Technology Transfer
April 5, 2007
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Spring 2007
But first…
Let’s deal with Brainstorming…
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Creativity
Groups vs. Individuals
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Groups vs. Individuals
• The basic question:
– Are groups generally (on average) more
creative than individuals?
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Two Conclusions
• There have been many studies in which groups and
individuals are compared on their ability to produce
creative ideas and they all agree on the following two
conclusions:
• 1. Groups produce more creative
ideas than individuals do.
• 2. Groups produce more creative
ideas than individuals do.
15.980J/ESD.933J
Spring 2007
Two Conclusions
• Groups produce more creative ideas
than individuals do.
• Groups produce more creative ideas
than individuals do.
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Spring 2007
Normalizing for the Number of People
Individuals
• Groups produce more creative ideas
than individuals do.
Groups
Individuals
• Groups produce more creative ideas
than individuals do.
Groups
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Spring 2007
The Nature of a Creative Idea
• A creative idea is very similar to another kind
of idea………..?
• Therefore it is not very viable at birth.
– It is easily squelched.
• The originator very often has not developed
sufficient faith in the idea.
• A group, therefore, can be a hostile
environment to introduce a creative idea into.
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Spring 2007
Brainstorming
•
•
•
•
•
Osborne (Creative Imagination)
Let your mind wander widely.
Reserve criticism.
Screen ideas at a later time.
Does it work?
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Spring 2007
Creativity of Groups and Individuals
Number of Ideas
200
Individuals
160
Groups
120
Linear (Individuals)
Linear (Groups)
80
40
0
0
2
4
6
8
10
Group Size or Number of Individuals
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Spring 2007
Creativity of Groups and Individuals
Number of Ideas
80
Individuals
Groups
60
Linear (Groups)
Linear (Individuals)
40
20
0
0
2
4
6
8
Group Size or Number of Individuals
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Spring 2007
10
Creativity of Groups and Individuals
600
Number of Ideas
Individuals
500
Groups
Linear (Groups)
400
Linear (Individuals)
300
200
100
0
0
2
4
6
8
10
Group Size or Number of Individuals
From Bouchard, et. al.)
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Spring 2007
Some Research Evidence
Sources of Ideas in Product
Development
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The Context of the Study
X X X
X X
Project Team
Organization
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Sources of Technology
Outside
Experts
X X X
X X
Internal
Staff
Literature
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Literature & Documentation
Outside
Experts
X X X
X X
Internal
Staff
Literature
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Spring 2007
Literature & Documentation
Outside
Experts
X X X
X X
Internal
Staff
Literature
18%
4%
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Personal Contact
• Most of the information came through
personal contact.
– Where are the majority of these people?
• Inside or outside of the organization?
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People as Sources of Technology
Outside
Experts
2X
X X X
X X
1X
Internal
Staff
Literature
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Technology Sources for Product
Development Projects
People Outside
People Inside
All Written Material
0
10
20
30
40
50
Proportion of Messages
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60
Performance
• But what about performance?
– Where did the better ideas originate?
• Inside or outside?
• How can we measure performance?
– Is it difficult?
• Why?
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'Twin' Projects
X X X
X X
X X X
X X
Company 'B'
Company 'A'
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People as Sources of Technology
Outside
Experts
Poo
r
X X X
X X
Go
od
Literature
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Internal
Staff
Customer Evaluation of Solutions as a Function
of Idea Source
0.6
0.5
0.7
0.4
0.6
0.3
0.5
0.2
0.4
0.1
0.3
0
0.2
0.1
Internal
0
External
High
Low
olution
S
f
o
n
io
t
a
lu
a
Source of Idea Ev
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Proportion
Proportion
0.7
Customer Evaluation of Solutions as a Function
of Idea Source
Origin of Idea
High
Low
Low
High
0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1
Proportion of Ideas
Receiving Low Evaluation
External
Internal
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
Proportion of Ideas
Receiving High Evaluation
Figure by MIT OCW.
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Spring 2007
What have we learned?
• So far, no answers but three questions.
– Why don’t those outside the organizations
supply better ideas?
– Why aren’t those inside the organization
consulted more?
– How do the ‘internal consultants’ acquire
their information?
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Spring 2007
'Boundary Impedance' of the
Organization
Outside
Experts
Nega
tive
X X X
X X
Internal
Staff
Literature
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Science and Technology
• Science is Universal.
• Technology is Local.
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Technology
• Technology is defined in terms of:
– The Business Goals
– The Marketing Strategy
• and most importantly,
– The Culture
– of the organization in which it is developed.
• Technical problems are thus defined in terms
of that culture and its system of values.
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The Local Nature of Technology
• This implies that:
• Anyone outside of the organization cannot fully
understand the way that those within the
organization define technical problems without
understanding the organization's culture.
• This difficulty in understanding the problem is the
principal barrier to technology transfer.
• Barriers of this sort arise any time that we try to
transfer knowledge across organizational
boundaries.
• It thus holds true for internal communication as well
as communication with other organizations.
• It is one of the causes of poor interfunctional
relations in organizations.
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Internal Problems
• There are boundaries inside the
organization that can cause as much
difficulty (sometimes more) as the
external boundary:
– Product Development Ù Marketing.
– Product Development Ù Manufacturing
Engineering.
– Etc.
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More Continuing Relations
A
B
Potential Contacts
N2
N1
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Referrals
A
B
Referrals
N2
N1
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