Developing the Business Model Canvas Tool for Managing Smart Textile Innovation Teams.

Transcription

1 Developing the Business Model Canvas Tool for Managing Smart Textile Innovation Teams. Sarah WALKER a, Sarah KETTLEY b and Tina DOWNES c a Nottingham Trent University; b Nottingham Trent University; c Nottingham Trent University Workshop Number: 179 Summary This workshop aims to reflect on and share between participants the application of the Business Model Canvas (BMC) tool to support interdisciplinary thinking in team- based projects. This workshop builds upon a research project titled: Think, Feel, Do: Meaning Making of Entangled Smart Textiles Teams which aims to develop tools to support team based projects that involve product- service system processes using smart textiles. The BMC tool is an organisational method used in business and entrepreneurial contexts to envisaged future direction, activities and possible challenges. The visual format created by Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010) employs a simple and effective strategy to organising thoughts and reflections on conceptual business ideas. The research project has identified that its approach can be easily adapted to fit with other contexts of use namely to support management in team- based projects. In this workshop, participants will be encouraged to develop context specific questions in relation to the BMC tool and will be asked to complete in multidisciplinary groups a short brief to re- configure the tool to comply with team criteria. The outcome of the workshop will include a presentation of results and future guidelines which will contribute to design management with an organisational tool used in industry, bridging the dichotomy between research and industry and adding a new context for resource in the shape of smart textiles innovation. Keywords: Business Model Canvas; Product- Service System Processes; Smart Textiles Innovation; Team Management Tools. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

2 Content Workshop Purpose and Aim This workshop aims to develop the business model canvas (BMC) tool to support team based projects involving product service system processes for smart textiles innovation. Objective (1): Discuss and reflect on the purpose and aim of the Business Model Canvas tool according to its transferability to supporting team based activities and projects. Objective (2): Generate a team to develop a set of context specific questions to be addressed in the re- design of the Business Model Canvas tool. Objective (3): Deploy a team strategy to re- designing the Business Model Canvas tools using available workshop materials and improvisation as a technique to changing the tool. Objective (4): Present to the rest of the workshop group initial findings and future developments. Figure 1 An example of the Business Model Canvas tool created by Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010) taken from diytoolkit.org. Theoretical Relation Smart textiles innovation relies on several factors to be successful. One major contributing factor is the need for collaboration to happen between different stakeholders (Ten Bhömer et al. 2013) Stakeholders in a team- based smart textiles projects involve practitioners from several disciplines, service users and industry partners (Glazzard et al.

3 2015). The complexity of this configuration requires considerable management that employs human- centred principles, whereas organisational skills are too required. Whilst project teams are mainly interdisciplinary, a lack of joint- up thinking and clear communication channels inevitably restrict the innovation process. This may limit smart textiles reaching new markets such as wearables innovation (Page, 2015; Dunne, 2010). Workshop Approach A need for guidelines, orientation and tools are required to manage existing smart textile teams. Team productivity relies on availability of tools to support innovation, thinking and creativity (Von Stamm, 2008). However, few examples are reported upon within design management that involve smart textiles. Sander s framework for co- design suggests a direction in which to shape tools to fit requirements of teams with a number of people with different backgrounds. Moreover, key stages involved in reflexive knowledge (Etherington, 2004) are also important to consider towards enhancing reflective thinking which leads to individual growth. This framework will be used to achieve the workshop aim of developing the Business Model Canvas tool. Workshop Schedule Table 1 Proposed schedule of workshop (NB: times may be subject to change). Item Activity Time Description 1. Arrival and Welcome 2. Workshop Overview Group discussion Group Project Group Presentations 6. Workshop Round- up Introductions: 20 second introduction by each participant. Context: Workshop purpose and aim, theoretical framework and timetable of activities. Workshop Tool: Business Model Canvas Tool. Workshop Brief: Develop the Business Model Canvas tool in teams. Workshop Outcomes: Present in teams the results of your process. Future Workshops: Final thoughts and recommendations for future workshops End of Workshop Workshop Capture Documentation of the workshop will be captured using the following data capture techniques for future analysis and the development of the workshop report. Pre and post feedback forms for workshop evaluation and future recommendations. Audio recording of workshop discussions and activities. Photography of group work outcomes, process and workshop space and materials. Observation notes from the workshop facilitator. All participants will be informed of the ethical guidelines to use of data from the workshop before it commences.

4 Shared Workshop Outcomes The facilitators would like to advertise shared workshop outcomes to continue the conference theme of research perspectives by providing access to workshop data. The platform for sharing will be decided in agreement between the workshop facilitator, participants and conference organisers. Profile of Participants This workshop is open to a number of design practitioners currently pursuing interdisciplinary research in multidisciplinary teams. Current experience in design management in industry is welcomed but not essential as the workshop aims to foster a cross- disciplinary exchange in skills, knowledge and levels of expertise amongst a diverse group of people. Design practitioners, facilitators and managers currently positioned in new product development and product service system processes are also welcome as this workshop aims to provide tools to support management of complex design issues. Experience in smart textiles management is not required, however for participants joining this workshop this context will introduce a new dimension to learning how to adapt management knowledge to specific types of teams operating in a rapidly evolving discipline. Workshop Limit 9-12 Take- Aways for the Participants Understand the Business Model Canvas tool and Application. Identify opportunities and value proposition for the Business Model Canvas tool for Design Management. Develop the Business Model Canvas tool for Design Management contexts. Demonstrate the use of the Business Model Canvas tool for future Design Management scenarios. Results and Reflection Adapting the BMC tool in this specific workshop context will generate potentially different types of outcomes that can be shared and discussed. This workshop intends to introduce a sense of business orientated thinking supported through a design related activity. In this workshop results intend to include new formats of the BMC tool to be used for a specific context for managing team based projects. Guidelines for use, will also be included in the results of the workshop along with potential future direction of where and how the BMC tool can be adapted to other scenarios. Finally, as workshop participants, the development of new roles in accordance to this tool can be also discussed as part of the final results and perhaps also responsibilities of that role when it comes to implementing it as a strategy in teams. The results of this workshop can support the development of cross- disciplinary relationships, management criteria for design managers to enable healthy stakeholder relationships in teams and the use of tools to implement in practice. Acknowledgements: The first author of this workshop would like to extend their gratitude to Nottingham Trent University and the Vice- Chancellor PhD

5 Award given to fund the three year research project. Finally, to the second and third author s as supervisors to the first author s research project and the EPSRC project An Internet of Soft Things (EP/L023601/1) References DIY Development, Impact and You: Practical Tools to Trigger and Support Social Innovation. (NO DATE). I want to develop a clear plan on how to grow my idea into something bigger: BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS. Retrieved 24 April 2017 from model- canvas/ Dunne, L. (2010). Smart clothing in practice: key design barriers to commercialization. Fashion practice, 2(1), pp Etherington, K. (2004). Becoming a reflexive researcher: Using our selves in research. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Glazzard, M., Kettley, R., Kettley, S., Walker, S., Lucas, R., & Bates, M. (2015). Facilitating a non- judgemental skills based co- design environment. Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Design4Health, Sheffield. Osterwalder, A. and Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation: a handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Page, T. (2015). A Forecast of the Adoption of Wearable Technology. International Journal of Technology Diffusion (IJTD), 6(2), pp Sanders, E.B.N. (2006). Scaffolds for building everyday creativity. Design for effective communications: Creating Contexts for Clarity and Meaning, pp Ten Bhömer, M., Tomico, O., Kleinsmann, M., Kuusk, K. and Wensveen, S. (2013). Designing Smart Textile Services through value networks; team mental models and shared ownership. In Service Design Conference 2012 Conference Proceedings Co- Creating Services: The 3rd Service Design and Service Innovation Conference, Espoo,Finland. Von Stamm, B. (2008). Managing innovation, design and creativity. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. About the Workshop Facilitators Sarah Walker is a PhD candidate at Nottingham Trent University and is currently pursuing a project on developing tools to support team based interaction in smart textiles. Sarah intends to contribute to design management with her process- driven tools to promote sustainability and innovation in team based practice. sarah.walker@ntu.ac.uk