Design Thinking Facilitates Intrapreneurship Initiatives in Higher Education in Taiwan

Abstract

In current context of disruptive innovation academic organizations aspiring to maintain their competitiveness must transform and mobilize resources available for creative workforce and innovative process Many authors have suggested design thinking as an effective approach to problem-solving and stimulating innovation Nevertheless the research into the application of design thinking has so far concentrated mostly on business world Looking into the rising culture of intrapreneurship in Taiwan’s higher education context this thesis research aims at filling the gap This thesis research thus extends previous theories of design thinking approach by recognizing the influence of design thinking to affect the organizational culture and the thinking and behavior of individuals and concluded that design thinking is the driving force for intrapreneurship to sustain in higher education A significant contribution of this dissertation is to propose an original framework on three components for change to influence intrapreneurship in higher education: people permission and protocols The proposed framework was supported by the practice in Design thinking facilitation and the practice-based design research with an intention to solve real world problems From a series of trials before integrating intrapreneurship into the administrative practice in higher education this study concludes the effect of design thinking on stimulating innovation in organizations and empowering employees to make sound decisions accomplish goals and work productively

Date of Award	2018 Sept 1
Original language	English
Supervisor	Shuenn-Ren Liou (Supervisor)