Business, Open Innovation and Art

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Special Issue Editors

1. Chief Creative Officer, Song Essinova, LLC, Belmont, CA 94002, USA
2. Editor, Essinova Journal
3. Facilitator and Coach, Executive Education, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Interests: creativity; innovation; business; art; management; leadership; science; technology; design; nature

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Guest Editor
1. Senior Research Fellow, Innovation Value Institute, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Co Kildare, Ireland
2. Founder, International Entrepreneurship Academy Network
3. Adjunct Professor of Knowledge Economics, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran4. Guest Professor, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
Interests: economics; innovation; entrepreneurship

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Guest Editor
1. External Lecturer, Copenhagen Business School, Solbjerg Plads 3, DK-2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark
2. Founder, CoCreation Leadership Development
3. Founder, Sensing Mind Institute
Interests: leadership education; art; cognitive science; systems of personal development; co-creation; entrepreneurship

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In spite of modern perceptions of art and business as being polar opposites of the other, both in terms of value systems and of operating fundamentals, business has much to learn from the arts, and management is more of an art than people recognize. Successful artists and executives share common prerequisites. Business can grow artistically by the alchemy of invention. As companies find their business environment increasingly complex to navigate, like perpetual whitewater brought upon by unprecedented technological and social changes, art can be a powerful tool to catalyze innovation and transform culture, helping companies discover/re-discover their compass, create new rafts to conquer the rapids and find “blue ocean” market spaces far ahead of competition.

From industry leaders such as Autodesk and Google to frontier startups such as Planet.com, forward-thinking companies have adopted artist-in-residence programs to maintain creative edge and catalyze new business opportunities. European Commission has launched the START prize, featuring innovative cooperation between art and industry/technology. There have also been some studies demonstrating the linkage between creativity training and the bottom-line. However, such studies are few and far between, and the vast majority of businesspeople cannot see much use for art in business beyond decoration in the lobby and maybe some branding value.

We invite potential contributors to submit essays, case studies and research findings articulating and proving arts’ value for business management, especially for innovation. We particularly welcome insights and data addressing the frequently asked question from the skeptics: “What is the ROI of an art program?” We also encourage any views on the difference between art and design, and any art-thinking framework, which might take the popular design-thinking approach a step further. Insights from creative industries that have broader applicability to the business world would be appropriate as well.

Ms. Beibei Song
Prof. Piero Formica
Dr. Claus Springborg
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Creative leadership
  • Artful management
  • Artful innovation
  • Art
  • Creativity
  • Innovation
  • Creativity training
  • Art-thinking
  • Design-thinking
  • Leadership
  • Management
  • Business

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 336 KiB  
Article
An Organizational Perspective on ArtScience Collaboration: Opportunities and Challenges of Platforms to Collaborate with Artists
by Claudia Schnugg and BeiBei Song
J. Open Innov. Technol. Mark. Complex. 2020, 6(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc6010006 - 21 Jan 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4990
Abstract
Artists are often seen as innovators and producers of creative and extraordinary new ideas. Additionally, experiencing art and artistic processes is an important opportunity for learning and exploration. Thus, corporations and scientific organizations have experimented with initiatives that generate artscience collaboration, such as [...] Read more.
Artists are often seen as innovators and producers of creative and extraordinary new ideas. Additionally, experiencing art and artistic processes is an important opportunity for learning and exploration. Thus, corporations and scientific organizations have experimented with initiatives that generate artscience collaboration, such as fellowships, long-term collaborations with artists, and artist-in-residence programs. Looking at outcomes in the long-term, it is possible to identify important contributions to scientific, technological, and artistic fields that stem from artscience collaboration opportunities in organizations. On the other hand, it is often difficult to define immediate tangible outcomes of such processes as innovation as interdisciplinary interaction and learning processes are valuable experiences that do not always manifest directly in outcomes that can be measured. Drawing from cases of artscience programs and qualitative interviews with program managers, scientists, and artists, this article explores how artscience collaboration in an organization adds value and helps overcome organizational challenges regardless of such outcomes. By shifting the focus from the outcome to the process of artscience collaboration, it is possible to discover in more depth value-added contributions of artscience experiences on an individual level (e.g., new ways of knowing and thinking, understanding of materials and processes, and learning). Moreover, such contributions tell stories of connecting the process of artscience programs to the organizations’ goals of developing a new generation of leaders and driving a more adaptive, innovative culture. These benefits of artscience opportunities need to be supported by managerial activities in the organization. Thus, it enables a more differentiated understanding of possible contributions of artscience collaboration to organizations and helps to define the best model to create such opportunities. The article also recommends future research directions to further advance artscience collaboaration, especially in light of pertinent movements such as STEAM and Open Innovation, and promising developments in related fields such as neuro-aesthetics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Business, Open Innovation and Art)
13 pages, 1463 KiB  
Article
How Art Places Climate Change at the Heart of Technological Innovation
by Jeanne Bloch and Céline Verchère
J. Open Innov. Technol. Mark. Complex. 2019, 5(4), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc5040093 - 19 Nov 2019
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3571
Abstract
How can we place climate change issues at the heart of technological innovation? From our point of view, artistic practice is a powerful tool to infuse sustainability dimensions into technological developments. By using a sensitive approach based on a dialogue with his/her inner [...] Read more.
How can we place climate change issues at the heart of technological innovation? From our point of view, artistic practice is a powerful tool to infuse sustainability dimensions into technological developments. By using a sensitive approach based on a dialogue with his/her inner self, the artist questions the nature and meaning of technological developments and therefore appeals to users’ deep motivations. We explore first how the artist inner self engagement in the creation process relates to climate change mitigation. Then, through a qualitative survey-type experimentation derived from Jeanne Bloch’s art-tech installation, we expose how the confrontation with a panel of users helps to understand the characteristics of the dialogue an artist engages in with an “immersed” audience, particularly on the issue of climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Business, Open Innovation and Art)
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22 pages, 618 KiB  
Article
Art Hacking for Business Innovation: An Exploratory Case Study on Applied Artistic Strategies
by Berit Sandberg
J. Open Innov. Technol. Mark. Complex. 2019, 5(1), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc5010020 - 14 Mar 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 5978
Abstract
Despite a growing interest in the effects of arts-based interventions on organizational change, concepts aiming at business innovation and product development other than residencies are rare. Furthermore, little is known about the role and impact of artists involved in idea-generating formats. How does [...] Read more.
Despite a growing interest in the effects of arts-based interventions on organizational change, concepts aiming at business innovation and product development other than residencies are rare. Furthermore, little is known about the role and impact of artists involved in idea-generating formats. How does the personal presence of artists in a heterogenous working group influence the procedure? To what extent do artists unfold their creative qualities while dealing with such a non-artistic challenge? The paper introduces a method named Art Hacking that applies professional labour attitudes typical for artists and artistic modes of thinking to business problems and enhances the approach by having artists attend the whole intervention. One of these events was taken as a case for exploring the role of four artists in the collective idea-generation process. The results of participatory observation along critical incident technique substantiate the thesis that in interdisciplinary “playgrounds” artists implicitly become process leaders. They are catalysts for awareness, sensemaking and change of perspective. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Business, Open Innovation and Art)
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18 pages, 3432 KiB  
Article
From Design Thinking to Art Thinking with an Open Innovation Perspective—A Case Study of How Art Thinking Rescued a Cultural Institution in Dublin
by Peter Robbins
J. Open Innov. Technol. Mark. Complex. 2018, 4(4), 57; https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc4040057 - 3 Dec 2018
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 14591
Abstract
This article uses a contemporary and revelatory case study to explore the relationship between three conversations in the innovation literature: Design Thinking, creativity in strategy, and the emerging area of Art Thinking. Businesses are increasingly operating in a VUCA environment where they need [...] Read more.
This article uses a contemporary and revelatory case study to explore the relationship between three conversations in the innovation literature: Design Thinking, creativity in strategy, and the emerging area of Art Thinking. Businesses are increasingly operating in a VUCA environment where they need to design better experiences for their customers and better outcomes for their firm and the Arts are no exception. Innovation, or more correctly, growth through innovation, is a top priority for business and although there is no single, unifying blueprint for success at innovation, Design Thinking is the process that is receiving most attention and getting most traction. We review the literature on Design Thinking, showing how it teaches businesses to think with the creativity and intuition of a designer to show a deep understanding of, and have empathy with, the user. However, Design Thinking has limitations. By placing the consumer at the very heart of the innovation process, Design Thinking can often lead to more incremental, rather than radical, ideas. Now there is a new perspective emerging, Art Thinking, in which the objective is not to design a journey from the current scenario, A, to an improved position, A+. Art Thinking requires the creation of an optimal position B, and spends more time in the open-ended problem space, staking out possibilities and looking for uncontested space. This paper offers a single case study of a national arts organisation in Dublin facing an existential crisis, which used an Art Thinking approach successfully to give a much-needed shot in the arm to its commercial innovation activities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Business, Open Innovation and Art)
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16 pages, 686 KiB  
Article
Collaborative Innovation: Exploring the Intersections among Theater, Art and Business in the Classroom
by Sara Beckman, Stacy Jo Scott and Lisa Wymore
J. Open Innov. Technol. Mark. Complex. 2018, 4(4), 52; https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc4040052 - 29 Oct 2018
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 5290
Abstract
There is a long history of conversations about integrating business and arts-based learning, but they are taking on more urgency today as technology-induced change and global interconnectivity are altering how humans learn, create, and construct new knowledge in unprecedented ways. However, there is [...] Read more.
There is a long history of conversations about integrating business and arts-based learning, but they are taking on more urgency today as technology-induced change and global interconnectivity are altering how humans learn, create, and construct new knowledge in unprecedented ways. However, there is much still to be learned about how the disciplines might be integrated and in what ways they can jointly serve the development not only of university students, but of how professional practice itself is defined. Over the past three years, faculty from the Theater and Dance Performance Studies, Art Practice, and Business disciplines at UC Berkeley have collaborated to create a course, Collaborative Innovation, that explores both collaboration and innovation at the intersection of these three fields. This paper presents a framework for a genuinely integrated interdisciplinary class that interweaves personal development and growth with problem framing and solving skills, and diverse-team participation and leadership. Quotes from student reflection papers bring alive the transformational experiences students went through in this course. The integration of socially engaged art, business, and theater/performance through collaborative teamwork tackling important and challenging social problems opens unexpected potential for student development as future contributors to society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Business, Open Innovation and Art)
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17 pages, 7813 KiB  
Article
Joseph Beuys’ Rediscovery of Man–Nature Relationship: A Pioneering Experience of Open Social Innovation
by Fabio Maria Montagnino
J. Open Innov. Technol. Mark. Complex. 2018, 4(4), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc4040050 - 23 Oct 2018
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 7596
Abstract
The emerging paradigm of sustainability represents a challenging field in terms of new technologies, market regulations, and business models. Limits of both linear industrial development and consumerist way of living have been clearly identified since the late 1960s by the first systemic studies [...] Read more.
The emerging paradigm of sustainability represents a challenging field in terms of new technologies, market regulations, and business models. Limits of both linear industrial development and consumerist way of living have been clearly identified since the late 1960s by the first systemic studies on the effect of human activities on Earth. Many contributions from different disciplines have paved the way for an open, participated, and responsible innovation approach, which is presently triggering the transition toward a nonexploitative human development. An anticipation of this conceptual framework can be found in Joseph Beuys’ art, which can still represent a source of inspiration for innovators, entrepreneurs, economists, and community leaders. In his artistic legacy—from the six blackboards of Perugia to the 7000 Oaks of Kassel—Beuys is still asking us to transform our everyday actions, joining the collective effort toward a new evolutionary stage of humanity, founded upon a holistic vision of society and nature. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Business, Open Innovation and Art)
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10 pages, 3148 KiB  
Article
Classical Guitar Study as Creativity Training: Potential Benefits for Managers and Entrepreneurs
by Jonathan Gangi
J. Open Innov. Technol. Mark. Complex. 2018, 4(4), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc4040045 - 25 Sep 2018
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4217
Abstract
Divergent thinking ability, as an aspect of creativity, seems valuable to managers and entrepreneurs as they employ the tools of creative problem-solving and innovative thinking in pursuit of business success. Musical study in general, and classical guitar study to a greater degree, has [...] Read more.
Divergent thinking ability, as an aspect of creativity, seems valuable to managers and entrepreneurs as they employ the tools of creative problem-solving and innovative thinking in pursuit of business success. Musical study in general, and classical guitar study to a greater degree, has the potential to improve divergent thinking and creative problem-solving abilities. As such, I suggest that utilizing classical guitar study as a creativity training tool may benefit entrepreneurs and managers within a variety of industries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Business, Open Innovation and Art)
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Review

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19 pages, 272 KiB  
Review
Creativity in Business Education: A Review of Creative Self-Belief Theories and Arts-Based Methods
by Sogol Homayoun and Danah Henriksen
J. Open Innov. Technol. Mark. Complex. 2018, 4(4), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc4040055 - 20 Nov 2018
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 7647
Abstract
Creativity has become one of the most sought-after skills from graduates across business and industry. It is therefore imperative to infuse creativity training within business programs of study and professional development experiences, to remind people of their eternally curious and creative nature. The [...] Read more.
Creativity has become one of the most sought-after skills from graduates across business and industry. It is therefore imperative to infuse creativity training within business programs of study and professional development experiences, to remind people of their eternally curious and creative nature. The objective of this paper is to explore the literature around theories of creative potential and performance—including creative identity, creative mindset, and creative self-efficacy. We consider perspectives that reveal that creativity is a mindset predicated on beliefs and ways of thinking. Educational psychology literature and theories of creative self-belief illustrate how creative identity, mindset, and self-efficacy form the core of an individual’s belief system to think, act, and develop creatively in the world. This connects to the potential of arts-based methods as a means to infuse creative learning into business education. We illustrate how our findings can be put into practice by sharing an example of an art-based intervention that is currently in progress to develop creative capacity among students in an internationally known business program. We conclude with the idea that its incumbent upon business education, professional development, and training to incorporate methodologies that enhance creative capacity by initially eliminating or minimizing self-perceived limitations in people, such as fear, negative personal judgement, and chattering of the mind—and theories of creative self-belief provide a foundation that can undergird arts-based methods toward this goal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Business, Open Innovation and Art)
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