Tian Chan

New working paper

Exaptation and user innovation

Posted on November 30, 2020

How does initial problem identification and formulation affect creative product modifications? Our working paper “The search for novel product uses: An investigation of IKEA hacks” attempts to theorize and provide evidence in the context of users hacking IKEA products. with Shi-Ying Lim.

IKEA Hackers

user innovation

Posted on July 23, 2020

Check out IKEA Hackers if you’re in the mood for some fascinating ideas on how to “hack” your furniture pieces into something else! (Here’s a simple hack to make nesting tables out of IKEA stools). Working on a early project with Shi Ying Lim on how amateurs come up with... [Read More]

Tags: product design innovation

Invention Integrality and Team Gender Composition

Updated

Posted on June 3, 2020

We show using both archival data and experiments that teams with at least one female member may create more valuable inventions than all-male teams when the focal invention structure is integral. In collaboration with Steffen Keck, Haibo Liu, and Wenjie Tang.

Tags: technological innovation collaboration gender

Business Method Innovations and Firm Value - An Empirical Investigation

Updated

Posted on June 3, 2020

Are business method innovations valuable to manufacturing firms, or should firms (particularly manufacturers) focus on product and manufacturing process innovations, as is traditionally the case? Leveraging on the decision of State Street vs. CLS Bank in 1998 whereby business method patents are now patentable subject matter, we compared returns to... [Read More]

Tags: business methods service design patents

Egyptian Goddess vs. Swisa Inc.

Evidence from an unexpected ruling

Posted on June 3, 2020

Can novel product designs be effectively protected by design rights? Here’s a working piece with Paul Hsu and Kevin Tseng showing that the Egyptian Goddess vs. Swisa ruling of 2008, which ruled that designs must “only” be assessed holistically for infringement, helped improve the market value of more complex designs.... [Read More]

Tags: product design value of innovation patents

SpaceX

Procurement and contracting

Posted on May 30, 2020

Saw this piece on The Economist that discusses why SpaceX can fly people to space at less than 10% of what it used to cost NASA. One of the key reasons is a shift from what is essentially a time and materials contract to a fixed-price contract. Powerful message on... [Read More]

Tags: contracting technology collaboration

Revisiting the Role of Collaboration in Creating Breakthrough Inventions

paper featured in HBR

Posted on April 25, 2020

Paper (published in Manufacturing & Service Operations Management) featured in HBR online. A short version is in the March-April 2020 idea watch series of HBR.

Tags: product design technology collaboration innovation

Revisiting the Role of Collaboration in Creating Breakthrough Inventions

Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (accepted)

Posted on November 14, 2019

We challenge the notion that collaboration is always better than working alone. In our study using technological and design patents we find that the decomposability of the invention significantly moderates the effectiveness of the lone inventor. Particularly, tasks that are less decomposable relatively advantages the lone inventor. We also show... [Read More]

Tags: product design technology collaboration innovation

Anchored Differentiation - The Role of Temporal Distance in the Comparison and Evaluation of New Product Designs

Working

Posted on November 1, 2019

A new design can be compared with its contemporaries or older designs. In this study, we argue that the temporal distance between the new design and its comparison play an important role in understanding how a new design’s similarity with other designs contributes to its market valuation. Specifically, we argue... [Read More]

Tags: product design style innovation value of design

Contracting in Medical Equipment Maintenance Services - An Empirical Investigation

Management Science 2019

Posted on March 1, 2019

Using data from a major medical body scanner manufacturer, we show that free-rider problems impose a heavy cost in the maintenance of medical body scanners, and that pay per service maintenance plans can improve performance and reduce costs. Check out the paper. With Francis de Véricourt and Omar Besbes

Tags: service design collaboration maintenance