Abstract
This thesis looks at the Pre-Project phase of innovation work and, in particular, the Singapore context. Trends have shown that consultancy work have become an essential part of an organisation’s economic activity (Muller 2001). However, there is a lack of literature on the different phases of Design Thinking, and how they relate to innovation work in consulting. This thesis will look at Singapore’s National Innovation System, and her innovation efficiency. Singapore has fared well in most innovation indices, ranking 1st from 2013-2020 in innovation input. However, Singapore’s ranking for the innovation output has been ranked low when we compare with the rest of the top 20 in the ranking. To understand the experiences with innovation work in consulting an online questionnaire was sent to practitioners in Singapore. The 16 participants are from different fields of consultancy work in Singapore, and represent both sides of the relationship, i.e., the consultancy as well as client side. From the insights gained from the questionnaire, literature as well as the analysis of the Global Innovation Index (GII) trends, 3 conclusions were drawn: (1) In Singapore, there is little flexibility in the deliverables, hindering the ability for the project team to innovate. (2) While there is more than adequate support for innovation work in consulting, the processes in place are not efficient to maximize the use of these supports, and (3) Project team members believe that there is a lack of information given to all stakeholders, and that designers and engineers should be involved more in the Discover and define phases. Finally, the thesis gives three recommendations based on those conclusions for stakeholders in Singapore to increase innovation efficiency in consulting. The recommendations look at what organizations and consultancies can do to have successful innovation; which consists of (1) increasing importance of the Discovery and Define phase in the Pre-Project stage, (2) a new tool in the form of a Knowledge Transfer Map (KT Map) and lastly, (3) a change in mindset that includes a distinction of different deliverables.