Understanding the Role of Value Focused Thinking in Idea Management

(2011). Creativity and Innovation Management, 20, 196-206

12 Pages Posted: 25 Jan 2016

See all articles by Marcus Selart

Marcus Selart

Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Strategy and Management

Svein Tvedt Johansen

UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Date Written: 2011

Abstract

In a couple of classical studies, Keeney proposed two sets of variables labelled as value focused thinking (VFT) and alternative-focused thinking (AFT). Value-focused thinking (VFT), he argued, is a creative method that centres on the different decision objectives and how as many alternatives as possible may be generated from them. Alternative-focused thinking (AFT), on the other hand, is a method in which the decision maker takes notice of all the available alternatives and then makes a choice that seems to fit the problem best. The impact of these two methods on idea generation was measured using a sample of employees. The results revealed that employees in the value-focused thinking condition (VFT) produced fewer ideas. Thus, value-focused thinking (VFT) is not only able to facilitate ideation fluency but also to constrain it. Factors such as cognitive effort and motivation may play a part here. However, the quality of the ideas was judged to be higher in terms of creativity and innovativeness. Hence, value-focused thinking (VFT) seems to have a positive impact on the quality of ideas in terms of creativity and innovativeness regardless of ideation fluency. Implications for the design of idea management systems are discussed.

Suggested Citation

Selart, Marcus and Johansen, Svein Tvedt, Understanding the Role of Value Focused Thinking in Idea Management (2011). (2011). Creativity and Innovation Management, 20, 196-206, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2721277

Marcus Selart (Contact Author)

Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Strategy and Management ( email )

Breiviksveien 40
N-5045 Bergen
Norway
+47 55 95 96 95 (Phone)

Svein Tvedt Johansen

UiT The Arctic University of Norway ( email )

Norway
+4777058262 (Phone)

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