Design Thinking and Corporate Entrepreneurship: An Integration and Avenues for Future Research

Design Thinking and corporate entrepreneurship are both topical in the contemporary innovation management discourse. This study outlines promising avenues for future research for the two concepts’ connections and synergies. Four research themes are identified and presented: Design Thinking and opportunity recognition/creation, Design Thinking and effectuation in corporate entrepreneurship, Design Thinking and corporate entrepreneurship strategy, as well as entrepreneurial design management. Promising avenues for each research theme are identified. Two of the research themes are on an individual level, while the other two themes are on an organizational level. The study contributes to the fields of corporate entrepreneurship and Design Thinking by conceptually linking the two, presenting research in the field and noting avenues for further research.