Consolidating strategies for innovative business models

Abstract

To help face an unknown future, including ecological and social crisis, the public requires similar opportunities as government in problem solving. Deliberative democracy can facilitate quick responses to complex problems in society, so too, in small and medium-sized enterprises with limited resources. Of the latter’s engagement with deliberative democracy, we know too little. Service design and innovation lays a foundation for transformative service research. This action research brings the theoretical framework of service design into action using the practice of World Café first outlined by Juanita Brown. As a method, participants and organizations can explore various innovation business model topics whilst developing competencies in communication within their own context. The aims of this paper are to identify what can be accomplished through collective consciousness. It offers an example of action research as an integrative examination of how multiple perspectives contribute to the whole. In this study, the authors based in a Non-Governmental Organization for professional development, encourages organizations to reflect on practices and develop critical thinking to suggest action steps for industry innovative services. In the following the reader will: (a) Explore Taiwan SMEs’ efforts to form collective consciousness and to achieve consensus on the innovation industry strategy formulation; (b) Learn how groups’ and organizations’ learning was facilitated with recommendations for the feasibility of future actions; (c) Note how effective group discussion and emotional interaction between SMEs’ members were achieved such that the participants unanimously committed to subsequent actions. In sum, the action research orientation to business development contributed to achieving through collective consciousness by which consensus and action was developed on strategy, opportunities, and resources.

Keywords

Service design World Café innovative business model action research action-oriented research collective consciousness

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the world, impacted the global economy and industrial supply chains. The small and medium-sized enterprises or organizations with limited resources, are called to pay close attention to the rapid industry innovation development now needed. In business innovation, transformation is a crucial topic to make as immediate adjustments are called for on the way to adapting to the unpredictable future.

Taiwan’s industries comprise mainly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with limited innovation resources. To promote industrial innovation and transformation, the Taiwanese government wishes to fully understand the SMEs actual needs. From the perspective of policy-related problems and civic engagement, Weeks (2000) maintained that the public should be given the same opportunities as government officials in problem solving to realize deliberative democracy and facilitate quick responses to complex problems. Keizer, Jong, Naiemi & Gemert-Pijnen (2020) aver that during the period of organizational transformation and adjustment, high environmental uncertainty makes it impossible for leaders to make accurate decisions by merely relying on information they grasp. A participative bottom-up and cognitive top-down approach, seems to be a better solution. However, Taiwan SMEs' service innovation policy still lacks a system for supporting better outcomes. There is a space for SMEs to engage in practical innovation mode – supported by action research – so they may include stakeholders bottom-up aspirations and together reach creative solutions and innovative ideas.

Identifying opportunities for service innovation and exploiting them requires novel capability building in the rapidly changing business environments (Ojasalo et al., 2015). As a result, integrating the methods and tools of foresight and service design to the service innovation process provides a promising new avenue to future success. This approach allows a balance between stakeholder perspective, technology, management, and solving problems innovatively.

Participatory design is an approach that actively includes all stakeholders, involved in the service design process, in order to understand the differences stakeholders that exist between the groups and elicit more useful and appropriate solutions (Kensing & Blomberg, 1998; Lee et al., 2020). Kimbell (2011) articulate the idea of service design is that corporations and stakeholders convene to seek methods for value co-creation. According to Patrício et al. (2018), service design and innovation lay the foundation for transformative service research, and the association between service design and innovation enables each participant in the design process to provide insight into the design using their specialist knowledge in a specific domain co-creation. Therefore, in an organization, service design supports service innovation establishing strategies, developing service concepts and solutions.

Within scientific research, an ongoing paradigm shift is moving from top-down approaches and knowledge produced mainly for the scientific community to bottom-up participatory research approaches. With the objective of providing industrial service policy, The World Café method, originated by Juanita Brown, is a tool widely used as a participatory method for citizen participation and organizational change processes, to “listen together for patterns, insights and deeper questions” (Brown, 2010). Chang and Chen (2015) compared the effects of a strategy workshop on the business plan development process and how plan simulation is implemented. The results revealed that the World Café exerted a greater positive effect on participants’ planning capacity than did the conventional strategy workshop. Similarly, Schiele et al. (2022) proposed a data collection World Café method with the potential to reduce speed challenge and to close the knowledge production and transfer gap. In particular, World Café is a method designed to elicit grounded knowledge, were organized to seek insights from a diverse range of stakeholders (Decker-Lange et al., 2021). Further, World Café is a process that helps organizations or groups engage in constructive dialogue, allowing a different perception of knowledge generation and moving participants beyond information transfer to information exchange. The focus on collective discoveries enables the harnessing of resourcefulness and a sense of hope, while the drive toward collaborative learning allows for equitable and collective participation (Löhr et al., 2020). Bradbury et al., (2019) aver that action research for transformations can, indeed should, help us effectively address our unsustainability crisis, by bringing intelligent collaboration directly into knowledge creation processes. It does this by helping those with stake in an issue to see their own problems more clearly and to take intelligent action with others in response.

We expect the research we report on in the following pages to contribute to the existing body of literature in at least four ways. First, we describe action research as World Café as a way to support the collective wisdom of participants. Second, we describe the process of SMEs group conversation and decision making. Third, We offer an actionable four stages (discovery, definition, development, and delivery) approach to industry innovation strategy formulation practices, using critical thinking and reflective practice to apply design characteristics, collecting data, and at the same time providing timely feedback to practitioners. Fourth, we demonstate how Government’s public resources need can be better used to plan revitalization actions that help SMEs through difficulty and economic recovery plan. Next we proceed with a literature review on service design and World Café model.

Literature review

Business model innovation and service design

The value chain in traditional industries has been transformed into value creation that centers on service provision. Innovative business models of the current garment industry tend to be consumption oriented; that is, demand influences supply. In the era of rapid social changes and technological explosion, only through innovative models can more business opportunities be created. Kimbell (2011) contended that design can be regarded as a problem-solving method or an exploratory innovative process. The purpose of service design is to promote innovation (reform) and improve existing services so that customers feel the services are more useful and easier to use and therefore have higher intention to use the services. Service design is a key to service innovation, deeper understanding is needed as to how service design and service innovation processes complement each other to create successful new services, expanding the applications of service design and innovation provides solutions to more complex problems (Patrício et al., 2018). Through the service design providers together with stakeholders efficiently and effectively deliver value propositions to service receivers, thereby achieving long-term strategic goals (Tung Jung Sung, 2014). Yu, Eun, Sangiorgi & Daniela (2018) contribute to transforming the new service development process and practice to better implement the value co-creation perspective by using the service design approach. Prud'homme van Reine (2017) also pointed out that service design thinking begins with understanding an overall conception of the problem by observing and extracting the stakeholders’ points of view. The double-diamond design thinking process which the British Design Council developed in 2005, it uses critical thinking and reflective practice to apply design characteristics to reach creative solutions and innovative ideas (Council, 2016). Wang and Liou (2018) argue that the double-diamond design model, empathy should be practiced in every step of the creative design thinking process. Bove (2019) suggests to advance managerial practice on the use of empathy to improve service outcomes for interacting actors.

Therefore, the double-diamond model framing as action research we present here bring action and reflection together in service of stakeholders and in service of knowledge creation. The double-diamond model guided the empathy and transformative thinking process, service design which has four phases, with participants reflecting on experiences, and design process stages including discovery, definition, development, and delivery. These are also the service design goals. The principle of service design here is that the initial divergent process leads to an in-depth understanding of the problems in the design context. Convergent thinking is what emerges when thoughts narrow down to select innovative solutions. In this study, the research participants’ (the participants from industry, academic, and research industry) contact point during the experience was used as the target. Defining SMEs’ opportunities in business model innovations by conducting research on and identifying the problems in such innovations, this study aimed to explore service design the underlying problem (pain) points, how professionals think in action, and develop feasible business service innovations.

World café

The World Café method is a brainstorming and discussion process proposed by Juanita Brown and David Isaacs in 1995. In this method, group members engage and listen to each other, discuss topics, and summarize the results; through such experiential learning, the wisdom of the group can be extracted. The design principles of the World Café are as follows: (a) set a topic, (b) create a comfortable discussion space, (c) explore crucial questions, (d) encourage participants to make contributions, (e) exchange and connect different viewpoints, (f) listen to different viewpoints and ask deeper questions, and (g) grow and share collective experiences. Brown (2010) maintained that the core objective of a World Café is to promote mutual development in participants and that all members’ engagement is required; how team members participate in conversation, share their thoughts, and respect others’ ideas is key to generating collective wisdom. Therefore, participants reflect constantly on the discussion through the ongoing sharing and processing of ideas. This process is known as deep listening, which requires the ability to observe and converse precisely. In other words, collective wisdom is produced through group discussion, in which the participants take turns expressing their opinions and brainstorm various perspectives together. Action research is a research methodology rooted in engagement. It is a participatory democratic process concerned with developing practical knowledge in the pursuit of worthwhile human purposes (Reason and Bradbury, 2001; Bradbury, 2015).

World Cafés strive to create networks of conversation in settings that invite a ‘café’ environment, in the sense of Oldenberg’s (1999) ‘third place’ – a home away from home that provides comfort and engagement. According to Weeks (2000): Participatory group decision making involves a group of people making balanced judgements on the pros and cons of a matter collectively with inputs by each individual according to their own experiences and knowledge. Specifically, the optimal method to integrate strategies for industrial innovation business models is to enable firms to perceive that they have the power to decide the direction of industry development as well as the ability to adopt suggestions and take action. According to Aldred (2009) stated that the fast exchange and interaction of diverse ideas in a World Café elicits participants’ active responses to problems and challenges. Also, listening to others’ thoughts and their insights into problems enables participants to rethink their own viewpoints, and the range of thought to which participants are exposed whilst changing tables frequently diversifies their perspectives. In the work by Bulsara et al. (2016) participants assessed their participation in the World Café as a highly positive experience, perceiving that they learned through interaction and opinion sharing. Because the participatory discussion in the World Café is relatively flexible and relaxed, participants are willing to speak and listen to each other. The discussion is peaceful and orderly, facilitating consensus and changes of participants’ attitudes. Additionally, learning during the discussion process is not oriented toward problem solving; it cannot be achieved through only a single discussion but requires repeated practice. Accordingly, individuals’ transformative learning can be examined and enhanced through group interactions to adapt to organizational contexts.

In the context of this research, through open innovation is another method through which small and medium-sized enterprises or organizations may acquire innovative ideas from external parties. The service design process in this study, empathy is necessary during innovative service models prototyping. The SMEs feedback generating process, as empathy affects communication quality between the two parties. Meanwhile, service design is a comprehensive and collaborative design approach for creating value for all stakeholders, emphasizes integral action research strategies for service innovation and design processes, can boosts interaction between industrial communities and organizations. Participatory decision making not only involves problem-solving or developmental process planning but also serves as an opportunity for individuals to implement deep listening and learning. The World Café discussion method overturns the unilateral relationship seen in conventional workshops, during which each participant provides feedback on and assessment of others’ ideas. In group discussion, participants can gradually explore the patterns in and underlying problems behind various viewpoints, which help clarify research background and objectives and enable problems to be addressed collectively. The phases of the research process are detailed in the following sub-sections.

Methodology

This study analyzed the opportunities and challenges regarding the application of innovative business models in the Taiwan small and medium-sized enterprises or organizations. A qualitative case study was conducted. The Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF), which is an NGO, was used as the research case. TTF as research institutes were analyzed and evaluated innovative business models, examined Taiwanese garment firms’ opinions on innovative business models. Then, the central research question came up how to understand the feasibility of promoting business innovation among SMEs or organizations with limited resources in Taiwan and the innovation capability gap.

In this study, the research methods were the World Café and focus group interviews. The authors are academic experts in textile and garments and helped select table hosts, who were asked to regard all participating team members as their guests and to encourage conversation, networking, and knowledge-sharing; supplementing or challenging members’ ideas; and organizing diverse inputs provided by all members for further discussion and conclusions. In doing so, the role of the authors was in part to participate and to observe, compile opinions and ensure their recording. This set of activities may affect the objectiveness of the results to some point. Precautions, however, were taken to ensure objectivity to the best degree, e.g., the researcher-authors did not facilitate or lead the business innovation sessions and World Café workshops during the actual case study. The table discussions were not even accidentally directed to a desired direction but proceeded in accordance to the stakeholders interests.

This research case (i.e., the TTF) launched a World Café program for Taiwanese SMEs in the garment industry. Under the technical guidance of business model innovation experts, various ideas to create novel business services in Taiwan converged. A total of 18 experts and professionals from tripartite fields of industry, academia, and research institutes participated in the World Café. To integrated social and environmental pathways broadly engaging and empowering people. In these stakeholders could share experience, understand one another and coordinate action in a project that cumulatively allowed for continuous improvement. The SME participants were invited according to their professional status relevance, professions, and job roles. When an industrial policy guideline suggests changes at a high level, the changes in the relationship between business’ rights and obligations become complex, and therefore people with relevant professional knowledge must be recruited to provide professional insights in the discussion. This study divided participants into three groups, with each group comprising six participants: one from a research institute for the international dynamics of garment industries, four with experience in operating garment stores, and one table host from the academia. The role of these participants from various fields in discussion may yield the same effect as expert interviews.

Professors in departments related to textile and garments were selected as the table hosts and received training, during which they learned to guide other participants in the discussion correctly, enhanced their knowledge of the World Café, and rehearsed the discussion process, all of which ensured the conversation was productive and efficient. The focus of the training for table hosts is detailed as follows. (1) Tips for hosting and guiding discussion, the agenda, and demonstrations for guiding discussions on various topics were provided. In particular, when the topics involved industry support systems, table hosts steered the conversation toward the participants sharing their opinions. When the topics are associated with corporate structure, table hosts encouraged the participants to reach an agreement on business innovations and resource allocation. (2) Rehearsals enabled table hosts to understand how World Cafés operated. They also learned to encourage group members to speak out and to converge members’ ideas into agreed conclusions. (3) Table hosts’ knowledge in relation to business model innovations was enhanced. (4) Table hosts shared their training results and exchanged their thoughts.

The process of developing an innovative business model was divided into the following stages: (a) exploration, which involved researching innovative business models and setting research questions; (b) definition, which: involved discovering SMEs’ contact points for experiencing innovative business models, and these contact points could be used to determine which innovative business model exhibited sufficient attractiveness for enterprises to adopt; (c) development, which involved conducting a focus group that utilized the World Café method for brainstorming and thought generation of innovative business model strategies; and (d) delivery, which involved establishing feasible innovative business models (Figure 1). Subsequently, innovative strategies applicable to Taiwan’s textile and garment industry were discussed and summarized to formulate a feasible program for the implementation of innovative business models. Including localized and differentiated innovation services suitable for the development of SMEs.

Figure 1.

Service design process for developing innovative business models.

Process reflections

In the first stage of research, we analyzed service design content in terms of the opportunities and challenges regarding the application of innovative business models in the Taiwanese garment industry. We employed research tools including the World Café conversation method and focus group interviews, followed by an in-depth examination of these contributions. Together these gave shape to an innovative business model that included both expert-based insights plus those of the focus group participants. Considered a pilot project for future Government support, we sought to demonstrate and explore the benefits, challenges and critical factors in applying Service Design within the participative ethos of action research. The structure of the Service Design was mainly formed based on the double-diamond model, the process of developing an innovative business model was divided into the following stages: (a) exploration, which involved researching innovative business models and setting research questions; (b) definition, which: involved discovering SMEs’ contact points for experiencing innovative business models, and these contact points could be used to determine which innovative business model exhibited sufficient attractiveness for enterprises to adopt; (c) development, which involved conducting a focus group that utilized the World Café method for brainstorming and thought generation of innovative business model strategies; and (d) delivery, which involved establishing feasible innovative business models (Figure 1). Through participatory decision making and opinion sharing, the stakeholders, professionals, and people working in related fields shared their thoughts, according to which the group made decisions collectively. Subsequently, innovative strategies applicable to Taiwan’s textile and garment industry were discussed and summarized to formulate a feasible program for the implementation of innovative business models. Including localized and differentiated innovation services suitable for the development of SMEs (Figure 2).

Figure 2.

International textile industry trends.

Exploration stage: Researching innovative business models and setting research questions

The author of this study participated in and observed the process that the TTF investigated and compiled innovative business models under the topic of industrial development. Five major focus points were found through analysis of consumer trends in the international textile industry: 1. Smart Fashion Trends, 2. Consumer Macro Trends, 3. Future Retail Business Strategies, 4. Application of Prospective Technologies, 5. Marketing and Social Media. This study summarizes the results of TTF’s analysis regarding international consumption trends in the textile and garment industry, to serve as a reference for research on innovative business strategies in the second stage of research.

Smart Fashion Trends:

• Smart manufacturing: automatic garment production systems have been developed to promote smart manufacturing and the development of exclusive goods.

• Wearable technology integrated with fashion: this includes cross-sector collaboration between the textile and electronic sensor industry, smart jackets, environmentally-friendly smart jackets, and solar-energy wind coats.

• A new future for the health industry: warmth and care are delivered to older adults through smart medical wear, recovery exercises to reduce stress, sleep wearables enable interaction and follow-up. Smart sports underwear has also been developed.

Consumer Macro Trends

• Chinese next-generation consumer groups: new consumer groups drive new market trends. These consumer groups include freelancers, people who favor leisure activities, spiritualists, people with healthy lifestyles, sexual minorities, animal lovers, culture researchers, and developmentalists.

• Future anxiety: a trend of anxiety has swept the world. The health industry uses pleasant experiences to alleviate anxiety and alleviate fear through stress reduction spaces, positive energy, self-care, art, design, and stress relief technology.

Future Retail Business Strategies

• Omnichannel shopping development in China: electronic commerce has affected traditional retail markets. Therefore, shopping malls and department stores have actively transformed and adopted omnichannel strategies so that purchases can be made through both online and offline channels. The industrial structure has also undergone new changes.

• Technological insight into the new focus on retail experience: this includes artificial intelligence, stores serving as factories, and the application of innovative technologies (e.g., augmented reality) in retail.

Application of Prospective Technologies

• Future artificial intelligence: the global market value of virtual technology lies in a virtual character acting as a friendly shopping assistant.

• Future Asia characterized by virtual reality: virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality are the key innovation factors in the retail industry. The retail market in Asia will become the next leader of the digital world.

Marketing and Social Media

• Operating model of multi-brand stores in China: the sales model of multibrand stores has been accepted by China’s consumer market; these stores have expanded their influence to Tier II and III cities.

• Marketing of luxury goods for children: children’s consumption has been affected by social media and become a new symbol of social status. Expensive ready-made garments, luxury products, and high-end services populate the children’s market.

Definition stage: Discovering SMEs’ contact points for experiencing innovative business models

This study collected cases related to the international textile industry or those applicable to the textile industry from the TTF. Information regarding the contact points of innovative business models and elements of profit models was compiled. After analysis and comparison of the contact points of the cases, this study determined the characteristics of the innovative cases and their common principles. The findings were then provided to the TTF to be used as a resource for studying industry development trends and the current status of SMEs in Taiwan’s garment industry, and the findings served as the basis for the focus group discussion in the third stage of the study. In total, 12 cases of innovative business models were analyzed and evaluated (Table 1).

Table 1.

Analysis of international consumption trends in the textile and garment industry.

Trend focus	International industrial trend
Smart fashion trends	1. Smart manufacturing: Automatic garment production systems have been developed to promote smart manufacturing and the development of exclusive goods. Garment stores customize exclusive ready-made garments. 2. Wearable technology integrated with fashion: This includes textile and electronic sensor industry cross-sector field collaboration, smart jackets, environmental-friendly smart jackets, and solar-energy wind coats. 3. A new future for the health industry: Warmth and care are delivered to older adults through smart medical wear, recovery exercises utilize stress reduction, wearables for sleep enable interaction and follow-up, and smart sports underwear has been developed
Consumer macro trends	1. Chinese new-generation consumer groups: New consumer groups drive new market trends. These consumer groups include freelancers, people who favor leisure activities, spiritualists, people with healthy lifestyles, sexual minorities, animal lovers, culture researchers, and developmentalists. 2. Future anxious generations: An anxiety trend has swept the world. The health industry promotes using pleasant experiences to alleviate anxiety and alleviate fear using stress reduction spaces, positive energy, self-care, art, design, and stress relief technology
Future retail business strategies	1. Omnichannel shopping development in China: Electronic commerce has affected traditional retail markets. Therefore, shopping malls and department stores have actively transformed and adopted omnichannel strategies so that purchases can be made through both online and offline channels. The industrial structure has also undergone new changes. 2. Technological insight into the new focus on retail experience: This includes artificial intelligence, stores serving as factories, and the application of innovative technologies (e.g., augmented reality) in retail
Application of prospective technologies	1. Future artificial intelligence: The global market value of virtual technology lies in a virtual character as a friendly shopping assistant. 2. Future Asia characterized by virtual reality: Virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality are the key innovation factors in the retail industry. The retail market in Asia will become the next leader of the digital world
Marketing and social media	1. Operating model of multibrand stores in China: The sales model of multibrand stores has been accepted by China’s consumer market; these stores have expanded their influence to Tier II and III cities. 2. Market of luxury goods for children: Children’s consumption has been affected by social media and become a new symbol of social status. Expensive ready-made garments, luxury products, and high-end services populate the children’s market.
	4

Source: Taiwan Textile Federation (Table made by this study).

Development stage: Conducting a focus group that utilizes the world café method for brainstorming and thought generation

Business innovations usually involve overturning corporate ideas and structures, and thus key decisions should be made by executives. They analyzed the capabilities and resources required for Taiwanese firms to engage in business innovation and the gap between the ideal and actual situations. They also discussed the difficulties faced by the textile industry when implementing innovative business models and summarized the circumstances and directions suitable for innovation. This study investigated Taiwanese SMEs’ integration of marketing and information management in response to the era of digitalization. In particular, it examined the gaps between Taiwanese SME in terms of their marketing capacity, resources, and information management practice required for business model innovations. These observations would provide a reference for policy making in the future. With a core emphasis on conversation, the World Café enabled groups and organizations (e.g., TTF) to respond actively to problems and challenges in specific scenarios and encouraged them to generate the knowledge required for success. Focus group interviews were conducted with experts in the textile industry, who were asked to propose innovative operational strategies or directions suitable for development, and these ideas provided insights into future strategy formation (Table 2).

Table 2.

Reaching consensus on innovative business strategies.

Reaching a consensus on innovative business strategies (including gaps and review)
TTF evaluation and workshop for design firms	Focus group of experts from Taiwan’s textile industry
1. Types of design firms suitable for conducting innovation were identified according to the various innovative business models compiled in the previous stage. The capabilities and resources required for the firms to engage in innovation and the gap between the ideal and actual situations were analyzed	1. This study made arrangements with textile firms to conduct the workshop
2. The TTF discussed with high-level managers and experts in the textile industry the difficulties of implementing innovative business models. The circumstances and directions suitable for innovation development were determined	2. The viewpoints and opinions of firms in the textile industry at different stages and in different departments were gathered. After discussion, the workshop identified the difficulties of industry transformation and determined the priorities of business innovation

The third stage involved the development of innovative business strategies. The innovative business models developed in this stage were compared with those currently used by Taiwanese firms. A workshop under the topic of innovative business models for Taiwan’s SMEs was held. Textile industry experts cooperatively formulated innovation directions and programs. In our design, the table moderators were familiar with the topic and were briefed on the procedures to be used at their tables. Their opinions on how to create new services in Taiwan were gathered to reach a consensus. The process encompassed three rounds of discussion. Finally, each group representative shared the thoughts of their group and their poster to present their innovative business service ideas and the essence of their discussion record.

Before the discussion began, the event coordinator explained the purpose of the event and the topics to be discussed, introduced the rules and process of a World Café, and obtained the consent of all participants. The conversation and the graphic and descriptive text results of each table were all photographed and filmed. The content of groups’ posters and photos for the discussion process and results were organized and shared with relevant research institutes for assessment and reference upon receiving the participants’ informed consent. All the SMEs’ groups started discussion on topics closely related to work, service, and business innovation. After the first round of discussion, others brought their thoughts, themes, or questions to other tables to initiate further discussion. The table hosts introduced the main thoughts, themes, and questions generated in the previous discussion. All participants were reminded to listen to each other carefully, think deeply, and contribute their thoughts to the discussion. After the second-round discussion, the new discussion results were combined with previous discussion results. The participants started three rounds of progressive discussion (the participants changed tables three times). After several rounds of progressive conversation, various thoughts, themes, and questions were connected (Figure 3).

Figure 3.

Group discussion in the second round. (Photo taken by the researcher of this study).

The question for the first round of discussion was as follows: In your opinion, which of the aforementioned innovative business models (12 cases with various innovative operational models) is most beneficial to small and medium-sized garment manufacturers over the next 5 years in Taiwan? The question for the second-round discussion was as follows: Based on your company’s current operating status, if you want your company to adopt the ideal innovative business model (i.e., one of the aforementioned two models), what difficulties will your company face? Focusing on two business models, please discuss potential barriers and problems in business operations under such models. Finally, according to the comprehensive discussion in the second round, a feasible direction for business model innovations is providing services that improve user design, customer experience, and customer loyalty, as well as achieving a transparent, on-demand industry value chain, all of which are conducive to business localization and differentiation. After three rounds of discussion, all the participants shared their findings and viewpoints together. The participants identified similar problems, and collective wisdom continued to grow; the discussion is conducive to revealing the common goals of industry experts, identifying innovative business model strategies suitable for Taiwanese SMEs, and eliciting recommendations for the action plan of revenue models action became possible. This type of discussion enabled the participants to integrate various thoughts and opinions in interesting ways (Figure 4).

Figure 4.

Group presentation of their consensus about innovative business models. (Photo taken by the researcher of this study).

Execution stage: Establishing prototype programs for feasible innovative business models

Through case observation, this study investigated the opportunities and challenges of implementing innovative business models in Taiwan’s garment industry to understand Taiwanese garment firms’ viewpoints on innovative business models. Through the workshop, industry experts in the case organization collectively asked and discussed meaningful questions, determining relevant difficulties and innovations and possible actions. Moreover, the garment firms’ self-evaluations helped the case organization to explore the feasibility of implementing innovative business models in Taiwan’s SMEs and understand the possible gap between their current capabilities and the capabilities required for implementing the models. Furthermore, discussing the survey’s findings with 18 Taiwan SME representatives also reinforces their role as co-researchers, helps the practitioners better understand the research process and make them advocates of change in their own organizations, because they have developed the content themselves. The optimal approach was determined to be providing opportunities for firms to make suggestions and take action so that the suggestions regarding innovative business models reflect the actual needs of the industry and can be references for future action (Figure 5).

Figure 5.

Prototype programs for feasible innovative business models.

On the basis of these cases, a bottom-up participatory development approach can improve the persuasive design of technologies and simultaneously increase engagement of end-users to foster sustainable implementation. The SME participants recommended modifications for the models with a focus on localization and differentiation for the Taiwanese market. Therefore, the participants’ descriptions of the innovative business models in Taiwan’s garment industry, the operational meaning and value of the models, and the feedback regarding the research aspects were as follows:

The participants unanimously praised the case sharing and workshop on innovative business models. Therefore, this study suggests continuing to hold this type of workshop in the future and establishing industrial alliances to thoroughly explore business models with a focus on SME characteristics. The business models can be converted into localized service models suitable for Taiwan’s context.

1. Small and medium-sized garment firms should implement innovative business models by conducting data analysis and providing customized services with rapid response and direct delivery from factories. The current gaps that firms should try to fill were recognized as (a) data analysis and customized services and (b) rapid response and direct delivery from factories. Regarding data analysis and customized services, firms typically lack data collection and analysis abilities and should invest in publicity and e-commerce. In terms of rapid response and delivery, factories lack marketing channels, original equipment manufacturers are not transparent, quality and style of clothes cannot be immediately ensured, localized supply chains of raw materials are insufficient, and production capacity is inadequate to meet deadlines.

2. Smart technologies, including cloud computing, smart phones, the Internet of things, and mobile applications, have developed rapidly in various fields and induced a change in consumption patterns. Therefore, the garment industry requires technical resources from information and electronics industries, but cross-sector collaboration still faces technical challenges, such as information collection and analysis regarding service models, the affordability of information network systems, resource integration for supply chains, and the establishment of exchange platforms.

3. Formation of collective consciousness and action consensus among SMEs or organizations with limited resources. During this crisis, immediate communication and action are critical. Open and ongoing communication will ensure that stakeholders are fully aware of the situation, to achieve goals by formation of collective consciousness and action consensus to achieve consensus on the strategy formulation, while innovative responses are taken to identify risks, opportunities, and resource demands.

Conclusion and recommendations

We present here a real life research project to identify the antecedents of small and medium-sized enterprises or organizations with limited resources, and the need to pay close attention to the rapid development during the pandemic. Immediate communication and action are critical: open and ongoing communication will ensure that stakeholders are fully aware of the situation, and can make immediate adjustments to adapt to an unpredictable future. In the World Café workshop, experts collectively brainstormed to identify the innovation solutions suitable for Taiwanese firms and those firms’ deficiencies in innovation capability. Finally, this study determined the innovative business strategies applicable for SMEs in the garment industry, and the experts recommended implementation programs. The research conclusions are as follows:

1. The World Café method was adopted to obtain consensus on Taiwanese SMEs’ development of innovative business models. Firms and scholars both participated in the World Café workshop, which not only enabled the collection of diverse opinions and achievement of consensus but also facilitated the breakdown of the prejudices and parochialism of individual firms. This method effectively expedited cross-sector communication and understanding as well as the generation of thoughts and concepts related to certain topics. Thus, the preset goals were achieved. Collective wisdom was elicited, and suggestions of actions for innovative services were proposed that exceeded our original expectation.

2. World Café workshops can facilitate SMEs’ collective and organizational learning from various perspectives. The SMEs were stimulated to share their experiences of success and failure in developing innovative services and propose other experience design themes for the development of innovative services. The discussion focused on the priorities and feasibility of the proposed innovative business models. The proposed recommendations were further modified to be applicable in Taiwan’s industry.

3. The World Café method creates a conversation environment for participants to interact with each other and exchange their opinions. For most participants in this study, this was their first time engaging in group brainstorming. The fact that they could discuss innovative business models and obtain results within a short time stimulated their passion and drive for consensus. The World Café workshop facilitated emotional interaction among practitioners in the industry who unanimously promised to commit to action in subsequent studies. The discussion results and conclusions can be references for action research on industry innovation development at the next stage and are conducive to the implementation of industrial strategies and making adjustments between different sectors. The case in this study can serve as an empirical example of cross-sector collaboration among industry, academia, and research institutes.

4. Taiwan’s SMEs have the advantage of high flexibility and are capable of rapid change. They are able to revise business strategies depending on the environment or in response to resource shortages, while the key to resource integration and digital transformation lies in the final decision-making process of the enterprise or organization. The decline in general economic activity, decreasing incomes, and a series of anti-epidemic measures are resulting in increasing costs for enterprises. The Government’s public resources need to put out integrated resources, plan revitalization actions to help SMEs through difficulty, reduce the impact of the pandemic, and also analyze the post-pandemic economic recovery plan.

Regarding the experiential service design for innovative business models, consensus can be reached and conflicts between different professions can be solved through group discussion based on cross-sector integration, which provides opportunities for participants to understand and respect others’ opinions. The efficiency of problem solving and whether relevant personnel are willing to continue the discussion long term should be considered. In this study, the participants in the service design workshop were representatives recommended by the industry consultant team, the members of which were selected by the TTF. They made large contributions to the formation of a collective consciousness and an action consensus. Therefore, the composition of participants in this study constitutes a research limitation. Finally, recommendations for the service design of the World Café were proposed. First, representative participants must be carefully selected (SMEs in the garment industry and academic and research institutes related to textiles and garments), to increase the feasibility of decisions, and they should be informed of the importance and objectives of participation. Additionally, the roles of the participant firms and academic and research institutes should be defined and clearly distinguished. Second, the World Café led discussion such that the participants focused on the topics, conversation was equal and open, the thought processes and the deeper problems underlying various viewpoints were explored, and integrated knowledge required for action plans was generated based on collective knowledge and experience, all of which made the discussions more efficient and productive. Third, table hosts (i.e., industry representatives) should be trained before the World Café. Their ability to guide conversations should be enhanced to facilitate the discussion at each table.

This study aimed to improve situations in practice. The action research for service design involved exploring industrial trends, identifying problem areas, developing problem-solving action plans, and implementing the action plans. Convergent thinking and reflection stages were incorporated during the service design process. The incorporation of the World Café method was conducive to the implementation and improvement of action research, which were the present study’s contribution to the industry and facilitated the promotion of action research theories. To provide each participant with equal rights and opportunities to speak in the World Café, this study meticulously planned the process and how the participants should be guided throughout, making participants less reluctant to interact with different ideas and preventing one-sided conversation. The equal engagement of participants in the discussion increased the possibility of business model innovation. However, one research limitation was hidden sources of inequality and disempowerment. For example, information inequalities as a result of background differences among SMEs (e.g., different understanding and expectation of innovative business models). This study explored the actual needs of SMEs for developing innovative business models. The research results serve as a reference for future research in this domain and as potential material for other research fields, and eventually may help to close the academic-practitioner divide by conducing faster, yet still rigorous research.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Taiwan Textile Federation offer was used as the research case, and those who contributed to the research.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Shuhui Huang

Author biographies

SHU-HUI HUANG Specialty: Fashion design and development, trend analysis, service innovation, industrial innovation strategy, Innovation of cultural industry and forecasting, has a guest at fashion personnel training. Currently is contribute for fashion marketing, organization of trade shows and promotion, to provide Taiwan’s textile businesses the best services. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5768-4261

CHUN-LIANG CHEN Dr. Chen is a full professor in Graduate School of Creative Industry Design, National Taiwan University of Arts, Taiwan, R.O.C. He received his Ph.D. degree from the Graduate Institute of International Business, National Taiwan University, Taiwan. His areas of interest include industry innovation strategies, e-business, service innovation, cultural and creative industries management, and international business management. Dr. Chen has published papers in respected journals, such as Review of Managerial Science, Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, International Journal of Technology Management, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice, The Service Industries Journal, Journal of Global Information Technology Management, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Chinese Management Studies, and Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, etc. ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0755-7587

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