Entrepreneurial opportunities with toolkits for user innovation and design

Abstract

This article discusses a promising entrepreneurial opportunity: toolkits for user innovation and design. This innovative method of new product development (NDP) shifts the design task to the customer by making use of recent developments in IT, media, and production technologies. The customer, in turn, gets a product that perfectly suits his/her needs. This new approach challenges the time‐consuming and costly traditional approach of screening the market for new product needs which are then converted into novel or adapted products.

Our analysis shows that there are basically two different ways to exploit this opportunity. First, by means of high‐end toolkits, radically new products can be gathered. Second, low‐end toolkits can be used efficiently to further exploit seemingly mature markets. We argue that in particular startups might be in the best position to take advantage of these entrepreneurial opportunities. They can either enter the arena of manufacturers or they can act as new intermediaries between manufacturers and users.     

Decision-makers’ underestimation of user innovation

In the past few decades, much research has documented the importance of users as sources of innovations. Over the last 10 years, Research Policy alone has published 56 research articles investigating this phenomenon. We ask to what degree the findings of users as innovators have been absorbed by decision-makers responsible for new product development (managers) and by those who shape the contextual conditions for innovation (policy makers and public administration). A realistic perception of the sources of innovation is important as it constitutes the basis for a rational allocation of resources and thus indirectly impacts the innovation performance of companies and societies at large.In a large-scale survey of n?=?1500 decision-makers, we found support for a substantial underestimation of users as a source of innovation: While the true proportion of user innovation among the most valuable 1678 innovations in nine industries is 54.4% (as established in existing research articles), decision-makers estimate it to be 21.7%. A content analysis of transfer media (450 academic textbooks, popular innovation books, and business articles) underscores this theory-practice gap: Of 3469 text paragraphs dealing with the sources of innovation, only 2.7% mention users as innovators. We develop six propositions on the reasons for and consequences of this underestimation that may serve as a starting point for future research and practical consequences.     

Using checklists in a gross anatomy laboratory improves learning outcomes and dissection quality

Checklists have been widely used in the aviation industry ever since aircraft operations became more complex than any single pilot could reasonably remember. More recently, checklists have found their way into medicine, where cognitive function can be compromised by stress and fatigue. The use of checklists in medical education has rarely been reported, especially in the basic sciences. We explored whether the use of a checklist in the gross anatomy laboratory would improve learning outcomes, dissection quality, and students' satisfaction in the first-year Human Structure didactic block at Mayo Medical School. During the second half of a seven-week anatomy course, dissection teams were each day given a hardcopy checklist of the structures to be identified during that day's dissection. The first half of the course was considered the control, as students did not receive any checklists to utilize during dissection. The measured outcomes were scored on four practice practical examinations and four dissection quality assessments, two each from the first half (control) and second half of the course. A student satisfaction survey was distributed at the end of the course. Examination and dissection scores were analyzed for correlations between practice practical examination score and checklist use. Our data suggest that a daily hardcopy list of anatomical structures for active use in the gross anatomy laboratory increases practice practical examination scores and dissection quality. Students recommend the use of these checklists in future anatomy courses.     

Children's Increased Emotional Egocentricity Compared to Adults Is Mediated by Age‐Related Differences in Conflict Processing

This study investigated the cognitive mechanisms underlying age‐related differences in emotional egocentricity bias (EEB) between children (aged 7–12 years, n = 30) and adults (aged 20–30 years, n = 30) using a novel paradigm of visuogustatory stimulation to induce pleasant and unpleasant emotions. Both children and adults showed an EBB, but that of children was larger. The EEB did not correlate with other measures of egocentricity. Crucially, the developmental differences in EEB were mediated by age‐related changes in conflict processing and not visual perspective taking, response inhibition, or processing speed. This indicates that different types of egocentricity develop independently of one another and that the increased ability to overcome EEB can be explained by age‐related improvements in conflict processing.     

Limits of dynamic object perception in pigeons: Dynamic stimulus presentation does not enhance perception and discrimination of complex shape

A go/no-go procedure was used to train pigeons to discriminate pictures of human faces differing only in shape, with either static images or movies of human faces dynamically rotating in depth. On the basis of experimental findings in humans and some earlier studies on three-dimensional object perception in pigeons, we expected dynamic stimulus presentation to support the pigeon’s perception of the complex morphology of a human face. However, the performance of the subjects presented with movies was either worse than (AVI format movies) or did not differ from (uncompressed dynamic presentation) that of the subjects trained with a single or with multiple static images of the faces. Furthermore, generalization tests to other presentation conditions and to novel static views revealed no promoting effect of dynamic training. Except for the subjects trained on multiple static views, performance dropped to chance level with views outside the training range. These results are in contrast to some prior reports from the literature, since they suggest that pigeons, unlike humans, have difficulty using the additional structural information provided by the dynamic presentation and integrating the multiple views into a three-dimensional object.     

The Common Core’s promises and pitfalls from the perspectives of policy entrepreneurs and ground-level actors

The Common Core State Standards Initiative (Common Core) was spearheaded by policy entrepreneurs, unveiled nationally in 2010, and initially received strong support from leaders in state and federal government, philanthropic foundations, the business sector, and teacher unions. However, the reform came into the crosshairs of an ideologically wide set of politicians and interest groups. What is less well understood about the controversy are the responses the reform encountered within states, particularly from ground-level actors, such as parents, local educators, school boards, and community members, as well as their elected representatives. This study uses two data sets to examine how the promises and pitfalls that the reform’s policy entrepreneurs anticipated in 2011 were received by ground-level actors in 10 states between late-2013 and early-2014. The findings suggest ground-level responses to the anticipated promises and pitfalls both spurred and resonated with interest groups to disrupt the reform’s support among state-level leaders. The findings also suggest that political and implementation lessons may be gained from further study of the adoption and implementation of the Common Core in California. Whether the Common Core in California or other states may improve achievement or equity is considered in light of third-wave reforms.     

Cognitive and Family-Support Mediators of Preschool Effectiveness: A Confirmatory Analysis

Investigated in this study were the mediators of the effects of preschool intervention on children's school achievement in sixth grade. A confirmatory structural model developed in a previous study of third graders was tested with 360 low-income, mostly black children who were available at the 3-year follow-up. The model incorporated cognitive readiness at kindergarten entry and parent involvement in school (rated by teachers and parents) as primary mediators of preschool effectiveness. In sixth grade (age 12), preschool participation at ages 3 or 4 was significantly associated with higher reading achievement, higher math achievement, and with lower incidence of grade retention. Cognitive readiness and parent involvement in school significantly mediated the estimated effects of preschool participation on school achievement and grade retention 7 years postprogram. Teacher ratings of school adjustment, school mobility, and grade retention also contributed to the transmission of effects. This integrated model fit the data better than several alternative models, including those based on the cognitive-advantage and family-support hypotheses.