Abstract
Interest in interdisciplinary research has drastically increased in recent years as societal problems require more and more heterogeneous competences and research institutions seek greater long-term impact and more socio-economic implications. Interdisciplinary projects, while combining specific expertise, generate many opportunities and challenges, resulting greater risks. Thus, interdisciplinary research offers a high-risk, high-reward scenario; and currently a disproportionality low amount of attention has been paid to the interdisciplinary research process. In our article, we aim to reflect on our interdisciplinary research project and provide specific guidelines on how to conduct interdisciplinary research projects and overcome potential issues that may arise along the project, increasing the chances of success. Our reflection is based upon our project at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano involving the two disciplines of engineering/technology and management. We demystify the interdisciplinary research process and summarize what we have learned in 6 lessons, each one referred to a different stage of the process. The research offers practical implications in useful advice for interdisciplinary researchers at every level (i.e., Master students, PhD students, early researchers, Professors, and the overall academic community).
Keywords
- Family Business
- Industry 4.0
- Interdisciplinary Research
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Acknowledgment
The research was financed by the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (project: MasterMIL - Call ID 2020).
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Appendix. Guidelines Summary
Appendix. Guidelines Summary
Step | Lessons learned |
|---|---|
Project Planning | Lesson 1a: Maintain recruitment of the right researcher (with the adequate skills and expertise) prior to starting the project Lesson 1b: Ensure alignment between the University’s mission, experts, and supporting capabilities |
Clarify the Goal of the Research Project | Lesson 2: Produce a set of deliverables that encompass with the University’s mission and research team’s goals |
Co-ordinating and delegating deliverables | Lesson 3a: Create a blend of outputs with mixed authorship Lesson 3b: Design specific outputs that incentivize researchers in line with their discipline |
Research Team Interpersonal Skills and Hierarchy | Lesson 4a: Dedicate time to interaction and communication on preferred working-supervision styles Lesson 4b: Ensure balance in the research team across both disciplines to avoid overload of activities |
Performing research activities | Lesson 5a: Invest time in the literature and create a core conceptual model Lesson 5b: Design the interview protocol generally for an initial period and then once more focused, incentivize the researchers with outputs that align with their career objectives |
Research dissemination activities | Lesson 6: Align incentivized researchers to the appropriate dissemination activities |
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Mismetti, M., Appleton, S., Rondi, E., Orzes, G., De Massis, A., Matt, D. (2023). Interdisciplinary Research Projects: Six Lessons from a Family Business-Industry 4.0 Project. In: Borgianni, Y., Matt, D.T., Molinaro, M., Orzes, G. (eds) Towards a Smart, Resilient and Sustainable Industry. ISIEA 2023. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 745. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38274-1_23
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