242 Pages 15 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    228 Pages 15 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Since the mid-1980s, the development of competitive strategies based on intensive innovation has deeply transformed the design of new products and services. Much has been written about new methods and organizations that are likely to develop economically competitive and creative capacities in companies. But much less has been written about transformation of work and identity of professionals involved in these transitions : engineers, industrial designers, researchers, professionals in marketing strategy and especially project managers. The work of “innovation professionals” is truly difficult to observe because of its very nature (intangible work done over a long period of time), its inaccessibility, and its status. The purpose of this book is to put forward a number of keys for understanding the ongoing dynamics for working professionals in the field of innovation.

    Examining reorganizations in both large-scale firms and start-ups, the authors explore diverse sectors such as hi-tech, consumer goods and equipment, chemistry, aeronautics as well as upstream companies working for subsidiaries and traditional small-scale production such. The result is to show a world of networks where a large-scale firm undertakes research in partnership with a start-up, develops its products with independent designers and involves upstream suppliers in its developments. Also analyzed are the industrial strategies, the organizational conditions of product conception, and the dynamics of the professional identities of the actors who are at the core of these transformations.

    This impressive and unique volume will be of interest to all those interested in innovation studies, new technology policy and management as well as engineers and designers themselves.

    Acknowledgments

     

    List of Abbreviations

     

    1. Introduction: The New Regimes of Design in Industry and Working Process Christophe Midler, Guy Minguet, Monique Vervaeke

     

    Part One: Constructing the Value of Innovation

     

    2. Innovation-Driven Competition and Design System Dynamics: The Case of Car Communication Systems Christophe Midler, Sylvain Lenfle

     

    3. From Watching the Markets to Making Trends: The Role of Industrial Designers in Competitive Strategies Monique Vervaeke

     

    4. Concurrent Exploration and Research Management: Case Study Featuring a Speciality Chemicals Company Lise Gastaldi, Christophe Midler

     

    5. Innovation Quest & Organization Dynamics in Start-Up: Linking the Cognitive and Social Dimensions in Start-Up Development  Philippe Silberzahn, Christophe Midler

     

    Part Two: Innovations, Training And Social Identities

     

    6. Engineering In Torment: Anomy or the Emergence of a Model Guy Minguet, Florence Osty

     

    7. What Social Model Should Apply to Industrial Research? Analyzing Changes in Human Resources Management in a Speciality Chemicals Company Lise Gastaldi

     

    8. Autopsy of the Internet Bubble: A Managerial Revolution or Capitalizing on Employees’ Emotions (France 1998-2003) Emmanuelle Savignac, Anne-Marie Waser

     

    9. Redynamizing Trades: A Case Study in Aeronautic Industry  Philippe Lefebvre, Pascal Roos, Jean-Claude Sardas

     List of Editors

     

     List of Contributors

     

     References

     

    Index

    Biography

    Christophe Midler, Research Director at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - National centre for scientific research, (CNRS), director of the Ecole Polytechnique’s Centre de Recherche en Gestion (CRG-Management Research Center) and Professor chair de Management de l’innovation, Ecole Polytechnique.

    Guy Minguet, Professor of sociology, Deputy Head for Research of Human and Social Sciences department, Ecole des Mines de Nantes.

    Monique Vervaeke, Sociologist, Researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire Maurice Halbwachs, École Normale supérieure, Paris.

    'Managers and policymakers have been placing increasing emphasis on the importance of innovation and design.  But dynamic innovation and good design do not just happen: they are processes that are organised in companies and networks, and that are undertaken by specialised professionals.  This book breaks new ground by using a range of case and sectoral studies to show how these processes are changing and what this means for the identities, work and practices of the professionals involved.  It will be of interest to those working or planning to work in R&D, design and engineering, and to those who need to manage and plan for innovation and design.' Ian Miles (University of Manchester, UK)