How does research and development (R&D) strategy shift by adopting imaginary future generations?-Insights from future design practice in a water engineering company

被引：4

作者：

Hara, Keishiro ^{[1
]}

Kuroda, Masashi ^{[2
]}

Nomaguchi, Yutaka ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Osaka Univ, Grad Sch Engn, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 5650871, Japan

[2] Tokoha Univ, Fac Social & Environm Studies, 6-1 Yayoicho,Suruga Ku, Shizuoka 4228581, Japan

来源：

FUTURES | 2023年 / 152卷

基金：

日本学术振兴会;

关键词：

Technological innovation; Imaginary future generations; Industrial sector; Futurability; Research and development (R & D);

D O I：

10.1016/j.futures.2023.103221

中图分类号：

F [经济];

学科分类号：

02 ;

摘要：

Conducting deliberation experiments involving the employees of a water engineering company, this study examined the effects that the adoption of "imaginary future generations (IFGs)," an innovative approach to overcome intergenerational conflict by generating futurability, had on the design of a vision for business strategy in 2050 and a policy for a research and development (R & D) strategy. Analysis was conducted using text mining of speech data recordings of participants' discussions. Data from questionnaire surveys administrated to all participants were also analyzed to examine possible changes in their perceptions about criteria for designing R & D strategies. The results of the text mining revealed that by adopting IFGs, the speculative state of future society and business development as of 2050 and R & D strategies were changed from when envisioning from the perspective of current generations. The results of the questionnaire survey showed that items of criteria for designing R & D strategies, such as "client needs," "differentiation from industry competitors," "cost," and "business models," which had been emphasized when examined from the current generations' perspective as important indicators, decreased in importance by adopting IFGs. We conclude that the adoption of IFGs could shift R & D strategy and induce new directions of technological innovations from the viewpoint of futurability.

引用

页数：14