Exploring the role of outsider interpreters in the development of design-driven innovations

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Please cite this article as:

Morillo M, Dell’Era C and Verganti R (2015).

Exploring the Role of “Outsider” Interpreters in the Development of Design-Driven Innovations.

International Journal of Technology and Intelligence Planning, Vol. 10, No. 3/4. (DOI: 10.1504/IJTIP.2015.070849)

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Marta Morillo1_{, Claudio Dell’Era}2_{, Roberto Verganti}3

1,2,3 _{Politecnico di Milano, Italy}

Via Lambruschini, 4B (Building 26/B) - 20156 Milano, Italy Mob: +39.345.430.7421

Fax:+39.02.2399.4083 [email protected]

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ABSTRACT

The growing attention to design as a strategic asset has recently triggered interest from scholars and executives in exploring the link between design, technology and management. Design-driven Innovation proposes the generation of new meanings as a main source for innovation addressing the symbolic and emotional value of products, as the result of a collaborative research process, where different actors within an established network of interpreters exchange information and visions. Although the importance of finding new collaborations is addressed in (design-driven) innovation literature, there is little research on how firms manage new partnerships, in particular, interpreters with a significantly different profile from the ones in their existing network. This paper investigates the collaborative practices of an international leading furniture manufacturer with an “outsider” interpreter. The findings reveal that collaborating with “outsider” partners strongly affects the formation of the network of interpreters, the role that the “outsider” plays in innovation, and the manner in which the company manages the collaboration. The study suggests that a decentralized model of the interpreter network better suits the case of outsider partners. Although the findings are representative of our specific case, we believe they are relevant enough in the radical design-driven innovation area where the firm under study is considered a referent, as well as to the open innovation domain. Additional research in other industrial contexts will contribute to further elucidating the implications of collaborating with outsiders in the development of design-driven innovations.

Keywords: Design-Driven Innovation, Collaborative Innovation, Collaboration with Interpreters

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1. INTRODUCTION

In the era of competitiveness and globalization, innovation is regarded as an essential driving force for business success and sustained economic growth. Several scholars suggest that radical innovation is a core source for a sustained competitive advantage and the achievement of long-term innovation success (Christensen, 1997; Garcia and Calantone, 2002; von Stamm, 2003). While the conventional view of radical innovation mostly takes the lens of technology, there is a consensus among scholars on the idea that a novel technology may not suffice to radically innovate, highlighting the importance of exploring new dimensions and drivers of innovation (Dosi, 1982; Twiss, 1982; Christensen, 1997; Kim and Mauborgne, 2004 and 2005; Verganti, 2009). Design has recently attracted substantial attention among practitioners and scholars as a source of innovation. In contemporary business and academia, design is increasingly viewed as an important strategic asset. Specifically, the last decade has witnessed an increased interest for the role of design to innovation in management and organization studies. Initially, management scholars contributed to this debate by proposing research in specialized journals (e.g., Dumas and Mintzberg, 1989 and 1991; Verganti, 2003); more recent works have been published in journals of a more general orientation (e.g., Hargadon and Sutton, 1997; Boland and Collopy, 2004; Rindova and Petkova, 2007; Verganti, 2006, 2009 and 2011; Michlewski, 2008). This growing attention to design has led scholars and executives to investigate the links among design, technology and competitive advantage. The Design-Driven Innovation literature proposes ‘meanings’ as an essential element for innovation (Verganti, 2009). This literature stream addresses the emotional and socio-cultural connection to people’s values rather than the traditional perspective of satisfying the operative needs of customers (Dell’Era and Verganti, 2007). This emotional dimension of innovation relates to previous design research from major scholars such Klaus Krippendorf and John Heskett, who state that design is concerned with making things more meaningful:

“The etymology of design goes back to the Latin de + signare and means making something, distinguishing it by a sign, giving it significance, designating its relation to other things, owners, users or gods. Based on this

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original meaning, one could say: design is making sense (of things).” (Krippendorff, 1989).

“Design, can be defined as the human capacity to shape and make our environment in ways without precedent in nature, to serve our needs and give meaning to our lives.” (Heskett, 2002)

Design is the activity through which we innovate the meaning of things. Using design as a driver of innovation implies a movement from the “what” of a product (its features) to the “why”; in other words, design-driven innovation is about the reason, purpose, and why people buy and use things (Verganti, 2009).

The development of design-driven innovations requires the adoption of a broader perspective in analyzing the innovation scope. Every company is surrounded by several agents (firms in other industries that target the same users, suppliers of new technologies, researchers, designers, artists, etc.) who share complementary market interests, face similar innovation concerns, or deal with the same prospect customers. In conducting research about how people ascribe meaning to objects, they must exchange information on scenarios, test the robustness of their assumptions, and discuss their own visions with several actors that Verganti (2009) name interpreters. The knowledge about meanings is diffused within their external environment; they are immersed into a collective research laboratory, where interpreters make their own investigations and are engaged in a continuous mutual discourse (Verganti and Dell'Era, 2013). Consequently, the development of design-driven innovations is significantly based on a collaborative understanding of innovation, where ‘interpreters’ become the strategic assets in the ‘design discourse’: a continuous dialogue about socio-cultural changes, product meanings or patterns of consumption (Dell’Era, Verganti, 2011) that enables an open approach to the development of innovations.

The paper aims to investigate the challenges a design-driven company faces in collaborating with a new interpreter, especially when her/his profile and attitude are significantly different from the common interpreters in their network. We consider “outsider” interpreters the partners whose competences lie far from what the company is used to interacting with, and with whom the firm (apparently) do not share common interests or network linkages, neither target the same customers. The study identifies the key practices directly affected by this new type of collaborations, thus providing guidance on specific elements design-driven companies should pay attention to when

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developing innovations with ‘outsider interpereters’, which is not yet fully explored in design-driven innovation literature. From an empirical point of view, the paper explores the managerial practices adopted in the collaboration between Cassina, a leading Italian furniture manufacturer that collaborates with several well-known external designers (e.g., Philippe Starck, Mario Bellini, Zaha Hadid, and Konstantin Grcic) and that interprets design as a core asset, and the “outsider” interpreter Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA), a studio that investigates the impact of digital technologies on architecture, planning and design and that approached the furniture industry through the collaboration with Cassina. The paper contributes to Open Innovation research with empirical data on the area of low-tech, small and mid-sized organizations, a trend identified in literature as emerging –still under-researched- areas within the open innovation paradigm (Gassmann, Enkel and Chesbourg, 2010).

The structure of this paper is as follows: The next section summarizes the theoretical background exploring two main topics: design-driven innovation and the role of interpreters. The third section describes the research methodology, providing additional details about the specific research objectives and the empirical setting. The fourth section describes and discusses the empirical results. Finally, conclusions and avenues for future research are outlined.

2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

As previously mentioned, the theoretical background explores two main streams: first, we summarize the main characteristics of design-driven innovation, to clarify its peculiarities in comparison with other innovation categories; then, we focus on the role of interpreters considering the crucial role that knowledge and ideas from outside the organization play in the development of design-driven innovations in particular, and other “open” models of innovation in general, as stated by Chesbrough (2003), West (2013) Pisano and Verganti (2008) or Trott and Hartmann (2009).

2.1 DESIGN-DRIVEN INNOVATION: RADICAL INNOVATIONOF MEANINGS

The strategic use of design has demonstrated a significant impact on innovation excellence and businesses growth (Design Council, 2005 and 2007; DTI, 2005;

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Petersen, 2011; Tischler, 2011; Kootstra, 2009; Verganti, 2009). The increasing relevance of design to innovation is recognized by scholars and practitioners (Von Stamm, 2003; Tether, 2005; Brown 2008; Verganti, 2009, Lockwood, 2010). Although design thinking (Brown, 2008 and 2009; Martin, 2009) has recently entered the mainstream of business and management making the role of design to business and innovation being increasingly recognized among practitioners, scholars have been investigating the field of design management for many years. In fact, since the seventies, the designer’s manner of working has been studied by academics (Johansson et al, 2013). For several years, designers have explored new avenues to innovation by repositioning design in different frameworks which, as Buchanan (1992) states, leads to innovation. Verganti (2009) places design in the context of meanings and semiotics. Additionally, Krippendorff (1989) and Heskett (2002) interpret design-driven innovation as the innovation of the reason, purpose, and why people buy and use things. This emergent literature stream proposes the creation of new meanings as a main source for radical innovation. It relies on the success of design-intense firms in proposing radical changes in socio-cultural models by creating products that change the way people see and value things.

Consumer choices about new products can be driven by several factors, and functionality definitely plays a crucial role. At the same time, consumers pay increasing attention to satisfying their socio-cultural needs and desires, which prompt them to look for more complete products that fulfill their needs beyond normal and simple consumption (Schmitt and Simonson, 1997; Gemser and Leenders, 2001; Bloch et al., 2003; Postrel, 2003). Indeed, the relationship between a product and a customer can be analyzed in relation to two different dimensions: functional and semantic. According to the Design-Driven Innovation literature, each product can convey specific meanings, and these meanings can be innovated; the framework proposed by Verganti (2009) suggests that the symbolic and emotional values of a product must be considered along with product functionality.

The origins of the Design-Driven approach are rooted in successful Italian manufacturers (such as Alessi, Kartell, Artemide, and B&B Italia) that have demonstrated unique capabilities to understand social needs and to develop systems of offerings with higher value for the socio-cultural environment. They have demonstrated a superior capability to understand, anticipate, and influence the emergence of new product meanings (Dell'Era and Verganti, 2007). An intriguing example is represented

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by Kartell. After Kartell was created in 1949, its founder Giulio Castelli acted in a new and creative way to give his products a sense of modernity, reinterpreting the use of plastic, which became a type of “noble” material. Today, the successful way in which Kartell markets and sells products and manages its skills and image makes this company the undisputed market leader in plastic household production but is still secondary to its traditional ability to work in plastic. Bookworm, a bookcase designed by Ron Arad in 1994 (see Figure 1), is most likely the best example of the Kartell approach to innovation: the meeting between Arad’s creation of an unusual bookcase with a series of shelves on a single continuous thread and the Italian design world transformed a piece of art into a piece of furniture. In fact, furniture manufacturers had already replaced wood with polymers because of cost and convenience, and the immediate result was that people kept such less-valuable furniture in less-noticeable areas of their homes. However, who says the essential meaning of plastic is “cheap and convenient”? Kartell instead dignified plastic, exploiting its properties to create substitutes for pieces of art that everyone could afford. It was a very complex job for the Kartell R&D department, which had to address a blend—a mixture of polymers that had never been produced by anyone before.

Figure 1: Bookworm bookcase by Ron Arad for Kartell. (Source: Kartell website)

2.2 THE COLLABORATIONWITH INTERPRETERSIN DESIGN-DRIVEN INNOVATIONS

Innovation theories based on collaborative strategies are permeating the innovation management field; several lines of publications suggest that collaborations are fundamental for innovating (Chesbrough, 2003; Christensen et al., 2005; Gassmann, 2006; Huston and Sakkab, 2006; Vanhaverbeke, 2006; West, 2013) and organizational structures and management system changes are often required within the firms that adopt open models of innovation (Chiarone, Chiesa and Frattini, 2010). External

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sources of knowledge are particularly crucial in the case of radical innovations (Leifer et al., 2000; McDermott and O'Connor GC, 2002; O'Connor GC and Ayers, 2005; Capaldo, 2007). In particular, open innovation theory (Chesbrough, 2003) emphasizes the openness to the external environment to be competitive, studying the different forms of collaboration and relationship with external actors. Chesbrough’s model proposes an open approach to innovation where “open innovation is a paradigm that assumes that firms can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas, and internal and external paths to market, as firms look to advance their technology”. West (2013) states that what motivates corporations to pursue inbound open innovation practices is to access external innovation or sources for creating value or to become more efficient through scale economies.

One of the essential elements of radical change is the source of information and new knowledge that takes part in the ‘innovation network’. Bertola and Teixeira (2002) introduce “network knowledge” as one of the three knowledge domains to foster innovation, highlighting the importance of going beyond the firm’s environment to continuously exchange ideas and generate knowledge either spontaneously or through corporate or public policies. It is this knowledge flow from inside out and vice versa derived from an open and collaborative approach that accelerates the firm’s innovation (Brunswicker et al., 2012) and creates value (Hargadon, 2002). The implementation of open innovation models requires establishing inter-organizational collaborations (Chiaroni, Chiesa and Frattini, 2010) at firm-level or even based on the individual networks from R&D managers.

Although some stream of research shows that collaborations result more successful in the case of already established partnerships (Berendsen and Peterman, 2013), scholars also highlight the need for accessing opportunities beyond the existing network (Chiaroni, Chiesa and Frattini, 2010; Verganti and Dell’Era 2013). The innovation of meaning requires a specific approach in the collaboration with external networks; for example, customers are not generally helpful in anticipating possible changes in product or service meanings. Therefore, the firms that develop Design-Driven Innovations must take a step back from the users and collaborate with different categories of

"interpreters" to explore new scenarios in which people’s lives can be improved: firms in other industries that target the same users, suppliers of new technologies, researchers, designers, and artists, among others, can provide complementary and synergistic

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knowledge (see Figure 2). Design-driven companies often rely on the ability to spot and access valuable knowledge outside their own boundaries (Verganti and Dell'Era, 2013).

Firm People Technology Suppliers Sociologists Anthropologists Marketers Media Artists Retail and delivery Education and research Designers Pioneering Projects Cultural organizations C u l t u r a l P r o d u c t i o n T e c h n o l o g y Firms in other industries

Figure 2: Interpreters in Design-Driven Innovation (Source: Verganti 2009)

Interaction with interpreters does not consist of a plain, straightforward dialogue in which novel interpretations are presented, discussed individually, and then accepted as dominant or rejected; it is instead a noisy and confused debate in which several interpretations co-exist. Every company is surrounded by several interpreters who share its same interest even if they do not belong to the same industry. They look at the same person in the same context of life, and consequently, they conduct research about how that person might give meaning to things. From a managerial perspective, the process of Design-Driven Innovation gets close to the interpreters, leveraging their ability to understand and influence how people attribute meaning to things.

As argued by Brode et al. (2014), the collaborative value is positively affected by the diversity of knowledge and the explorative attitude of the different interpreters involved

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in the design-driven innovation projects. Firms that realize design-driven innovations are capable of detecting, attracting, and interacting with key interpreters better than their competitors are. The key interpreters can belong to different categories (firms in other industries, suppliers of new technologies, researchers, artists, etc.), but a key role in this network of external interpreters is played by designers. A common practice in many industries is to collaborate with external designers to source fresh insights, creativity and new knowledge (Cillo and Verona, 2008). Recent studies have highlighted the importance of external designers in the innovation process to the point that some are considered to be “superstars”: for example, Jacob Jensen and David Lewis for Bang & Olufsen, Michael Graves for Target, and Philippe Starck for several furniture companies and for Nike and Puma (Gierke et al., 2002; Durgee, 2006). Designers can support companies in identifying and interpreting how people attribute meaning to objects and can envision new and possible scenarios.

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONAND FRAMEWORK

Considering the relevance of interpreters in the development of design-driven innovations, the paper focuses on the collaborative practices between design-driven companies and interpreters. More specifically, the paper aims to investigate the challenges a design-driven company faces when collaborating with a new interpreter, especially when her/his profile and attitude are significantly different from the common interpreters the company is used to interacting with, identifying the main implications to be considered to better manage this type collaborative settings. Understanding the role of the interpreter, the particularities of the collaboration between the firm and the outsider and what are the necessary managerial practices to better benefit from these partnerships is fundamental for companies that aim to develop radical innovation of meanings. Therefore, the main research question is proposed as follows:

How can companies valorize the contribution of "outsider" interpreters in developing design-driven innovations?

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Leveraging on a set of practices suggested by Verganti (2009) to manage a network of interpreters, the paper verifies its applicability and robustness in the case of "outsider" interpreters (see Table 1). We have selected this specific framework of the ‘design discourse’ considering the topic under investigation (open innovation and collaborative practices) and the specific theoretical context and empirical setting (design-driven innovation).

Network of interpreters Managerial practices

Debates Listen to multiple voices.

Skewed distribution of interpreters Find key interpreters.

Transfers Harness forward-looking researchers.

Bridges Leverage brokers and mediators.

Whispers Immerse the company in the discourse.

Two-tiered geography Hybridize the local and the global.

Elite circles Attract interpreters by acting as an interpreter. Obsolescence Keep searching for new interpreters and circles. Table 1: Guidelines for managing a network of interpreters (Source: adapted from Verganti, 2009)

Debates bring together a variety of perspectives during collaborations. Design-driven firms involve multiple players, not only designers, in their collaborative development processes, which often involves the participation of researchers, sociologist, artists, or interpreters from other areas. Gathering multiple voices enriches the collaborative process. Particularly in the development of design-driven innovations, the capability of firms to spot and manage different competences from different sources affects the company’s success in innovation (Dell’Era and Verganti, 2009). Design-driven firms must select the key interpreters, often from a network built after years of investment in relational assets, which can effectively contribute to the generation of innovations among all possible contributors. Creating a skewed distribution of interpreters and identifying new talents is thus the result of a selection process carefully undertaken by firms according to the required innovation. Transfers of meanings from research to applications are essential in design-driven innovation because the generation of new meanings implies moving beyond dominant interpretations (Verganti, 2009). Firms should thus invest in radical research, moving from basic to more experimental investigation and applications to generate radical proposals and visions. In parallel, it is fundamental that companies create bridges to move product languages and meanings across industries and sectors. Language brokers and mediators contribute to the design discourse by introducing emergent meanings or new connections. Firms must invest in building a relationship with opinion leaders for “listening to the whispers”, exchanging

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ideas, experimenting and building a unique vision before it is codified in tangible interactions and diffused publicly. These interactions based in informal relations and tacit knowledge exchange often occurs locally, particularly in industries that strongly depend on key suppliers, as in the case of made in Italy. However, firms cannot remain locally connected. A two-tiered geography approach is necessary to understand interpretations from other regions, cultures and societies and create proposals that are innovative and globally accepted. Design-driven firms should create a network of interpreters with the characteristics previously enounced. They must attract these interpreters to build a cooperation that ultimately develops in elite circles: a win-win collaborative relationship where interpreters and firm share knowledge, risks and visions for developing design-driven innovations. While these elite circles are often long-term relationships, it is important that companies keep scouting for new interpreters to overcome obsolescence. Firms must constantly look for new talents and fresh interpretations that enrich their network, either because the talent or explorative attitude declines or because of the impact of a rapidly changing environment.

3.2 CASE STUDY METHOD

The investigation is based on a qualitative case study, developed through a deductive approach to research (Yin, 2009; Piekkari and Welch, 2011). The study was conducted at the design-driven furniture manufacturer Cassina. The case was selected due to the contextual fit to the phenomena under study (collaborative practices with new interpreters in design-driven companies) and the opportunity to access and observe day-to-day practices in the organization, due to the practitioner researcher role of one of the authors within the company. The study analyses the collaborative practices between the Italian furniture manufacturer Cassina SpA with interpreters, particularly focusing on the collaboration with the ‘outsider’ interpreter Carlo Ratti on a project that reflects how future scenarios of living may be influenced by the current technological era.

3.3 DATA COLLECTING

Multiple sources of evidence were collected, including internal and official documents, archival data, observations, meeting notes and face-to-face interviews. The corresponding author spent approximately three to four days per week at the firm, having access to the organization’s day-to-day activities and information on its product

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creation processes. The researcher was directly involved in the case-project with carlorattiassociati [ourUNIVERSE] as a project manager from the Cassina side since January 2013. This provided the opportunity to access and gather unique and valuable information (otherwise not available) on how a design-driven company collaborates with new interpreters in generating innovations. Additionally the author attended project meetings for other product-creation projects, gaining the opportunity to observe the design-driven innovation process with six different interpreters. Observations were recorded during meetings in individual field note documents including details, reflections, quotes and pictures. The same field note template was used for every meeting to maintain a structure and to assure consistency in the data collection process. The interviews took place both informally during project meetings and through in-depth semi-structured interview sessions. Data gathered during the interviews provided different perspectives on the design-driven innovation process. The validity of the data was assured during the data collection by accessing multiple internal and external sources of information and having the main informant (Cassina’s brand manager) review and validate the draft of the case study report (Yin, 2003).

To achieve reliability of the information, the projects observed included all typologies of interpreters in Cassina: from contemporary designers (e.g., Jaime Hayon with the project Vico) to classics (e.g., Fondation Le Corbusier with the project LC5) to new ‘outsider’ interpreters (e.g., Carlo Ratti Associati with ourUNIVERSE). Assuring a representation of the total population of interpreters in Cassina achieved the reliability of the data collected. Reliability was also achieved by creating a database of the case study that included documents, field notes, interview transcripts and other sources of information, as summarized in Table 2.

Data Quantity Original Data Source

Interviews 10 Discussion with the Informants (Cassina Brand Division Director) and Project Stakeholders [6 hours]

Project Meeting (de visu and

remote) 15+5 Project Meeting Minutes [40 pages]Project Meeting Notes developed by the Principal Investigator [30 pages] Project email reports 100+ Project Stakeholders

Project Deliverables 5 Reports developed by Cassina and CRA [120 pages]

Promotional Materials Video

Press Release (see also Annex II) 7 3

Videos developed by Cassina, CRA and the Media Agency [10 minutes]

Communication to Medias developed by Cassina and CRA [5 pages]

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Website Social media

1 20

New micro-website developed by Cassina, CRA and the Media Agency

News on Social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) developed by Cassina and CRA Table 2: Data collection

Documents and interview transcripts were individually analyzed by the three authors and confronted afterwards to reduce possible biases. The data analysis was triangulated with the theoretical model presented by the design-driven theory to identify patterns and deviations from the set of managerial practices suggested by the theory when collaborating with interpreters. For each of the practices, we have defined at least one construct (see Table 3) to identify the empirical evidence and evaluate the empirical finding and its effect. These constructs are adapted from the design-driven innovation theory, and developed further with the initial findings of the case under study, in order to identify and frame specific characteristics inherent to the development of design-driven innovations with ‘outsiders’.

Network of interpreters Managerial practices Construct(s)

Debates Listen to multiple voices. Breadth and diversity of the network

Skewed distribution of

interpreters Find key interpreters. Developing an extended _network Transfers Harness forward-looking _researchers.

Matching research with future design-driven innovations

Bridges Leverage brokers and _mediators. Accessing knowledge a/o connectors

Whispers Immerse the company in the _discourse. Unveiling project information

Two-tiered geography Hybridize the local and the _global. Choosing local and global resources

Elite circles Attract interpreters by acting as _{an interpreter.} Establishing value of partnership

Obsolescence Keep searching for new _{interpreters and circles.} Enabling continuous renewal of interpreters, Table 3: Constructs for analyzing collaborations with interpreters

3.4 EMPIRICAL SETTING

“Cassina is a renowned leading firm in international contemporary furniture design, producing chairs, tables, upholstered items, beds and containers with an innovative fusion of experimental application, technological skill and traditional craftsmanship”

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(www.cassina.it). Cassina has a collaborative approach to innovation, involving key interpreters for the creation of new products, to the point that almost the entire portfolio is the result of co-creation processes with external sources of knowledge, mainly architects and industrial designers (Dell’Era and Verganti, 2010). Annex I contains the company’s description for further information.

The firm is a clear referent of a design-intense company. It is thus a firm with an inside-out approach to innovation, working on the semantic and emotional dimension of innovation, proposing new products that modify the socio-cultural context and the reason why people buy things (Verganti, 2009). Nonetheless, Cassina has been awarded five Premio Compasso d’Oro ADIs, the oldest and one of the most internationally recognized design awards, including a Compasso d’Oro in 1991 for their trajectory, recognizing the contribution of the firm to the design-culture. Acknowledging the importance of technology in today’s (and tomorrow’s) socio-cultural context, Cassina embraced a particular innovation project with the Torino and Boston-based architecture studio carlorattiassociati.

Carlorattoasociati –walter nicolini & carlo ratti- is a rapidly growing architecture office currently involved in many projects in Europe, America and Asia. The practice has received many awards and has been featured in leading publications worldwide, including Forbes, who listed Carlo Ratti as “one of the names you need to know in 2011” (Chiang, 2010). Considering the successful track record of Cassina in co-creating with key actors in the fields of design and arts (including LeCorbusier, Albini, Lissoni, Stark, and Pesce, among others), the collaboration with carlorattiassociati implies a new exploration path for the design-driven firm toward technology. In addition to its own architectural practice, Carlo Ratti (architect, engineer, technologist and urban visionary) directs the Senseable City Lab at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), which is renowned for the use of sensors and electronics to approach cities and built environments. This technological profile and the fact that ourUNIVERSE is one of the first incursions of carlorattiassociati in the world of home environments, yields a novel type of collaboration, where Ratti’s studio can be considered as an ‘outsider’ partner to Cassina.

The project resulted in six individual project concepts that were afterwards codified in the form of physical prototypes and presented during the Salone del Mobile 2013 in Milano, Italy (Figure 3).

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Lazy Susan Flying Plates for a Magic Dinner

My Wing

(freestanding) Adapt and react coffee table

My Wing

(built In) An incorporated rotating surface

The Looking

Glass Augmented reflection from back to front Chain Sofa ‘Rolling’

transformable day-bed

My Mood Responsive illumination for sofa upholstery

Figure 3: Overview of the individual projects in ourUNIVERSE.

Source: ourUNIVERSE project booklet (Cassina and CRA, 2013; see also Annex III)

A closer look at the six radically innovative concepts that emerged from this experimental collaboration unveils three different forms of interplay between technology and meanings during the exploration of radical innovations. On the one hand, regarding the creation of furniture concepts that serve the new technologies, the impact that technology has on the way we live and interact with digital devices yields flexible concepts that physically transform to adapt to the habits of users in the new digital scenarios. The technology is apparently not visible on the furniture pieces but triggered the generation of the concepts. The following projects fall under this category: My Wing freestanding, My Wing built-in and the Chain Sofa. A second group stems from technologies that serve new concepts and product typologies. In this case, technology is not only driving the innovation of meanings but also is physically embedded in home elements, providing new meanings, functions and services to users. Related projects are Mag Lev Lazy Susan, The Looking Glass, My Mood, and My Wall. Finally, all prototypes are the result of using digital technologies for modelling and manufacturing, evidencing how digital technologies are designing and fabricating our

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current (and future) environments, which was called ‘the third industrial revolution’ by Carlo Ratti during project discussions.

4. EMPIRICALRESULTSAND DISCUSSION

The case study focuses on phase 1 and 2 of the ourUNIVERSE project: Design & technology research phase, and Concept generation, respectively. These explorative phases are crucial because at the first steps of the project, collaboration becomes critical to innovation (Christensen, 1997; Verganti, 2009). This research aims to understand the challenges that a design-driven firm faces during the collaboration with an interpreter whose profile and field of expertise substantially differ from what the firm is used to, to valorize the contribution of the “outsider” interpreter in generating innovations. As introduced in the Research Framework section, the investigation considers the managerial practices aimed at collaborating with a network of interpreters (see Table 2) proposed in the design-driven innovation theory (Verganti, 2009) as the interpretative filter for studying the collaboration between Cassina and the studio of Carlo Ratti. Analytical findings have been confronted with the theoretical model to understand the extent to which the practices for developing design-driven innovations introduced in the theory are applicable to collaborations with “outsider” interpreters.

Debates: Listen to multiple voices

Open innovation approaches evidence for the role of different actors of formal and informal networks in developing and diffusing innovations (Brunswicker, 2012) and the capability of firms to identify and introduce multiple actors with a variety of competences for creating design-driven innovations positively affects the company’s success in innovation (Dell’Era and Verganti, 2009). Cassina is used to manage a strong network of heterogeneous interpreters that work in their same life context.

Cassina has always worked with many intellectuals, not necessarily from the design sphere… they can be philosophers, or academics, decorators … we also like to take stimulus from people that are not necessarily doing design.

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In the case of ourUNIVERSE, the technological nature of the project required a variety of specific skills and knowledge from the people to be involved in the project. There were thus a significant percentage of participants from the extended network of interpreters from Carlo Ratti, including the Arduino office, Department of Architecture at MIT, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Politecnico di Torino, FabLab Torino, etc.

We have observed that on the one hand, Cassina was open to exploring new inputs and stimulus from outside their core "domain", as they had done historically. On the other hand, the variety of backgrounds and the newness (to the firm) of specific skills made the discussion less fluid than in "traditional design" meetings, mostly during the initial debates. While the design debates in Cassina’s traditional design-driven innovations benefit from multiple interactions as suggested by the theory, the case under study suggests that the distance from one’s own field of expertise may make the actual dialogue more difficult.

Network of interpreters

Managerial practices

Construct(s) Empirical result Discussion

Managing interpreters Managing "outsider" interpreters

Debates Listen to multiple voices. Breadth and diversity of the network

Higher variety in the educational backgrounds of interpreters and partners

"Newness”: new interpreters with a technology-driven profile The variety of backgrounds and profiles made the discussion less fluid.

A variety of interpreters positively contributes to building a diverse and broad “network knowledge” The distance between the “outsider’s” and firm’s competences made the dialogues less fluid/

Table 4: Managerial Practise A (collaborating with outsiders)

Skewed distribution of interpreters: Find key interpreters

Literature has largely recognized the importance to innovation of accessing and acquiring knowledge beyond the firm’s boundaries (Trott and Hartmann, 2009, Dell’Era and Verganti, 2009). In our case, Cassina pursued innovations that required competences that are not core to the firm. To do so the company identified domain-specific interpreters with a willingness to explore certain domains (Carlo Ratti) from outside of its well-established network. As the conceptual ideas progressed, more interpreters were introduced in the debates. Each individual project had at least one external consultant from Carlo Ratti's network, Arduino experts (my Wall), LED lighting consultants (my Mood) or digital manufacturing suppliers (my Wing). As introduced in the previous paragraph, Design-driven projects in Cassina, even when

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conducted in collaboration with a new designer (e.g., the latest collaboration with Jaime Hayon), are mainly developed within the firm’s network of interpreters. In this case, although Cassina scouted "the most relevant" outsider considering the (technological) nature of the project; the contribution of the ”outsider” interpreter was critical for spotting and introducing key actors with competences otherwise difficultly accessible to Cassina (see Figure 4).

Figure 4: Extended Network of Interpreters collaborating with ‘outsiders’

The network of interpreters is no longer created and managed solely by the firm, but the outsider has a fundamental role in introducing new interpreters to the network, which at the same time opens future opportunities to the firm.

Network of

interpreters Managerial practices Construct(s) Empirical result Discussion

Skewed distribution of interpreters

Find key

interpreters. Developing anextended

network

Cassina scouted "the most relevant" outsider (CRA) considering the (technological) nature of the overall project.

Every individual project had at least one external consultant from Ratti's network [Arduino (my Wall), LED lighting (my Mood) or digital manufacturing (my Wing)].

CRA also brought a philosopher during the initial meetings.

The network is no longer managed solely by the firm, but the outsider has a fundamental role in the creation of the extended network.

Table 5: Managerial Practice B (collaborating with outsiders)

Transfers: Harness forward-looking researchers

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phenomena to go beyond dominant interpretations or to challenge the status-quo (Verganti, 2009; Von Stamm, 2003). Analogously, new technological paradigms result from the search and selection of new directions of technical change (Dosi, 1985). Cassina strategically pursued an explorative project to investigate the impact of digital technologies in the living environments. Consequently, the firm partnered with one of the most prominent technology visionaries to see challenges in the furniture industry through a completely new lens: that of technology.

Digital fabrication is entering the mainstream of manufacturing as a result of what can be called the ‘Third Industrial Revolution’

Carlo Ratti

The ourUNIVERSE project started as a research project. Cassina wanted to envision the future of living. The scientific profile of the “outsider” allowed the company to easily move ideas into experimentations and mock-ups before defining concepts: virtually (as in the case of the looking glass) or physically (as in the case of my wing). Cassina showed a very open and exploratory approach to innovation when implementing such an experimental project, adapting to new languages and ways of working emerged from the collaboration. In the case under study, the firm ‘let them work’ (in the words of the brand division director) by providing carlorattiassociati enough room and the required flexibility to explore and experiment in their own way, without the time, resources and budget constraints of other traditional design-driven projects.

Transfers Harness forward-looking researchers. Matching research with future design-driven innovations

The project began as a research project. The scientific profile of the outsider allowed the easy movement of ideas into

experimentations and mock-ups. Brokering of technological futures rather than languages

The technological source (nature of the knowledge and scientific profile of the outsider) required a different (more flexible) management of design-driven innovation.

Table 6: Managerial Practice C (collaborating with outsiders)

Bridges: Leverage brokers and mediators

Corporations are motivated to pursue inbound open innovation to access external sources for creating value (West, 2013), which is often generated through brokering knowledge between different fields, sectors and disciplines (Hargadon, 1998). As

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already introduced, design-driven firms collaborate with interpreters that contribute to the discourse with new meanings (in the case of language brokers) or with new connections (mediators). Cassina is used to working mainly with language brokers capable of transferring meanings or identifying emerging languages. Interpreters are often key actors that target the firm’s same life context, either from the existing network (Lissoni, Le Corbusier Foundation) or new interpreters (Hayon). Instead, Carlo Ratti not only came from a significantly different life context (urban and architectural environments) but also acted more as a “technology” broker, transferring technological knowledge to the home environment by introducing new technologies (sensors, lighting, software, digital interfaces) new production processes (digital production and digital modelling) and new knowledge (sense and responding interactions, new digital-living paradigms).

There is a need to think about new ways of “vivere la casa” (living the home)

Cassina R&D Manager

The project Mag Lev Lazy Susan (Figure 5), for example, introduced magnetic levitation technologies previously used in rail transportation, to the dining table. In a contemporary reinterpretation of the Lazy Susan, users can share serving dishes along digitally controlled trajectories without the constraints of a specific round table.

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Moreover, the role of Carlo Ratti in Cassina was fundamentally that of a mediator, bringing new connections and an extended network of interpreters that was essential to this technological project, as previously explained. The findings reveal that in the same way that designers have the ability to bridge languages and industries within a similar context of use (Dell’Era and Verganti, 2009), ‘outsiders’ are able to move technologies across industries and introduce the right interpreters that are key for developing radical innovations.

Network of

Bridges Leverage brokers and mediators Accessing knowledge a/o connectors

Cassina works mainly with language brokers: transferring meaning or identifying emerging languages. The outsider played the role of mediator: CRA was fundamental for Cassina to access other interpreters.

Due to the new (to the company) competences, “outsider” partners are more likely to act as mediators in the development of radical design-driven innovation, bringing new sources of knowledge and connections.

Table 7: Managerial Practice D (collaborating with outsiders)

Whispering: Immerse the company in the discourse

In a process similar to that of companies who approach lead-users and trend leaders to accelerate the diffusion of innovations (Urban and von Hippel, 1986; Rogers and Shoemaker, 1971), design-driven businesses often use some forms of tacit-information exchange to facilitate the introduction of new meanings into a socio-cultural context in a “process of osmosis” (Dell’Era, Marchesi and Verganti, 2008). Literature suggests that interactions in the design discourse that occur before being made public are more valuable and have more chances of creating radical innovations. In fact, this is always the manner of developing innovations in Cassina, which relies on informal and whispering dynamics before moving interpretations to codified project outcomes in the form of products for the Salone del Mobile. Although the project dealt with highly technological content and intellectual capital that might have been threatened if the interpretations and information were made public beforehand, in the case of ourUNIVERSE the practice of whispering was of great importance, and there was not a significant difference in the informal practices of information exchange with the interpreter.

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Whispers Immerse the company in the discourse. Unveiling project information

While confidentiality was required during the early phases of the project, ourUNIVERSE was launched to the public during Salone del Mobile 2013, allowing Cassina to spread the new interpretations more rapidly

Managing "outsider" interpreters aligned with the literature regarding the interpreter network

Table 8: Managerial Practice E (collaborating with outsiders)

Two-tiered geography: Hybridize the local and the global

It is important to utilize both local tacit knowledge and global diversification of perspectives, with the link and connections between competences being more relevant than the exact competences on their own. According to McEvily and Zaheer (1999), firms with strong local network ties have a strong position to access new and diverse opportunities and competitive capabilities, thereby also evidencing the risks of geographical clusters, such as homogeneity and a decrease of innovation capabilities. The collaboration between Carlo Ratti and Cassina allowed the firm to integrate local and global assets, connecting the Brianza furniture region with the Torino industrial area and obtaining access to one of the world’s major technological incubators: MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), where Carlo Ratti directs the Seanseable City Lab. Each of the individual projects in ourUNIVERSE linked Italian local networks and international hubs, and projects such as the Chain Sofa brought together the architectural departments of MIT in Boston and Polytechnic University of Torino, creating a kinematic study of transformable furniture. However, we observed no substantial difference from other projects in this regard. We conclude then that the collaboration with an “outsider” partner does not affect the specific practices that the firm uses to hybridize local and global resources.

[Leading Italian furniture manufacturers] were able to attract some of the best creative talents in the world, they curious and flexible to work with the best professionals that they could find, from in Japan to South America, even 50, 60 years ago.

Gianluca Armento

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geography local and the

global local and global

resources

talents to collaborate with, targeting an international audience.

No particular differences compared with other projects.

interpreters aligned with the literature regarding the network of interpreters

Table 9: Managerial Practice F (collaborating with outsiders)

Elite circles: Attract interpreters by acting as an interpreter

Elite circles are closed and hierarchical governance models of collaborative innovation (Pisano and Verganti, 2008). Attracting experts to these circles is often a matter of knowledge exchange, where rewards in the form of new capabilities, vision or reputation are the most valuable for key interpreters (Verganti, 2009). ourUNIVERSE provided carlorattiassociati with important exposure to the furniture world during one of the internationally recognized and most important design events in the world. Nevertheless, in contrast with traditional design-driven projects in Cassina, where interpreters are rewarded solely as suggested in the design-driven theory (that is, in the form of royalties and reputation), the collaboration with Carlo Ratti also implied project fees for the different project phases. The fact that a large percentage of research work, assets and material resources were introduced to the project by the “outsider” means that he also assumed higher risks in developing innovations than other interpreters usually do. As example, while Hayon worked closely with Cassina’s R&D center for the development of prototypes for the Vico sofa, all six prototypes of ourUNIVERSE were developed in collaboration with Ratti’s supply base for digital prototyping (FGM or Fablab, see Figure 6).

Figure 6: Jaime Hayon and the R&D team works on the Vico prototype at the Cassina R&D center

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Elite circles Attract interpreters by acting as an interpreter. Establishing value of partnership

The experimental nature of the research involved diverse contractual agreements.

Cassina provides CRA the opportunity to experiment with domestic environments and to design for serial production.

Partnership with “outsiders” requires a new approach to the management of knowledge and partnerships.

Table 10: Managerial Practice G (collaborating with outsiders)

Obsolescence: Keep searching for new interpreters and circles

Von Stamm (2003) states that innovation is “the art of making new connections”. Leveraging new external sources of innovation is one of the key principles for successful (open) innovation management. Particularly, in rapidly changing contexts, there is a need to refresh the network of interpreters. The emergence of new sociocultural changes and technological discoveries require novel interpretations. Firms should explore new connections that can provide novel interpretations for the emergence of sociocultural and technological changes. “The key interpreters of today are not those of tomorrow” (Verganti, 2009).

People that can stimulate how to be in line with the times and how to change the course of things… so it’s always been a company that intellectually has been very curious, and does not necessarily mean that we have to work for short thing with designers that are proven professionals, we also like to take risks with the younger generation Gianluca Armento, Cassina Brand Manager

ourUNIVERSE was born to explore and envision the impact that digital technologies (will) have on home environments and furniture. There was a need to find new interpreters who are able to explore emergent technologies that are currently transforming society. In this case, refreshing the network of interpreters allowed the company to generate more radical ideas.

Obsolescence Keep searching for new interpreters and circles. Enabling continuous renewal of interpreters,

ourUNIVERSE involved a typology of interpreters with specific new (to the company) competences and expertise (kinematic study, architecture, electronics, software etc.)

Managing "outsider" interpreters aligned with the literature regarding the network of interpreters

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5. CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH

Innovation is undoubtedly recognized as a source of growth and business success. Particularly during times of economic challenges, firms are not only asked to master operational effectiveness, but more than ever, organizations are required to explore and envision the innovative scenarios of tomorrow. Design-intense firms strategically pursue innovation of meanings by exploring possible future scenarios collaborating with interpreters. The research analyzes the implications (for design-oriented companies) of involving new typologies of partners during the exploration of design-driven innovation. In order to do this we have investigated the project collaboration between the Italian furniture manufacturer Cassina with the technology visionary Carlo Ratti. The design-driven project resulted in a technological-vision of future living environments and a series of innovative concepts codified as experimental prototypes. Using the set of managerial practices introduced by Verganti (2009) for managing a network of interpreters, the case has investigated the applicability of the theoretical model in the case of collaborating with “outsider” interpreter in a technology-driven project within a design-driven context by analyzing if the practices undertaken by the firm in the specific case under study (Table 4) are in line with what the theoretical model of the design-driven theory suggests. More over, additional observations from other cases at the company served to identify the main variables in collaborating with outsiders. The case is sufficiently representative as the way that Cassina, a referent in design furniture, manages innovations aligned with the theoretical model of the design-driven theory. Several projects within the firm have been analyzed to achieve a broad representative sample. Nevertheless, the research will benefit from further empirical evidence in different industries to generalize the findings regarding the collaboration with outsiders in design-driven innovations.

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Network of

Debates Listen to multiple

voices.

Breadth and diversity of the network

Higher variety in the educational backgrounds of interpreters and partners "Newness”: new interpreters with a technology-driven profile

The variety of backgrounds and profiles made the discussion less fluid.

A variety of interpreters positively contributes to building “network knowledge”

The distance between the “outsider’s” and firm’s competences made the dialogues less fluid/

Skewed distribution of interpreters Find key interpreters. Developing an extended network

Cassina scouted "the most relevant" outsider (CRA) considering the (technological) nature of the overall project.

Every individual project had at least one external consultant from Ratti’s network [Arduino (my Wall), LED lighting (my Mood) or digital manufacturing (my Wing)].

CRA also brought a philosopher during the initial meetings.

The network is no longer managed solely by the firm, but the outsider has a fundamental role in the network.

Transfers Harness

forward-looking researchers.

Matching research with future design-driven innovations

The project began as a research project. The scientific profile of the outsider allowed the easy movement of ideas into experimentations and mock-ups.

Brokering of technological futures rather than languages

The technological source (nature of the knowledge and scientific profile of the outsider) required a different (more flexible) management of design-driven innovation.

Bridges Leverage brokers

and mediators

Accessing knowledge a/o connectors

Cassina works mainly with language brokers: transferring meaning or identifying emerging languages.

The outsider played the role of mediator: CRA was fundamental for Cassina to access other interpreters.

Due to the new (to the company) competences, “outsider” partners are more likely to act as mediators in the development of radical design-driven innovation, bringing new sources of knowledge and connections.

Whispers Immerse the

company in the discourse.

Unveiling project information

While confidentiality was required during the early phases of the project,

ourUNIVERSE was launched to the public during Salone del Mobile 2013, allowing Cassina to spread the new interpretations more rapidly

Managing "outsider" interpreters aligned with the literature regarding the interpreter network

Two-tiered geography

Hybridize the local and the global

Choosing local and global resources

Cassina has historically looked globally for talents to collaborate with, targeting an international audience.

No particular differences compared with other projects.

Elite circles Attract interpreters

by acting as an interpreter.

Establishing value of partnership

The experimental nature of the research involved diverse contractual agreements. Cassina provides CRA the opportunity to experiment with domestic environments and to design for serial production.

Partnership with “outsiders” requires a new approach to the management of contractual agreements.

Obsolescence Keep searching

for new interpreters and circles. Enabling continuous renewal of interpreters,

ourUNIVERSE involved a typology of interpreters with specific new (to the company) competences and expertise (kinematic study, architecture, electronics, software etc.)

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Empirical results suggest that even firms with a track record in collaborating with interpreters to develop design-driven innovations must be careful how they manage projects with “outsider” interpreters. Collaborating with “outsider” partners require a more flexible organization that is able to give more control to the interpreter. This reveals the need to challenge the traditional model that the firm controls the network of key interpreters. We suggest a decentralized model of an extended network of interpreters managed by both the firm and the interpreter. Although the result is based on the specific case study and industrial setting investigated, we consider that this idea may be of relevance to other cases involving collaboration with “outsider” interpreters. The fact that Cassina is one of the referents in the furniture industry in regard to collaborating with interpreters and that this specific project has been a technology pioneer in the furniture field suggests that the findings are highly relevant to, at least, the field of design driven innovation, thus important to other design-oriented firms. Further empirical evidence with new case studies in different industrial settings will help to generalize these findings. In more general terms, the study enriches the body of knowledge of Open Innovation research with an in-depth analysis of a low-tech, mid-sized organization, an area with growing potential where research is still scarce as evidenced in literature (Gassmann et al., 2010).

From a theoretical point of view, the findings also contribute to the emerging theoretical discussion about the differences and contributions between brokers and mediators in collaborative projects (Dell’Era, Verganti, 2013; Obstfeld, 2005), especially projects that merge technology and design. Results suggest that firms need to adapt different bridge strategies towards innovation partnerships when collaborating with “outsiders”. The case reveal that allowing the partner to adopt a more mediating role in the development of design-driven innovations, grants the firm to work with a more diverse –but still focused on key partnerships- innovation network. We consider that further exploring the individual contribution of collaborators to the development of design-driven innovations may enrich this line of enquire.

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