How marketing and sales use digital tools for innovation ideation
研究了营销和销售人员在混合工作环境中如何使用数字工具进行创新构思，发现不同构思阶段（创意生成、评估、开发）使用的工具组合、目的和挑战各不相同。
With the widespread practice of using digital tools to work from home (WFH), it is not clear how this impacts innovation. While some scholars argue that digital tools limit the spontaneous conversations that are essential for innovation, others consider them the solution for innovation in a hybrid work environment. We suggest that the current confusion about the impact of digital tools on innovation is due to researchers (a) treating innovation as a homogeneous activity, rather than focusing on specific innovation activities, and (b) ignoring the nature of specific jobs of employees participating in this process. This study explores how marketing and sales professionals use digital tools during innovation ideation. The findings show that various digital tools are used for idea generation, assessment, and development. During each of these stages, marketing and sales personnel use a different mix of digital tools – serving different purposes – and face different challenges. Study findings contribute to our understanding of how digital tools impact innovation and help managers to improve innovation ideation in hybrid work environments. • In hybrid work environments firms use digital tools for innovation ideation. • Use and impact of tools vary across idea generation, assessment and development. • Each ideation stage focuses on specific tools resulting in unique challenges. • Firms must stimulate psychological safety, norms for tool use, and digital skills.