Prospective Ergonomics

2Management and Ergonomic Approaches toward Innovation and Design

2.1. History and definition of strategy

Complementary to Chapter 1, the purpose of this section is to provide a historical strategy perspective on ergonomics as certain events in the development of business strategies have a human impact which to some extent challenge the traditional view on strategy. For example, stakeholder involvement, value chains, resource-based views (RBV) [BAR 91], dynamic capabilities [TEE 97], etc., have impacted the definition of strategy¹ towards being more comprehensive and context driven. According to Nag et al. [NAG 07], strategic management deals with how major intended and emergent initiatives match the internal organization of companies and use of resources to enhance their performance. Moreover, developments in strategic management, where firms focus on pluralistic objectives, combined with a user-experience centered view on consumerism, gave rise to the design and development of intangible-dominant commodities, such as services. Successively, service innovation [MIL 93], service design, product service system development, etc., reemphasized the importance of a systemic approach in strategizing, where deliberate planning resulted in innovation activities, centered around the user. This user- or human-centered innovation approach shares the same perspectives with prospective ergonomics (PE) and is characterized by a focus on well-being, an orientation toward the future and business ...