Experiences and outcomes from a traveling innovation lab experiment
ISSN: 1368-3047
Article publication date: 31 May 2019
Issue publication date: 30 July 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is a case study evaluation based on a mobile innovation lab experiment – a new training and service format that offers innovation trainings on a mobile basis for schools in rural regions.
Design/methodology/approach
The research aims to connect concepts of “entrepreneurial orientation and education” and “innovation adoption.” The objective of the case study is to test the readiness of pupils and schools for the provided innovation trainings and services to increase innovation capacities.
Findings
The case study is based on an explorative survey of 778 pupils at 18 schools and shows an increased awareness of innovative thinking and entrepreneurial capabilities.
Research limitations/implications
The findings and implications are not generalizable owing to predefined project region and the prototype character. The study offers basic insights into the specific processes and determining factors and mechanisms of innovation promotion in limited spatial work forms.
Practical implications
A mobile innovation environment focused on trainings and modern technologies was created. The workshops strengthened the entrepreneurial intention and potential of pupils to foster long-lasting innovation potential in the region.
Social implications
The tested concept improves the method-based development of creative project ideas, thereby strengthening the regional cohesion and the economic perspective in the project region.
Originality/value
After extensive research, the authors assume there is no comparable concept offering entrepreneurship education and latest technologies in a mobile innovation environment, at the time of submitting this paper.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author thanks his co-authors for their dedicated support in developing the research framework for the concept and their guidance in phase of testing it in practice. The authors also thanks the Dresden University of Technology, especially the Faculty of Architecture, for their help in creating suitable space concepts for the moving innovation modules. They thank the program EU Interreg Poland-Saxony 2014-2020 for the funding of the prototype project, which offers the chance for evaluating the scientific preparatory observations and testing the framework models. Special thanks goes to Prof Jörg Rainer Noennig for the visionary preliminary work on the project and the experiences that made this publication possible.
Citation
Saegebrecht, F., John, C., Schmiedgen, P. and Noennig, J.R. (2019), "Experiences and outcomes from a traveling innovation lab experiment", Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 121-135. https://doi.org/10.1108/MBE-11-2018-0101
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited