Q&A with Sprott’s Nuša Fain
Assistant Professor Nuša Fain (Entrepreneurship) had just submitted a grant application and begun teaching her fall courses when we connected to learn about her research program and the journey that brought her to Sprott.
What attracted you to a career in higher education and to Sprott in particular?
You might laugh at this, but I’m a geek. I’ve always loved learning, which is why I pursued a PhD. Then, the more immersed I became in academia, the more I appreciated how collaborative the space is: if you’re interested in a particular topic, there’s bound to be someone else whose interests or perspectives are similar or at least complementary to yours.
That’s what brought me to Sprott. Technology innovation management is where I began with my PhD, and I knew that the people in Sprott’s TIM program and I had similar interests.
The other piece is that academia allows me to work cross-culturally, which I value because different cultural perspectives enrich our understanding of the world. I grow by engaging with an international community, and Sprott offers that through students and faculty.
Could you describe your program of research? What unique opportunities have arisen from your particular career path?
Although I studied marketing in my undergraduate degree, I did my PhD in mechanical engineering so that I could explore cross-functional integration in product development. I worked in particular on designing processes that would facilitate collaboration between R&D and marketing. After a couple of companies in Slovenia implemented my work, I moved to Glasgow to help a heavy manufacturing business there develop an innovation space within their organization. I built capacity in knowledge transfer, knowledge exchange, and the integration of theory and practice, which I really like because it lets me see the impact of my research.
When my work with the company in Scotland led me deeper into the innovation space, I became fascinated by open innovation and responsible innovation.
What do you mean when you talk about open innovation, and how does it contribute to an entrepreneurial mindset?
Often when we talk about the entrepreneurial mindset, people think they need to start their own business, but that’s not the case. An entrepreneurial mindset is just a way of thinking and perceiving new—how do you generate new value for new or existing business environments? That can be done by launching a venture, but also by trying out projects that might bring new value to an established organization.
Open innovation is ultimately about the flow of knowledge across different organizations. No single company employs all the smartest people, so companies need to collaborate across the borders of the organization – to bring knowledge in from outside or take knowledge out to amplify the innovation effect. You need to be open to breaking the silos of your organization and to taking calculated risks. If you get stuck within your own walls, you may get left behind because the world is innovating with increased speed.
The most fascinating aspect of open innovation for me is sourcing the wisdom of the crowd. Organizations pose challenges on crowdsourcing platforms, and then the crowd works to solve that challenge. Open innovation recognizes and leverages the fact that whatever problem you may have, somebody has already attempted to solve it – the solution may, however, come from outside your own industry.
How do you characterize responsible innovation?
In principle, responsible innovation rests on four interconnected pillars – inclusivity, responsiveness, reflexivity, and anticipation – but it’s hard to assess in practice because we don’t yet have a way to demonstrate whether an innovation space is inclusive, responsive, reflective, or willing to change course as required by its likely impact. That’s the piece that’s interesting for me: how do we measure responsible innovation at each stage of product development? Each of the pillars has its own measurement scales, but I’m interested in exploring how we can integrate these scales and then implement them throughout the innovation process. Can we develop responsible innovation tracking in real time? It’s an urgent problem given the many crises we are facing.
What research project are you most excited about?
I have to mention two. My work on responsible innovation is vital because organizations are desperate for evidence-based knowledge they can apply in their innovation processes. The other project relates to the SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant proposal I just submitted. I’ve partnered up with an executive from a career coaching firm who has developed a tool to help youth understand themselves and how they can position themselves within the world—it’s kind of like an updated alternative to career counselling, but one that considers identity and wellness beyond the career space. My role involves determining whether we can validate the model academically and supporting the gamification of the tool to make it appealing to its target audience.
