The course is fully booked! Please sign up at the waiting list.
The course brings together management scholars and design researchers and particularly welcomes those PhD students who work cross-disciplinary within design and/or management, e.g., using and integrating theories, conceptual frameworks, and methods originating from different disciplines. There is an established consensus around the need to position ourselves - both as researchers and educators - at the intersection of multiple fields. However, the journey is not always smooth and straightforward. Among the advantages, there is the possibility to broaden our perspective and use richer cross-disciplinary conceptual constructs and methods. Among the disadvantages, there is the difficulty in carrying out research and publishing in an academic landscape that, at times, values narrow and deeply siloed research rather than broad integration.
If you, as a PhD student, feel that you have not really found your own disciplinary ‘home’, this PhD course is for you. Through hands-on exercises, you will be paired with peer researchers - PhD students from different walks of life - and have the opportunity to experience first-hand the value of cross-disciplinary interaction. We will learn how to nurture and treasure this cross-disciplinary interaction and pave the foundations for when you, early career researchers, will advance in your academic career and will be able to reshape the research landscape and make it more open and more inclusive.
Key moments in this course include, among others:
(1) introductory lectures on cross-disciplinarity and criticism from leading scholars within design and management,
(2) cross-disciplinary hands-on moments of peer interaction, during which each PhD student will have the possibility to draw peers’ attention towards their respective project and discuss it in an engaging way, hopefully by receiving actionable pointers on how to develop further the project,
(3) mingling and networking opportunities.
As a bonus, attendees will have the possibility, if they like, of attending a satellite event, that is, a formal seminar in which a PhD student from Aalborg University will present her research (tentative title: “Participatory visual mapping as a way to support multi-perspective and long-term thinking within the context of urban transformation”) and get feedback from three discussants, all of whom are established academics across various fields of social sciences. This seminar will provide attendees with a glimpse of how a PhD research project, along with the underpinning conceptual frameworks and methods, are constantly subject to change due to external, most often than not, constructive feedback. Building on Day 1 lectures, the seminar will close with a brief recap of how peers’ feedback always needs to be distilled and handled (i.e., integrated into one’s research) accordingly.
The course will occur on September 21 and 22; however, there will be some small work to do before. You will need to confirm your attendance no later than August 29. On June 26 at 16.00 CEST, there will be an online onboarding session (through the Zoom platform, link: https://aaudk.zoom.us/j/68613993717) aimed at introducing the course to interested PhD students, sharing the modalities and starting to know each other. Furthermore, in that session, we will explain that you need to prepare a one-pager describing your current research trajectory and upload it into a Miro board. Before the course, you will have to browse that Miro board and get familiar with the research topics explored by the other course participants.
We hope that you will join us in this research adventure that will, hopefully, also give us the chance to forge new friendships and build a small community which can function as a welcoming cross-disciplinary home for those who feel that they haven’t yet found one.
Preparation before the course
- We offer an optional online onboarding session on June 26 at 16.00 CEST, and all prospective students are welcome to attend (Zoom link:
https://aaudk.zoom.us/j/68613993717)
- You are also asked to write a one-page document that briefly presents your ongoing doctoral project and upload it into a Miro board. On this Miro board, you will
also be able to read and comment on other students’ research. We will share the URL to access the Miro board at a later stage.
Detailed programme
Day 1 (September 21, 2023)
9:30 – 10:00 Soft start with coffee and tea
10:00 – 10:30 Welcome & introduction (ice-breaking)
10:30 – 12:00 Lectures (Beatrice D’Ippolito: cross-disciplinarity; Claudio Dell’Era: the art of criticism)
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch (at own expense but at 12.30, we will provide coffee and cakes)
13:00 – 14:00 (plenary) Each PhD introduces her research
14:00 – 14:30 (plenary) Speed dating
15:00 – 16:30 The students work in pairs (the aim will be to match students based on their disciplinary background) to discuss and critique on emerging common themes, drawing from the respective research project. This session seeks to enrich attendees’ understanding of different theoretical developments and methodological approaches.
17:00 – 18:30 (optional) 11-month seminar (30 minutes to present and then 1,00 h discussion). The PhD student Hadas Zohar will present her work (tentatively titled “Participatory visual mapping as a way to support multi-perspective and long-term thinking within the context of urban transformation”), and Lea Holst Laursen, Beatrice D’Ippolito and Claudio Dell’Era will act as opponents/discussants.
18:30 – 19:30 Organized tour between workshop location and dinner location
19:30 – 21:30 Dinner (at own expense)
Day 2 (September 22, 2023)
8:30 – 9:00 Soft start with coffee and tea
9:00 – 10:30 Students work in circles, working on a joint mapping exercise, with the aim of positioning PhD Projects/Thesis within a Landscapes of Theories/Frameworks
10:45 – 12:00 Students finalize the mapping, potentially also enriching the map with more specific detail on their own research trajectory
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch
13:00 – 14:30 Public event and vernissage, in which an external guest will look at the mapping and act as a discussant, providing feedback and asking questions
14:30 – 15:00 Final reflections, wrap up, and next steps
Course lecturers and organizers
Luca Simeone, Associate professor, Aalborg University, Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology (email: lsi@create.aau.dk).
Luca’s core focus is on how design and arts can support personal, organizational and community resilience, innovation, transition thinking, long-term strategic orientation and positive and impactful change. He has carried out research, teaching and consulting activities at various universities (Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Polytechnic University of Milan, Malmö University and University of the Arts London), (co)authoring and (co)editing some 70 publications. He also helps private and public organizations (e.g. the European Commission, the World Bank, UNICEF and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) to define strategies, policies, and funding schemes to foster innovation.
Lea Holst Laursen, Associate professor, Aalborg University, Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology (email: llhl@create.aau.dk)
Lea Holst Laursen is an associate professor and section head for the Architecture and Urban Design Section at the Department of Architecture, Design & Media Technology at Aalborg University. Lea holds a master's degree in Urban Design and a Ph.D. degree from Aalborg University in 2009. Lea's overall research area is urban and landscape transformation, with a focus on site development, co-creation, futures and urban and landscape design. Lea's research is based on a local, place-based perspective, where citizen involvement, site analysis, and Research-by-design are central approaches to critically discuss the future urban landscape and its ability to adapt and change in accordance with the citizens and future needs.
Beatrice D’Ippolito, Professor of Strategic Management and Innovation at the School for Business and Society, University of York, UK, (email: beatrice.dippolito@york.ac.uk)
Beatrice’s research focuses on the emergence and development of mechanisms of knowledge creation and diffusion that connect the micro level of firm dynamics with the meso level of industry evolution. She conducts extensive qualitative and archival research within organizations of small to large sizes, spanning different empirical domains, including design as a driver for innovation, inter-organizational collaborations as vehicles to knowledge creation, and the strategic opportunities and challenges attached to the advent of digital technologies. Her research appeared in various outlets, including Research Policy, Technovation, Long Range Planning, Industry and Innovation, Creativity and Innovation Management, and Entrepreneurship and Regional Development. Professor D’Ippolito currently sits in the Editorial Advisory Board of Research Policy and Industry and Innovation and, as of January 2023, she serves as Associate Editor at Journal of Management Studies.
Claudio Dell’Era, Professor of Design Thinking for Business at the School of Management, Politecnico di Milano, Italy (email: claudio.dellera@polimi.it)
Claudio Dell’Era is Professor of Design Thinking for Business at the School of Management - Politecnico di Milano, where he serves also as Co-Founder of LEADIN’Lab, the Laboratory of LEAdership, Design and INnovation. He is also Director of the Observatory “Design Thinking for Business” of the School of Management – Politecnico di Milano. Research activities developed by Claudio Dell’Era are concentrated in the areas of Design Thinking and Design Strategy. He has published more than 100 chapters in edited books and papers published in conference proceedings and leading international journals such as Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Long Range Planning, Technology Forecasting and Social Change, R&D Management, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Industry and Innovation, Creativity and Innovation Management, Business Horizons, and many others.
Rike Neuhoff, PhD Fellow, Aalborg University, Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology (email: rne@create.aau.dk)
Rike Neuhoff is a Ph.D. student at Aalborg University, Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology. She has a master's in Service Systems Design and a bachelor's in Communication Design. Her doctoral research is focused on exploring the integration of design, futures thinking, and strategic thinking and the potential that this disciplinary integration has for supporting sustainable transformation in cities. Rike teaches design and futures thinking, and works to enhance futures literacy skills such as futures thinking, reflective thinking, postoppositional thinking, and systems thinking in academic and civil society contexts. Integrating her research into her teaching and practice, she experiments with novel formats that integrate design and futures thinking with contemplative practices, art, and spirituality. Rike has carried out research, teaching, and projects in Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, and Germany.
Tentative reading list (to be confirmed and expanded)
1) General readings on the importance of cross-disciplinary dialogue and/or the art of criticism
Haley, U.C.V., Cooper, C.L., Hoffman, A.J., Pitsis, T.S., Greenberg, D., 2022. From the editors. In search of scholarly impact. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 21(3), 343-349.
Lucas, U., Mladenovic, R., 2007. The potential of threshold concepts: An emerging framework for educational research and practice. London Review of Education, 5, 237-248.
Verganti, R. (2016). The Innovative Power of Criticism. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2016/01/the-innovative-power-of-criticism
2) The following paper is an example of how design research has looked into conceptual frameworks elaborated within management studies:
Simeone, L. (2020). Characterizing strategic design processes in relation to definitions of strategy from military, business and management studies. The Design Journal, 23(4), 515-534. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14606925.2020.1758472
3) The following papers are examples of how a paper published within a management outlet has looked into conceptual frameworks derived from design research:
Simeone, L., D’Ippolito, B. (2022). The potential of design-driven foresight to support strategy articulation through experiential learning. Long Range Planning, 55(6), 102181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2021.102181
Verganti, R., Dell’Era, C., Swan, K.S. (2021). Design thinking: Critical analysis and future evolution. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 38(6), 603-622. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12610
Generel information
ECTS: 2.0
Time: 21 - 22 September 2023
Place: Copenhagen Campus at Aalborg University
Number of seats: 25
Title: The value of cross-disciplinary dialogue: Journeying between design and management research
Organizers: Luca Simeone, Lea Holst Laursen, Rike Neuhoff
Guest lecturers: Beatrice D’Ippolito, Claudio Dell’Era
Deadline: 29 August 2023
Cost: Participation is free (lunch and dinner at own expense)
Contact us for more information (Luca Simeone: lsi@create.aau.dk)Important information concerning PhD courses:
We have over some time experienced problems with no-show for both project and general courses. It has now reached a point where we are forced to take action. Therefore, the Doctoral School has decided to introduce a no-show fee of DKK 3.000 for each course where the student does not show up. Cancellations are accepted no later than 2 weeks before start of the course. Registered illness is of course an acceptable reason for not showing up on those days. Furthermore, all courses open for registration approximately four months before start. This can hopefully also provide new students a chance to register for courses during the year. We look forward to your registrations.
- Teacher: Lea Holst Laursen
- Teacher: Luca Simeone