPLINARES DE DISEÑO DE PRODUCTO

ABSTRACT The systematic creative processes and the evaluation of their results are essential to support the innovative capability of enterprises. There are few studies in the literature on cre-ativity in multidisciplinary groups us- ing systematic techniques such as TRIZ. This article presents the results of a multidisciplinary lab experiment with TRIZ aimed at assessing the Creative Process and the Creative Product. Final-year Industrial Design and Engineering students participated in the study. The Analytic Hierarchy Process, AHP, was used for the mea- surement of Creative Product. Results showed that the work of multi-disciplinary teams yields better results in the generation of ideas as regards their Quality, Novelty and Variety, that the inadequate analysis of a problem is a limitation to the Variety of the proposals and that, because of its approach to the task, the use of TRIZ favours the creative process in multidisciplinary teams. Keywords: systematic creativity, TRIZ, multidisciplinary teams.

Knowledge capitalisation based on textual and graphical semi-structured and non-structured information: case study in an industrial research centre at EADS

The aim of an industrial research centre is to produce knowledge to answer the requirements of operational units. So the constraints of cost, delay and quality also apply to research activities. Consequently, industrial research centres need to be rationalized, including the design and engineering system departments. They have to optimise internal and external knowledge flows. To this end, after describing knowledge and information typologies in engineering activities, a knowledge management system is proposed. The goal is to support: (1) semi-structured information (e.g. reports, journal articles, etc.) thanks to the ANITA tool functions, which are based on attributing points of view and annotations to documents but also to document zones, and (2) non-structured information, one of the important aspects of research activities that concerns common resolution of research problems within project teams. In the latter context, the MICA approach intends to support exchange of technical messages (dialogues) and to capitalise relevant knowledge. For both semi-structured information and non-structured information, respectively addressed by the ANITA and the MICA approaches, prototype tools have been developed and evaluated, primarily to feed back design departments with manufacturing knowledge in the EADS industrial environment.

SOFTWARE FRAMEWORK FOR THE APPROACH: COMPUTER AIDED SAFETY INTEGRATION IN DESIGN PROCESS (CASID)

Nowadays, safety is often integrated at too late a stage in the design process of complex systems, such as machines or production lines. In most cases, this integration is made on an individual basis without any systematic method. Moreover, there are very few computer-aided software packages that allow the integration of safety aspects into the design process. In this paper, we present propositions of a model working situation using (UML).1 This model is implemented by prototype software called Computer Aided Safety Integration in Design process (CASID). The CASID approach is founded on a database in which all previous data generated by the designer using CASID is stored; furthermore, the software allows communication between designers in order to solve safety problems.

The challenges facing corporate universities in dealing with open innovation

Purpose – This paper aims to illustrate the quick rise in the popularity of corporate universities since the 1990s. Because knowledge management is becoming imperative to the survival and growth of firms in most industries, better management of corporate universities is becoming more and more critical. The purpose of this paper is to analyze three objectives: Why invest in corporate universities? Which model to adopt? and What are the key challenges facing corporate universities in dealing with the adoption of an open innovation approach? Design/methodology/approach – The article provides a general review of corporate universities dealing with open innovation by using a creative synthesis. Findings – This paper analyzes the challenges involved in the development of corporate universities and examines how they can deal with open innovation. While few corporate universities have a real strategic role, several initiatives have failed or have been seriously compromised. To create competitive advantages throug...

An information system to support problems definition based on technological frames and organisational routines

The common technical problems definition (CTPD) during the first stages of collaborative process between small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and academic research organisations is influenced by different cognitive frameworks. Indeed, each partner has his own individual cognitive frame and mostly interested only in his own objectives. In this context, a perspective of convergence of partners during interaction could be facilitated by a common technological frame, based on the practices, confrontation and combination of partial agreements. In this article, the authors discuss an approach for supporting collaborative activities to build common technical problem definition. This system intends to model the common structure of the SME and research organisations as a learning process to support the relationship and to search ways to generate collaborative knowledge.

Managing Knowledge Needs during New Product Lifecycle Design on Quick-term Project Development QPD: Case Study of 24 Hours of Innovation – ETS Montreal

The research study analyzed the strategies used to managing knowledge during the definition of a new product, specifically, the conceptualization stage of preliminary product definition. This study analyzed knowledge needs and some performance conditions that R&D teams had to deal with within the context of QPD. The goal of this study was to understand the social and ICT factors that intervene during the process of product definition. A modified Benefit-Tools-Organization-Process-People (BTOPP) framework was used to describe the people, tools, processes and organization of R&D teams during the International Competition of “24 hours of innovation”. Results show that teams require a wide range of ICTs and a flexible knowledge support system.

Knowledge Management and Big Data: Opportunities and Challenges for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)

Whenever a new technology is made available, it is worth finding possible uses in different domains. The advancement of information technologies now enables a wealth of information to be digitally collected and exploited for knowledge management and reused for further knowledge creation. Big data enables organizations to capitalize on large amounts of data by bringing together different sources of information to find trends and knowledge that are only visible with large amounts of data. This knowledge can then be applied for knowledge exploration, exploitation and decision making.

A Conceptual Model to Assess KM and Innovation Projects: A Need for an Unified Framework

Firm performance required numerous projects like total quality, reengineering of innovation and knowledge processes, rationalization projects. Their respective results and impacts are assessed through performance models or frameworks which are rarely combined although managers could benefit from integrated and coherent models, mainly for innovation and KM (Knowledge Management). Models for measuring innovation and KM performance are new and concern mainly large companies. They have almost all been developed relying on input/output frameworks. The processes generating performance are not thoroughly taking in account. Drawing upon a literature review and a theoretical study, this paper contribution is based on an integrated conceptual model combining the value innovation chain of Hansen and Birkinshaw (2007) [1], and the SECI KM model of Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) [2], to build an integrated KM-innovation framework which can help to assess KM projects and innovation projects in different types of organizations.