Researching Disruptive Innovation by Collaborating with Thales
Over the past 5 years I engaged in part-time PhD study at LSE exploring the efforts of an incumbent organisation (Thales UK, a leading multinational technology company) to organise for disruptive innovation. Using a processual, practice-based, engaged scholarship approach and drawing on an organisation-creation perspective, my research considers how disruptive opportunities can be entrepreneurially created from within the constraints of Thales UK. Conducting my PhD embedded in industry I collaborated with industry practitioners to both understand and contribute to their efforts to organise for disruptive innovation in real-time.
Business collaboration has been integral to my PhD project. It has enabled me to explore my academic interests in collaboration with practitioners. It has also enabled me to develop rigorous and practically relevant knowledge of innovation and change in organisations and to contribute to positive change in a situated industry setting. Engaged practitioners and reflective theorists often fail to collaborate due to the forced difference in how they engage with the world. Practitioners are in a continual state of ‘thrownness’, bombarded with the day-to-day happenings of organisational life, whereas theorists are removed from the lived experience of organising and are therefore able to reflect on the activities of engaged practitioners. It is only at ‘unready-to-hand’ moments, when practical breakdowns occur and practitioners partly disengage from their day-to-day work in search for explanations, that interrupted practitioners are in a ready state to collaborate with problem-driven theorists. In 2014, I experienced the rare occurrence of such an ‘unready-to-hand’ moment when Thales UK was in search of support with the disruptive growth and innovation challenges they were facing. I had the chance to contribute to the company’s innovation and change efforts while also testing and expanding my understanding of these phenomena from a social psychology perspective. I was also captivated by Thales’ diverse operations and distinctive approach to innovation capability development as an interesting setting for me to explore contextually dependent innovation and change processes.
The Benefits and Challenges of Doing Embedded Research
I designed my research to support Thales UK’s innovation and change efforts as well as collect data for my PhD. I stimulated reflexivity and self-awareness of the organisational context and working practices among the practitioners I engaged with, and I also enacted change as part of my involvement with my research context. Over the course of my study I had regular check-in meetings and discussed my findings with my research sponsors and other members of the organisation. I also pursued several planned interventions based on insights from my research including events, corporate communications and educational materials in collaboration with change agents at the company. These interactions provided useful feedback for me to validate my interpretations and enable deeper understanding of the company’s disruptive innovation efforts. By being there, participating in my research context, I gained tacit knowledge about the lived experience of organising for disruptive innovation in an incumbent organisation that could not be accessed by mere observation.
While my embedded position in the organisation enabled me to support the emergence of as well as gain in-depth understanding of the company’s disruptive innovation efforts, I also experienced several tensions in my dual researcher-employee role. Researchers studying their own organisation must demonstrate extreme reflexivity and constantly strive to make themselves aware of personal biases that may influence their interpretations of their own and others’ accounts. I also experienced tensions related to working at the interface of academia and industry including conflicting goals, required competencies and material aspects of my scholar-practitioner work.
Bridging Theory and Practice, Co-Producing Knowledge
I chose to carry out my research embedded in industry to bridge theory and practice of innovation and change in organisations. Working together in designing, conducting and implementing research in real-world settings, scholars and practitioners co-produce knowledge that is both practically relevant and academically sound. Adopting this collaborative research approach, scholars and practitioners can develop empirically grounded theories while addressing real-world problems. During my PhD I experienced how research can be conducted to effectively impact on complex organisational issues while contributing to further scientific understanding of them. Moving forward, I am keen to continue to bridge theory and practice in my role at Thales. In addition to my ongoing energies to amplify innovation and support the emergence of new ways of working at the company, I am exploring how I can apply my research skills to core business challenges at Thales, particularly in the area of human-machine-collaboration.
Advice for Other PhD Students and Early Career Researchers Interested in Research-Business-Collaboration
My key advice for PhD students interested in research-business collaboration is: research something that interests you. Of course you need to work with the interests and priorities of your sponsoring organisation to deliver practical value from your research, which is a powerful motivator in itself to have an on-going relevance to a business, but fundamentally it should still be of interest to you. You will be doing the hard work of carrying out the project, putting in the long hours to become expert in the topic and will need to persevere when confronted with difficult challenges during the course of your study. It is an innate curiosity and passion for the topic that will get you through. Additionally, it is important to set clear expectations and agree a plan for your project with your business partner. Identify and confirm who will be your project sponsors and maintain regular communication with them throughout the research process. In my case I sent my research sponsors a monthly status report on the progress of my project and met with them quarterly to discuss my findings and update them on key milestones. It is also important to set realistic timelines for your research allowing flexibility for unexpected occurrences and competing work and personal demands.
The Business Partner Perspective
“Over the 5 years of Lisa’s PhD study the company underwent several organisational changes, and that is no different from most big companies. Her choice of topic transcended the various changes which also helped keep Thales on-board and engaged. The monthly reporting and catch ups were a really good way of joining the gap between academia and industry and a useful blueprint for anyone else following the same path of research-business-collaboration.”– John Meston, Thales UK RTI Director of Operations
“The insights Lisa has brought through such deep immersion in academia on this important topic are already proving to be highly valuable and will continue to be so as we develop new approaches to innovation in a post-COVID world.” – Matt Ball, Thales UK RTI Chief Scientist