Design sprint for SMEs: an organizational taxonomy based on configuration theory
- 30 June 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Emerald in Management Decision
- Vol. 58 (9), 1803-1817
- https://doi.org/10.1108/md-10-2019-1501
Abstract
Design approaches to innovation are booming in both the academic and practitioner worlds. Tech giants are proposing different methodologies to develop technological innovation leveraging design principles, for example, Amazon with working backward and Google with Design Sprint. However, little is known on the role of these methodologies in managing the knowledge translation among different stakeholders. This paper aims to investigate how Design Sprint approaches can face digital challenges and foster collaborations. Through interviews and participatory observations of ten exploratory cases of SME adoption of the Design Sprint methodology, data were collected, organized, clustered and then validated. Furthermore, by adopting a configuration theory perspective, the data have been processed to contribute to the emergence of two Design Sprint organizational taxonomy. Competences, type of design challenge and the process followed emerge from the cases as key drivers of different Design Sprint configurations. Moreover, the configuration theory helped in identifying two Design Sprint taxonomies named Willing and Wondering configurations. Finally, the paper provides managers with practical guidelines on how to leverage these configurations to make this approach more effective for SMEs and how this method helps the knowledge translation. The value and originality of the paper are in defining Design Sprint from a theoretical point of view and offering practical guidelines on how to adapt it to the particular context of collaborative digital environments of SMEs. Moreover, it contributes to enlarging the relevance of configurational theory in the creative industries.Keywords
This publication has 39 references indexed in Scilit:
- Translation mechanisms in socio-technical niches: a case study of Dutch river managementTechnology Analysis & Strategic Management, 2011
- Collaborative Strategies in Design-intensive Industries: Knowledge Diversity and InnovationLong Range Planning, 2010
- Performance Configurations over Time: Implications for Growth– and Profit–Oriented StrategiesEntrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2009
- How Award‐Winning SMEs Manage the Barriers to InnovationCreativity and Innovation Management, 2007
- ORGANIZATIONAL CONFIGURATIONS AND PERFORMANCE: A COMPARISON OF THEORETICAL APPROACHES.The Academy of Management Journal, 1993
- CONFIGURATIONAL APPROACHES TO ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS.The Academy of Management Journal, 1993
- What Is Strategy's Distinctive Competence?Journal of Management, 1991
- The Genesis of ConfigurationAcademy of Management Review, 1987
- The Genesis of ConfigurationAcademy of Management Review, 1987
- Organizing for InnovationCalifornia Management Review, 1986