Applying Design Science in Creativity and Innovation Management Research: A Decision Guide for Deepening Research Practice

Creativity and innovation management research (CIMR) seeks to understand how creative and innovative solutions emerge. Recently, greater practitioner engagement, interdisciplinary integration, process orientation and context-sensitive impact measurement have been proposed as realms of further development. To address these opportunities, we introduce Design Science Research (DSR) as a complementary methodology for CIMR. DSR connects theory and practice through the iterative development of practice-oriented artifacts that are grounded in theory, thus enabling scholars to co-create actionable tools jointly with practitioners. We have adapted DSR to the unique characteristics of CIMR—such as interdisciplinarity, process orientation and pluralist ontological and epistemological positions—by developing the DeepDSR Guide. The DeepDSR Guide supports CIMR scholars in making consistent and reflexive methodological choices throughout DSR projects. We have iteratively developed and validated the DeepDSR Guide with feedback from 21 scholars following a DSR approach. Our study contributes methodologically by adapting DSR to fit the pluralist, creative nature of CIMR and expands the application of DSR in management research.