A SYSTEMATIC METHOD OF HOLDING DESIGN COMPETITIONS TO FOSTER SMES PRODUCT INNOVATION

Abstract

The Thermaltake Creative Design Competition is a serialized contest which has been held for nine years and developed over time. The authors have explored the case in-depth through participation and observation since the first year. While analyzing the competition's gains and losses through related theories of Design Competition, Open Innovation (OI), and New Product Development Management, the relationship between the competition process and results and findings were extended to the systematic method of how to effectively organize design competitions as an open innovation activity to facilitate a company's innovation strategy, which can be applied to the product innovation development practices of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This paper aims to contribute to design competition practice in SMEs by adopting the open innovation perspective.