The Learning Plan concept has emerged from a seven-year research study sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and conducted in collaboration with the Industrial Research Institute. During that period, we tracked the progress of 12 breakthrough innovation projects in 10 large, technology-intensive firms: Air Products and Chemicals, Analog Devices, DuPont, GE, GM, IBM, Nortel Networks, Polaroid, Texas Instruments and United Technologies. The idea for this new methodology was triggered by a comment made by one of our study participants in response to our question about how progress was measured for their breakthrough innovation projects. His response: “learning per dollar spent.”
The research project employed a case study methodology, which is especially appropriate for research in new topic areas, with a focus on “how” or “why” questions concerning a contemporary set of events. Though the research design can involve single or multiple cases, the use of multiple cases is generally preferred. Adopting this approach allowed the research team to observe and analyze innovation management in a variety of companies and industries. The complexity of case study research and the high level of interpretation that is necessary create an advantage for using research teams of multiple investigators, who can bring a variety of experience and complementary insights to the research.i This work is based on a multicase methodology employed by a team of multidisciplinary... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.
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