Humanizing Organizations: Researchers as Knowledge Brokers and Change Agents

Abstract

Competitive pressures and more empowered customers have made customer experience a critical strategic imperative for every industry and every company. The need for research about people, their experience, and how they define value has increased as businesses change to become more customercentric. Researchers must become more than purveyors of insight; they must also act as knowledge brokers and change agents. This paper describes how research combined with user-centered design and facilitation techniques bring benefits to business beyond customer understanding, including alignment on complex, multifunctional teams, project scope clarity, and a strategy for risk mitigation in a world exploding with change.