Design Theories and Innovation

- A unified approach and its managerial implications

How do we manage design and innovation? How do we talk about innovation and design activities?

By: Armand Hatchuel, Professor of Design and Management, Ecole des Mines de Paris.

In order to manage innovation and design activities we need to have a language about design activities. We need theories about what design is and what can be managed. Armand Hatchuel and his colleagues have been working with the challenges of managing design and innovation for many years.

The main notions and managerial applications of a unified design theory - called C-K is presented. We call it « C-K theory » because its central proposition is a formal distinction between space of «Concepts» (C) and space of «Knowledge» (K). C-K modeling is now used in several companies (SAAB aerospace, Renault, Dassault systems) as a guide for the management of innovative design; for developing new organizational structures different from classic R&D organizations and for memorizing innovation processes.

Armand Hatchuel is Professor of Design and Management at the Ecole des Mines de Paris and permanent invited Professor at the Fenix center of the Chalmers Institute of Göteborg. His is also deputy director of the Center for Management Science. His research work has been about the theory and history of both management and Design.

The seminar is free of charge but please register.

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