DOCTORAL SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF MILANO-BICOCCA Department of Educational Human Sciences PhD program EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION - Cycle XXIX Curriculum in ORGANISATIONAL STUDIES DESIGN THINKING IN ORGANISATIONS: A PRACTICE-BASED APPROACH Surname: PRUS Name: IRYNA Registration number: 733935 Tutor: RAOUL NACAMULLI Co-tutor: ALESSANDRA LAZAZZARA Coordinator: LAURA FORMENTI Academic Year 2016/2017 ABSTRACT The concept of Design Thinking (DT) has emerged in business and management discourses as a promising approach to innovation. Numerous organisations start to apply DT practice on different scale for the purpose of the strategic renewal. Despite the growing popularity of the phenomenon in practice, there exists no coherent conceptualisation of DT in theory. The field of DT is young, full of contradictory statements and ambiguities, especially for what regards DT outcomes and benefits. Hence, this dissertation aims at consolidating the field by advancing knowledge on how DT is understood and practiced in organisations. For this, a practice-based approach was selected as a research perspective for gaining theoretical insights based on empirical findings. Moreover, this dissertation aims at explaining the relationship between the DT practice and innovation processes in organisations, so that to establish a dialogue between the two fields. For pursuing these goals, the literature on DT and innovation has been comprehensively reviewed for identifying existent problems and challenges of both fields. The empirical part of the research is developed according to an interpretative philosophical position and a qualitative approach. A single case study of the IBM Company was selected as a research strategy. The primary data were collected by a combination of three ethnographic methods (interviews, mobile ethnography, digital ethnography), and blended with secondary data from the desk research. In the analysis phase, a grounded theory approach and the narrative analysis were used to process the data. Research findings provide a historical context of the IBM Corporation and the IBM Design Company. Then, the IBM DT framework is analysed, and compared with how it is put in practice by IBMers in Italy. The IBM DT practice revealed to be constituent of three main components (mindset, agency, tools) that are orchestrated by DT principles. It was possible to find sub-dimensions and main characteristics for each constitutive element. Specifically, 3 sub-dimensions of mindset (learner, inventor, doer), 4 working modes associated with agency (explorative, sensemaking, imaginative, generating), and four typologies of tools (methods, techniques, frameworks, digital software). Moreover, six DT principles were identified, namely: humanocentrism, focused improvement, diversity- driven collaboration, holism appreciation, continuous learning, and multimodality. It was possible to observe how DT practice contributes to the innovation process in four different innovation phases: identification of the opportunity for change, strategy formulation, roadmap planning, crafting the final output. Finally, the role of contextual factors in the DT practice is discussed. Based on findings, some insights are drawn about the characteristics of the DT practice, and some ideas are advanced regarding the nature of the phenomenon. Finally, possible ways to contribute further to the field development are discussed, together with practical implications. Keywords: design; design thinking; innovation; strategy; practice; IBM. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS One bee won’t collect enough honey (Ukrainian proverb). Doing the research at the intersection of more disciplines was very challenging for me, therefore I am happy of not having been alone in this journey. Even if this initial acknowledgement is not essential to science, for me this personal note is very important, it is my tribute to all people who directly or indirectly helped me to arrive to the level of consciousness that permitted me to produce this final work. I would like to name all, taking the risk of forgetting someone, but I hope they will forgive my memory. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor Raoul Nacamulli for supporting my experiments, permitting me to seek my authenticity, and sharing enthusiasm for my work. I am deeply indebted to Alessandra Lazazzara for her pragmatic and generous support, and for showing me the way even in the most tragic moments. I am grateful to Barbara Quacquarelli for encouraging me on academic challenge and helping me in finding my professional identity. I am also thankful to scholars and fellows of the research centre “Bicocca Training & Development Centre” for building for inspiring discussions, workshops, and conferences. My gratitude goes also to all scholars from the Department of Educational Human Sciences, in particular to Laura Formenti and Guido Veronese for their encouragements, Alessandro Pepe for methodological discussions, not forgetting Francesco Paoletti for his punctual annual feedback on my research. Of course, I am thankful to all my PhD colleagues for their moral support, for sharing the same passion, and for being great friends. The moments we’ve passed together are precious: courses and conferences, summer schools, common library work, cafeteria talks. In a particular way, I would like to thank Silvia, Camilla, Roberta, and Marika for always granting me with their support and for showing their interest. I am also grateful to all colleagues from the English Group for nice and insightful debates. I want to thank all people who inspired my research interest toward design: a talented graphic designer Stefano Novajra, professor Francesco Zurlo, and all my friends from Giorgetti and Shoto who gave me the long-lasting opportunity to observe and get closer to their design practice. I thank Naiara Altuna for being my research angel, sponsoring my research, discussing the early results and improving them. I thank all IBMers, who dedicated time to my research project and were so generous and open with me, along with other experts on topic that I interviewed. I thank to all people whom I met during my academic travels in Finland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, and Italy. Those moments of confrontation with scholars and fellows from iii Euram, Egos, Itais, Esrea and Desma communities were the most useful and powerful motivational engines, permitting me to do great leaps in my research. A special thanks to Anna and Thomas for hosting me in Paris, and to the University of Agder for offering me a free course on methodology. I am also particularly grateful to Eusebio Scornavacca for providing me with useful feedback and suggestions. Thanks to everyone who helped me to destroy previous (raw, unattractive and ridiculous) versions of my work. I also express my sincere gratitude to Simona Marchesini, who has always been my personal coach and helped me to stay focused on my authentic passion. I thank to Ingrid Hollweck for being my model of persistence and entrepreneurship. I am also thankful to all colleagues from Coachpeople for inspiring me with insights from their professional practice. Of course, I am also thankful for outside of the academic microcosm that have stimulated my curiosity: all the members of the European and Italian Design Community, especially Milan Service Design Drinks, for making me believe in interdisciplinarity and contaminating me with their dynamism; the network of Global Service Jam for meeting enthusiastic social entrepreneurs. A sincere thank you to all my friends for helping me to build the courage to face the biggest challenges, for sharing my small achievements, and giving me the days of rest. I am particularly grateful to Sara, Nataliia, Kirsten, Oleksandr, Maria, Viktoriya, Yaryna, Ilenia for their kind interest in proceedings of my work and their suggestions. My deep gratitude goes also to my Italian families, for giving robustness to my fresh roots: MariaRosa, Marta & Co, Silvia T. & Co, Lucia & Co, Luigi, Silvia C. & Co. Finally, I express my gratitude to the most important people of my life: my mom for her immense love and support; my dad for remembering me the real value of things; my sister for always being there and transmitting me her nerdy enthusiasm; and Alberto for sharing every moment and for growing together. I also express my profound gratitude to my Ukrainian countrymen. My phd journey has started concurrently with the war in my homeland. It was horrible staying distant from the battle that my relatives and friends were - and unfortunately still are - bringing on. I decided to do my "battle" in the only place I could be useful - in my work. Thinking of my countrymen has always given me courage, saved me from making discounts to myself, and always helped to dream in big. My motto was the phrase of Phil Ochs "In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty". During the writing phase, I reflected a lot on the academic habit of using “we” instead of “I”. I felt more comfortable with using the first person, because this work is pretty much expression of me, because in some cases I dared with hazardous styles (and I hope that people devoted to traditions won’t take it for arrogance), and also because I see this dissertation as my dialogue with the reader. So, please, mind that using the first person is just my sincere attempt to “humanize” your reading experience, make it more engaging, and not a symptom of exagerated self-confidence. Iryna Prus iv Table of Contents INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................