In this paper we explore how knowledge brokers - specialised design and engineering companies offering services to clients in diverse industries - use analogies for product development. Our research is based on interviews with project leaders of 13 knowledge brokering companies. The interviews...

In this paper we explore how knowledge brokers - specialised design and engineering companies offering services to clients in diverse industries - use analogies for product development. Our research is based on interviews with project leaders of 13 knowledge brokering companies. The interviews...

Companies in high-technology marketplaces are confronted with social, market-specific, technological and economical changes such as technology innovation, changing customer requirements, globalization of markets and competitions as well as market uncertainty. Manufacturing companies cannot...

During the last years, companies in high-technology marketplaces were confronted with technology innovations, dynamic markets, changing customer requirements and uncertainty. Manufacturing companies can't escape these trends. To cope with these trends, companies try to develop new product...

Manufacturers usually benefit by dividing their innovation processes into distinct phases inorder to ensure that the development activities are performed efficiently in an appropriatesequence [1]. Users usually do not apply such structured processes. They follow a moreintuition-driven approach....

Analogies can trigger breakthrough ideas in new product development. Numerous examples demonstratethat substantial innovations often result from transferring problem solutions from one industry ordomain to another. For instance, the designers of the new running shoe generation of Nike,...

We report on a survey of the innovation activities and characteristics of 153 users of outdoor-related consumer products. We find a high level of innovation by these consumers. Thirty-seven percent report that they have developed ideas for new or improved products, and more than 9% report...

Mit der Marktnahen Produktentwicklung soll die technologische Leistungsfähigkeit eines Unternehmens so in die Neuproduktentwicklung eingebunden werden, dass Bedürfnisse der Kunden bestmöglich befriedigt werden. Auf diese Weise sollen geforderte und realisierte Produkteigenschaften...