The Model of Innovative Challenges with the Approach of Responding to Industrial Demands

Authors

    Hadi Hosseini PhD Student, Department of Technology Management, Faculty of Management, Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran.
    Naser Azad * Assistant Professor, Department of Business Management, Faculty of Management, Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran n_azad@azad.ac.ir
    Mahmoud Modiri Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial Management, Faculty of Management, Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran
    Manochehr Mantegi Professor, Department of Management, Faculty of Management and Industrial Engineering, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
https://doi.org/10.61838/kman.aitech.3.2.7

Keywords:

open innovation, crowdsourcing, open innovation mediators, innovative challenges

Abstract

Abstract
Purpose: In today’s competitive markets, innovation is essential for survival and success. Companies adopt various tools to foster innovation and address their challenges—one of which is hosting innovative challenges. These events allow firms to engage with problem-solving communities to generate solutions. This study aims to explore the conditions necessary for organizing such events and to identify the key factors that influence their success in addressing industrial demands.

Method: This research employs a mixed-methods approach (qualitative–quantitative). Initially, a qualitative method was used to extract relevant factors from existing literature through content analysis, expert interviews, and open coding. Subsequently, the identified factors were screened using a quantitative approach, specifically the fuzzy Delphi method, conducted in two rounds with expert input. To develop a conceptual model comprising indices and sub-indices, exploratory factor analysis was conducted based on expert evaluations. Finally, the proposed model was validated through confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling in LISREL software.

Findings: The results indicate that the process of conducting innovative challenges to address industrial needs consists of four main stages: Problem Definition, Information, Evaluation, and Acquisition. Additionally, 20 critical success factors were identified as essential for organizing an effective event. Based on these findings, a comprehensive model for implementing innovative challenges was developed.

 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Abi Saad, E., Tremblay, N., & Agogué, M. (2024). A multi-level perspective on innovation intermediaries: The case of the diffusion of digital technologies in healthcare. Technovation, 129, 102899. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2023.102899

Bakici, T. (2020). Comparison of crowdsourcing platforms from social-psychological and motivational perspectives. International Journal of Information Management, 54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102121

Battistella, C., & Nonino, F. (2012). Open innovation web-based platforms: the impact of different forms of motivation on collaboration. Innovations, 14(4), 557-575. https://doi.org/10.5172/impp.2012.14.4.557

Bäumle, P. (2025). Knowledge intermediaries in regional innovation systems.

Brabham, D. C. (2008). Crowdsourcing as a model for problem solving. Convergence, 14(1), 75-90. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856507084420

Chauhan, A. S., Nepal, B., Soni, G., & Rathore, A. P. S. (2018). Examining the state of risk management research in new product development process. Engineering Management Journal, 30(2), 85-97. https://doi.org/10.1080/10429247.2018.1446120

Chen, L., Wang, M., Cui, L., & Li, S. (2021). Experience base, strategy‐by‐doing and new product performance. Strategic management journal, 42(7), 1379-1398. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3262

Chesbrough, H. (2006). Open Business Models. Harvard Business School Press.

Chesbrough, H. W. (2003). Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology. Harvard Business School Press.

Chu, X., & Bai, Y. (2025). Effect of the digital transformation of firms in a developing country on their reverse innovation: the complementary roles of multi-contexts. Int. J. Technology Management, 97(2/3), 275-304. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJTM.2025.143582

Claire, H., McCarthy, A., Ferri, P., & Shapira, P. (2024). Innovation intermediaries at the convergence of digital technologies, sustainability, and governance: A case study of AI-enabled engineering biology. Technovation, 129, 102875. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2023.102875

Colovic, A., Caloffi, A., Rossi, F., & Russo, M. (2025). Institutionalising the digital transition: The role of digital innovation intermediaries. Research Policy, 54(1), 105146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2024.105146

Cooper, R. G. (2019). The drivers of success in new-product development. Industrial Marketing Management, 76, 36-47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2018.07.005

Dahlander, L., & Gann, D. (2010). How open is innovation? Research Policy, 39(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2010.01.013

De Almeida, J. F., Amaral, D. C., & Coelho, R. T. (2021). Innovative Framework to manage New Product Development (NPD) Additive Manufacturing (AM) and Agile Management

De Mattosa, C. A., Kissimotob, K. O., & Laurindoc, F. J. B. (2018). The role of information technology for building virtual environments to integrate crowdsourcing mechanisms into the open innovation process. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2017.12.020

Durmusoglu, S. S., & Kawakami, T. (2021). Information technology tool use frequency in new product development: The effect of stage-specific use frequency on performance. Industrial Marketing Management, 93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.01.014

Egger, R., Gula, I., & Walcher, D. (2016). Towards a Holistic Framework of Open Tourism. In R. Egger, I. Gula, & D. Walcher (Eds.), Open Tourism: Open Innovation, Crowdsourcing and Co-Creation Challenging the Tourism Industry. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54089-9

Ettlinger, N. (2017). Open innovation and its discontents. Geoforum, 80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2017.01.011

Foege, J. N., Dragsdahl Lauritzen, G., Tietze, F., & Salge, T. O. (2019). Reconceptualizing the paradox of openness: How solvers navigate sharingprotecting tensions in crowdsourcing. Research Policy, 48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2019.01.013

Ghezzi, A., Gabelloni, D., Martini, A., & Natalicchio, A. (2017). Crowdsourcing: A Review and Suggestions for Future Research. International Journal of Management Reviews.

Grönlund, J., Sjödin, D. R., & Frishammar, J. (2010). Open innovation and the stage-gate process: A revised model for new product development. California Management Review, 52(3), 106-131. https://doi.org/10.1525/cmr.2010.52.3.106

Gutierrez-Gutierrez, L. J., Barrales-Molina, V., & Kaynak, H. (2018). The role of human resource-related quality management practices in new product development: A dynamic capability perspective. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 38(1), 43-66. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-07-2016-0387

Hossain, M., & Kauranen, I. (2015). Crowdsourcing: a comprehensive literature review. Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1108/SO-12-2014-0029

Howe, J. (2006). The Rise of Crowdsourcing. WIRED, 14.

Howells, J. (2024). Innovation intermediaries in a digital paradigm: A theoretical perspective. Technovation, 129, 102889. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2023.102889

Hyvärinen, A. M., Keskinen, M., & Levänen, J. (2024). Intermediaries as drivers of innovation development in resource-constrained environments: Insights from the Kenyan water sector. Technovation, 131, 102956. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2024.102956

InnoCentive. (2021). InnoCentive.com. www.Innocentive.com

Keinz, P., & Marhold, K. (2021). Technological competence leveraging projects via intermediaries: Viable means to outbound open innovation and mediated capability building? International Journal of Project Management, 29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2020.10.006

Lee, H., & Cho, N. (2024). Relationship between Absorptive Capacity, Technology Collaboration Performance, and Innovation Intermediaries: A Grounded Theory Approach. Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management, 31(3), 105-117. https://doi.org/10.21219/JITAM.2024.31.3.105

Leimeister, J. M., Huber, M., Bretschneider, U., & Krcmar, H. (2009). Leveraging Crowdsourcing: Activation-Supporting components for IT-based ideas competition. Journal of Management Information Systems (JMIS), 26(1), 197-224. https://doi.org/10.2753/MIS0742-1222260108

Lu, P., Yuan, S., & Wu, J. (2017). The interaction effect between intra-organizational and inter-organizational control on the project performance of new product development in open innovation. International Journal of Project Management, 35(8). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.09.009

Mazzola, E., Piazza, M., Acur, N., & Perrone, G. (2020). Treating the crowd fairly: Increasing the solvers' self-selection in idea innovation contests. Industrial Marketing Management, 91, 16-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.07.019

Mergel, I., & Desouza, K. C. (2013). Implementing Open Innovation in the Public Sector: The Case of Challenge.gov. Public Administration Review, 73, 882-890. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12141

Ozaygen, A., & Balague, C. (2018). Idea Evaluation in Innovation Contest Platforms: A Network Perspective. Decision Support Systems, 112, 15-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2018.06.001

Pollok, P., Lüttgens, D., & Piller, F. T. (2018). How firms develop capabilities for crowdsourcing to increase open innovation performance: The interplay between organizational roles and knowledge processes. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 36(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12485

Pollok, P., Lüttgens, D., & Piller, F. T. (2019). Attracting solutions in crowdsourcing contests: The role of knowledge distance, identity disclosure, and seeker status. Research Policy, 48(1), 98-114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2018.07.022

Presenza, A., Abbate, T., Cesaroni, F., & Appio, F. P. (2019). Enacting Social Crowdfunding Business Ecosystems: The case of the platform Meridonare. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2019.03.001

Richard, B., Ford, R., & Perry, W. (2016). Crowdsourcing in the lodging industry: Innovation on a budget. In R. Egger, I. Gula, & D. Walcher (Eds.), Open Tourism - Open Innovation, Crowdsourcing and Collaborative Consumption challenging the tourism industry (pp. 79-94). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54089-9_6

Rivasa, A. A., Chenb, Y.-C., & Yang, T.-K. (2020). Entrepreneurial and alliance orientation alignment in new product development. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 153, 119916. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.119916

Sala-Vilar, L. R., Li-Ying, J., & Traunecker, T. (2024). How do innovation intermediaries' business models cope with their need to develop new digital services? Technovation, 131, 102950. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2023.102950

Sari, A., Tosun, A., & Alptekin, G. I. (2019). A systematic literature review on crowdsourcing in software engineering. The Journal of Systems and Software, 153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2019.04.027

Scarbrough, H., Sanfilippo, K. R. M., Ziemann, A., & Stavropoulou, C. (2024). Mobilizing pilot-based evidence for the spread and sustainability of innovations in healthcare: The role of innovation intermediaries. Social Science & Medicine, 340, 116394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116394

Schemmann, B., Herrmann, A., Chappin, M. M. H., & Heimeriks, G. J. (2016). Crowdsourcing ideas: Involving ordinary users in the ideation phase of new product development. Research Policy, 45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2016.02.003

Strazzullo, S., Mauriello, R., Corvello, V., Cricelli, L., & Grimaldi, M. (2025). How open innovation can improve companies' corporate social responsibility performance? Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, 34(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12535

Taeihagh, A. (2017). Examination of crowdsourcing as a tool for policy making

Tam, C., da Costa Moura, E. J., Oliveira, T., & Varajão, J. (2020). The factors influencing the success of on-going agile software development projects. International Journal of Project Management, 38(3), 165-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2020.02.001

Vidmar, M. (2021). Enablers, Equippers, Shapers and Movers: A typology of innovation intermediaries' interventions and the development of an emergent innovation system. Acta Astronautica, 179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2020.10.011

Xiao, S., Lew, Y. K., & Park, B. I. (2021). International new product development performance, entrepreneurial capability, and network in high-tech ventures. Journal of Business Research, 124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.048

Ye, W., Xu, P., Jia, Y., & Jiang, F. (2012). Crowdsourcing for open innovations. Applied Mathematics, 6(3S).

Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications. Sage publications.

Zahaya, D., Hajlib, N., & Sihic, D. (2017). Managerial perspectives on crowdsourcing in the new product development process. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2017.11.002

Zhua, X., Xiaob, Z., Dongc, M. C., & Gud, J. (2019). The fit between firms' open innovation and business model for new product development speed: A contingent perspective. Technovation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2019.05.005

Additional Files

Published

2024-04-01

How to Cite

Hosseini, H., Azad, N., Modiri, M., & Mantegi, M. (2024). The Model of Innovative Challenges with the Approach of Responding to Industrial Demands. AI and Tech in Behavioral and Social Sciences, 3(2), 60-85. https://doi.org/10.61838/kman.aitech.3.2.7