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10th International Open and User Innovation WorkshopJuly 30-August 1, 2012Harvard Business School
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Talk Details (Day 1)
User Entrepreneurship
Do Innovative Users Generate More Useful Insights? An Analysis of Corporate Venture Capital Investments in the Medical Device industry
Presenter: Sonali
Shah (University of Washington)
Plenary Group: User Entrepreneurship - Group I
Plenary Order: 1
Breakout Room: A - Aldrich 107
Abstract:
Users are an important source of innovation. Scholars have suggested that established firms will gain valuable innovative insights by working with user innovators. However, no study compares the extent to which knowledge sourced from innovative users, as compared to other external sources of knowledge, triggers the creation of new technologies and commercial products within established firms. This leaves established firms with little guidance when it comes to choosing where to search for external knowledge that ignites innovation. We build a theoretical framework that explains why user knowledge will provide established firms with more ‘useful’ innovative insights than will other sources of knowledge. We test this claim in the context of corporate venture capital investment in the medical device industry.
Spin-offs are not the only story: User industry spin-outs in high tech industries
Presenter: Franco
Malerba (Bocconi University)
Coauthors: Pamela Adams, Roberto Fontana
Plenary Group: User Entrepreneurship - Group I
Plenary Order: 2
Breakout Room: A - Aldrich 107
Abstract:
We investigate how the knowledge of de novo entrants in an industry affects the choice of entry and the survival rates of these firms. We make a novel distinction between spin-offs (new ventures with founders from the incumbent industry), user industry spin-outs (new ventures with founders from downstream markets/applications). Analyses of 1997-2007 data on start-ups from the semiconductor industry support our hypothesis that both spin-offs and user industry spin-outs have entry advantages compared to other start-ups. Spin-offs have a higher likelihood of entry in standard product categories, and of survival in both standard and customized product categories, while user industry spin-outs have a higher likelihood of entry in both standard and customized products and of survival in customized products only. Such differences are due not only to the type of knowledge (technology versus market) that entrants possess, but also to the dimensions of that knowledge (cumulativeness, contextuality, tacitness and accessibility).
Who are the User Entrepreneurs?
Presenter: Sheryl Winston
Smith (Fox School of Business, Temple Univ.)
Coauthors: Sonali Shah and E.J. Reedy
Plenary Group: User Entrepreneurship - Group I
Plenary Order: 3
Breakout Room: A - Aldrich 107
Abstract:
We present initial results from the largest longitudinal survey of U.S. startups. We provide evidence of the prevalence and characteristics of user entrepreneurship in a sample of just under 5,000 startups founded in 2004 in the U.S. across a wide range of industries and surveyed annually in subsequent follow-up surveys. We distinguish amongst distinct types of user-entrepreneurs (end-user and professional-user entrepreneurs) and we focus on key characteristics and innovation-related outcomes.
A systematic literature review of user entrepreneur studies: Some common themes
Presenter: Xin
Yu (Kobe University)
Coauthors: Susumu Ogawa
Plenary Group: User Entrepreneurship - Group I
Plenary Order: 4
Breakout Room: A - Aldrich 107
Abstract:
Interest in how innovative users initiate venture business and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities is growing. Several researchers have started to investigate these people by using different kinds of research methods and data; and their research questions are often distinguishing between each other. However, these differences could easily blur our understanding of user entrepreneur study, which is similar with the “fragmented state of management studies (Whitley, 1984).” To solve this problem, we systematically reviewed the studies of user entrepreneur(ship), synthesized the common themes, and compared these themes with some traditional wisdom. Although there is evident limitation, such as insufficient review of traditional wisdom of entrepreneur, this paper clearly depicts what user entrepreneur study is all about, and make suggests to future researchers to investigate these common themes in more details.
Grassroots User Innovation and Entrepreneurship: An Emerging Perspective from India
Presenter: Vanita
Yadav (IRMA India)
Coauthors: Preeti Goyal
Plenary Group: User Entrepreneurship - Group I
Plenary Order: 5
Breakout Room: A - Aldrich 107
Abstract:
Though there is emerging literature on the importance of user entrepreneurship, not much is available on the likelihood of user innovation and entrepreneurship at the grassroots level by farmers, artisans, women, or others living in rural areas in developing economies. This paper addresses this gap by exploring the existence of grassroots level user innovation and entrepreneurship in India. Examining secondary data from four nodal organizations for grassroots innovations in India (NIF, HoneyBee, SRISTI & GIAN), we found over 100,000 cases of grassroots innovations. But, we could find sufficient data on only seven cases of user entrepreneurship. Based on our preliminary findings we propose antecedents, enabling factors and individual attributes for grassroots level user entrepreneurship. Finally, we discuss the individual level as well as the society level impact of grassroots level user entrepreneurship.
Beyond innovation: An exploratory investigation of lead users motivations to commercialize their innovations
Presenter: Cyrielle
VELLERA (Grenoble University (France))
Coauthors: Linda Hamdi-Kidar
Plenary Group: User Entrepreneurship - Group I
Plenary Order: 6
Breakout Room: A - Aldrich 107
Abstract:
We investigate why, in some cases, lead users are motivated to commercialize their solution and create firms? To answer this question, we propose exploring lead users motivations as inspiration for becoming user-entrepreneurs. We conducted a qualitative study with sixteen lead users identified via self-assessment scales. All respondents developed a product they subsequently commercialized, either successfully or unsuccessfully. Our content analysis reveals that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations drive lead users to become entrepreneurs. The former includes user’s personal belief in the success of the project, their personal desire to serve others, their private sense of pleasure, enjoyment and passion, the desire to take up a challenge and the life project. The latter is demonstrated by pecuniary motives, their need for recognition from others, commitment to a person or a community and market opportunity identification.
IP
IP Modularity in Software Ecosystems – How SugarCRM’s IP and Business Model Shape its Product Architecture
Presenter: Joachim
Henkel (Technische Universität München)
Coauthors: Josef Waltl, Carliss Y. Baldwin
Plenary Group: IP - Group I
Plenary Order: 7
Breakout Room: B - Aldrich 108
Abstract:
We provide a case study of the concept of “IP modularity,” analyzing the case of SugarCRM. The modular architecture of this platform software is aligned with its intellectual property structure in such a way that the firm can derive, from the same code tree, an open source community version and a proprietary version. The software’s IP modular structure also facilitates the development of complements by distributed and anonymous complementors and simplifies downstream customizations, thus enhancing the platform’s attractiveness. We find that SugarCRM implements IP modularity on three different levels of the architectural hierarchy, in some cases down to the source code level. Our study thus extends the concept of IP modularity to comprise the notion of hierarchy levels.
Uncertain intellectual property conditions, knowledge appropriation and access: Evidence from genomics
Presenter: Kenneth
Huang (Singapore Management University)
Plenary Group: IP - Group I
Plenary Order: 8
Breakout Room: B - Aldrich 108
Abstract:
Innovating technology firms often endure a sustained period of uncertain intellectual property rights (IPR) protection before patents could be granted to their valuable knowledge assets. This problem is exacerbated as firms increasingly develop their innovations or operate in countries with weak IPR institutional environments. But how does IPR uncertainty affect firms’ propensity toward knowledge appropriation– capturing of economic value from their knowledge assets– and toward providing access to these assets? We address this question using matching genomics patents and papers covering 362 firms. Under uncertain IPR conditions, firms disclose and accumulate more knowledge through open science (follow-on publishing) but shift to knowledge appropriation through commercial science (follow-on patenting) after IPR uncertainty is narrowed. This effect is most salient when firms develop their knowledge assets or operate under strong IPR institutions. For highly science-based assets, firms continue tapping into open science for access and reciprocity in knowledge acquisition from scientific community.
Physicians and Patents: A Tale of Two Innovation Systems
Presenter: Katherine
Strandburg (NYU School of Law)
Plenary Group: IP - Group I
Plenary Order: 9
Breakout Room: B - Aldrich 108
Abstract:
This paper reviews the historical relationship between the medical profession and the US patent system from a user innovation perspective. It centers on the 1993 cataract surgery patent case that inspired a major political movement among physicians to ban patents on medical and surgical procedures, which led to enactment of a provision precluding enforcement of certain medical procedure patent claims against physicians. The article puts contemporary physician fights against procedural and medical diagnostic patents patents into the context of the medical profession's evolving stance toward patents starting in the mid-1880s. I argue that the user innovator frame sheds light on current debates about patenting of medical innovations, specifically, that physician attitudes toward patenting depend upon whether innovation in a particular area depends upon collaboration with non-physician outsiders, for whom the social norms and rewards of the medical profession are ineffective.
The organization of industrial R&D and scientific disclosure
Presenter: Stéphane
Lhuillery (ICN Business School, France)
Coauthors: Markus Simeth (EPFL, Lausanne)
Plenary Group: IP - Group I
Plenary Order: 10
Breakout Room: B - Aldrich 108
Abstract:
Many profit orientated companies are not only sourcing knowledge from academic partners but are also active contributors to the stock of scientific knowledge. Despite potential spillover effects, such a firm strategy can be beneficial since the voluntary disclosure of own research outcomes may facilitate the access to external knowledge. However, there is only little understanding concerning the R&D antecedents and specific resource allocations which are necessary to pursue strategies of scientific disclosure. Our paper aims to open the “black box” of R&D and analyses empirically the relationship between R&D characteristics and scientific disclosure along the dimensions focus of research, researcher demographics and modes of knowledge production. The econometric analysis is performed using unique firm-level data from the French R&D survey 2007 and matched scientific publications for a sample of 2.070 firms. We find particularly strong support for the relevance of R&D demographics that represent the abilities of firm scientists.
Venture Capital Investment in Open Source Start-ups
Presenter: Cristina
Rossi Lamastra (Politecnico di Milano)
Coauthors: Massimo G. Colombo; Douglas Cumming; Ali Mohammadi; Anu Wadhwa
Plenary Group: IP - Group I
Plenary Order: 11
Breakout Room: B - Aldrich 108
Abstract:
This paper empirically investigates how financing patterns of high-tech start-ups vary depending on the appropriability regime by comparing venture capital (VC) financing patterns of high-tech start-ups that do business with open source (OSS) and proprietary ones. Research on financing of high tech start-ups has focused on the role of intellectual property rights as a signal of quality, but the issue of how high-tech entrepreneurial ventures finance their innovation depending on appropriability regime is relatively under-explored. Using multiple sources, we build a sample of 492 VC-backed open source and proprietary software start-ups and we compare patterns of financing between them at three levels: Portfolio Company; Deal and VC firm. Analyses indicate that open source start-ups receive the first venture capital investment sooner. It also indicates that OSS start-ups are more likely to receive investment in discrete stages and VC firms which invest in OSS start-ups on average have more experience.
A Collective as Creator – the European juridical perspective
Presenter: Clemens
Appl (IT|IP-Law Group, Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna))
Plenary Group: IP - Group I
Plenary Order: 12
Breakout Room: B - Aldrich 108
Abstract:
With the rapidly growing amount of “crowd creations”, a vast new field has opened up for legal research and for the development of a new approach in the field of intellectual property law. “Crowd creation” is a social phenomenon where a large number of people conjointly create a work or make an invention in such a manner that the result forms an indivisible whole (e.g. open software). The people involved usually do not even know each other personally and do not pursue commercial goals. Their motivation to contribute to a crowd creation is commonly based on personal interests other than direct financial compensation or at least mere altruism. “Crowd creation” will result in intellectual property issues with specific economical connotations, including ownership and confidentiality issues. In this respect the question arises, if the (European) Intellectual Property Law provides a comprehensible legal framework dealing with “crowd creations”.
Paying for free Lunch: How do creative talents establish legitimacy in their employer-company to justify engagement for another company?
Presenter: Poul Houman
Andersen (Aarhus University)
Coauthors: Hanne Kragh; Christopher Lettl
Plenary Group: IP - Group I
Plenary Order: 13
Breakout Room: B - Aldrich 108
Abstract:
Accessing creative inputs from highly skilled professionals in other organizations is a potential resource, for valuable external inputs. However, accessing this resource for creative inputs is problematic, due to the fact that these people often are highly demanded in the organization that employs them. This fairness aspect is tightened as most firm-outsiders as professionals are employed by other firms. As creative talent is a scarce resource, property rights/employee contracts providing the employer with some degree of exclusivity in using this talent may be an important factor complicating the design of a useful model for accessing creative talent. Thus the question arises: why should top creative talents of a company invest their working time and talent to the innovation program of another company and contribute to it for free?
Online Communities
Almost Wikipedia: What Eight Collaborative Encyclopedia Projects Reveal About Mechanisms of Collective Action
Presenter: Benjamin Mako
Hill (MIT)
Plenary Group: Online Communities - Group I
Plenary Order: 14
Breakout Room: C - Aldrich 109
Abstract:
There were seven online, collaboratively produced, freely available, encyclopedia projects created before Wikipedia. None of them succeeded in mobilizing volunteer contributors to the degree that Wikipedia did. I use a qualitative, inductive, case-study based analysis of eight early projects, including Wikipedia, to help offer answers to the question of why Wikipedia succeeded when these other projects did not. to create online collaborative. My initial results are based interviews of the projects' founders and extensive archival data. My findings are a set of propositions focused on suggesting why Wikipedia succeeded in attracting contributors while the other projects did so less effectively.
Effectiveness of Shared Leadership in Online Communities
Presenter: Haiyi
Zhu (Carnegie Mellon University)
Coauthors: Robert E. Kraut, Aniket Kittur
Plenary Group: Online Communities - Group I
Plenary Order: 15
Breakout Room: C - Aldrich 109
Abstract:
Traditional research on leadership in online communities has consistently focused on the small set of people occupying leadership roles. In this paper, we use a model of shared leadership, which claims that leadership behaviors come from members at all levels, not simply from people in high-level leadership positions. Although every member can exhibit some leadership behavior, different types of leadership behavior performed by different types of leaders may not be equally effective. This paper investigates how distinct types of leadership behaviors (transactional, aversive, directive and person-focused) and the legitimacy of the people who deliver them (people in formal leadership positions or not) influence the contributions that other participants make in the research context of Wikipedia.
How do online forums grow?: The role of topic diversity, network structure and participants interaction
Presenter: Sung Joo
Bae (Yonsei University)
Coauthors: Mooweon Rhee, University of Hawaii
Plenary Group: Online Communities - Group I
Plenary Order: 16
Breakout Room: C - Aldrich 109
Abstract:
In this paper, we investigate the role of topic diversity, network structure, and participant interaction in the growth of online forums. By investigating the relationship between various factors of interaction and the overall growth of the forum, this research provides some insights into how the current forums should be evaluated in terms of their activities and growth potential, as well as how to participate in the ongoing forums. We gathered data on 975 online forums on different car models using software that automatically searches and gathers data from web servers. Our analysis shows that topic diversity and response rates are positively associated with the growth of online forums, while the communication centrality of a forum is negatively associated with growth. We also found that words exchanged in this social setting will have a signaling effect on the further participation of existing members and participation of new members. Since the online forums forming around the topics of products themselves are the major source of word of mouth effect, the outcome of this study would be very informative for managers of the product manufacturers who want to interact with the online forums related to their products.
Crowd Control: A Research Agenda for the Management of Online Communities
Presenter: Daren
Brabham (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Plenary Group: Online Communities - Group I
Plenary Order: 17
Breakout Room: C - Aldrich 109
Abstract:
Online communities are at the core of many open and user innovation endeavors, yet we know relatively little about how and why these communities form and what sustains them. In an attempt to articulate an emerging interdisciplinary field of study centered on the dynamics of online communities, this paper puts forth a research agenda for the management of online communities. The perspective of strategic communication is provided as a useful practical framework for embarking on this research agenda. Five broad key questions inform this agenda.
New Organizational Forms in Collaborative Innovation -
Presenter: Daniel
Kahnert (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main Germany)
Coauthors: Raphael Menez
Plenary Group: Online Communities - Group I
Plenary Order: 18
Breakout Room: C - Aldrich 109
Abstract:
Following the research stream on organizational forms and designs our paper focuses on new organizational forms emerging in collaborative innovation processes of firms and communities. We argue that a new emergent quality of “social interdependence management” and collaborative problem solving occurs in organizations. This new organizational form and the collaboration process are governed by specific “social putty”. The more the social putty replaces organizational and community rules, the more likely a totally new temporary form of social interdependence management emerges as opposed to a hybrid of organization and community. Organizations as well as communities lose their role as primary reference with regard to belief systems, boundaries and membership. A new emergent form functions as primary reference and is largely shaped by the social putty. The stronger the social putty is and the more it replaces organization and community rules, the better collaboration performance is and the lower transaction costs are.
THE SOCIAL LIFE OF DESIGN ARTIFACTS IN THINGIVERSE
Presenter: Nadia
Kirilova (nottingham university business school)
Coauthors: George Kuk; Jian Hua Shao; Matthew Terrell
Plenary Group: Online Communities - Group I
Plenary Order: 19
Breakout Room: C - Aldrich 109
Abstract:
This study examines the design artifact history on Thingiverse; specifically the ways designers express themselves and extend their design potential through sharing of design artefacts and/or contributing to the designs of others. We used the data to construct visual representations for all 1217 trees on Thingiverse and have created a framework through which to code each design artefact based on its type. The tree representation helped us to differentiate design artefacts into three distinctive genealogies: design objects of utility; objects of personal and cultural meaning; and designs of RepRap equipment and parts. Our framework comprises of nine dimensions (learning instructions, reuse and/or recombine existing design elements to create new ones, reveal novel invention, tell personal story, describe design history, express personal emotion, solve a design or daily problem), which we applied to code 110 design artifacts across a random sample of seven family trees. We then subjected the coded data to exploratory factor analysis, and retained factors with eigenvalue greater than 1. This resulted in a four-factor solution, which accounted for 62% of variance. The four factors characterized four archetypes of designers: a problem solver who seeks to solve a design problem and/or a problem of daily living; a composer who seeks to recombine the existing design elements to embody personal emotion and story; an inventor who seeks to reveal novel design techniques and methods to induce learning; and a historian who seeks to reuse prior design elements especially those of high quality to reflect the cultural history of design. We also find that only composers and inventors indirectly and directly prolong the social lives of design artifacts. In that composers are more likely to innovate through crossing boundaries by bringing unique elements from different design family trees, whereas inventors are more likely to increase the longevity of their design and spur further design innovation.
Decoding and Evaluating User-contributed Data in Social Chatters
Presenter: Nicoletta
Dimitrova (VU University Amsterdam)
Coauthors: George Kuk; Daniele Quercia; Beat Reber
Plenary Group: Online Communities - Group I
Plenary Order: 20
Breakout Room: C - Aldrich 109
Abstract:
User contributed data (UCD) created by and about users in social chatters is deemed to be a new asset class. The intuitive appeal of exploiting UCD on the fly has spurred a burgeoning number of new businesses and services in both the private and public sectors. Yet, because the valuation of UCD is often based on an aggregate value of social media, its true value may be subject to a range of discounting factors including methodological limits and flaws, and hence it can be either over- or under-estimated. We assemble a set of tools and techniques (primarily from computer sciences and finance) in decoding and evaluating the potential impacts of UCD in social chatters. The assemblage constitutes not only a stylized approach to process and calibrate UCD but also provides a rich dataset to subject the attributes of UCD to psychometric analysis.
Innovation Contests
Competition & Cognition: Evidence on Individual Behavior and Performance in Rank-Order Tournaments
Presenter: Michael
Menietti (NTL)
Coauthors: Kevin Boudreau, Constance Helfat, Karim Lakhani
Plenary Group: Innovation Contests - Group II
Plenary Order: 1
Breakout Room: D - Aldrich 110
Abstract:
We study a large panel on innovation tournaments, in which we observe individual competitor data over multiple contests. We find that, on average, workers' performance declines with greater numbers of competitors and in the presence of overwhelmingly dominant competitors. However, we find these effects are not general; rather the negative responses to competition are focused on next-to-top-skilled participants. The decline in performance is not associated with any observable changes in workers’ choices and strategies in response to varying levels of competition. Rather, ‘next-to-top’ competitors are more likely to commit logical errors in the face of more intensive competition. This increase in errors is consistent with deterioration in cognitive processing, as in a loss of mental focus or choking.
The Effect of Collaborative Incentives on Ideation Behavior: Evidence from a Laboratory Experiment
Presenter: Robin
Kleer (RWTH Aachen University)
Coauthors: Alexander Vossen, Viktoria Boss
Plenary Group: Innovation Contests - Group II
Plenary Order: 2
Breakout Room: D - Aldrich 110
Abstract:
Within this paper, we examine the role of collaborative incentives in firm-initiated idea contests. By developing a theoretical model and using a 2x2 between subject game theoretic experiment, we analyze how a competitive/collaborative setting as well as performance-based/flat compensation influences consumers in their ideation activity and elaboration effort. Contrary to prior literature that emphasizes the important role of the competitive character of idea contests, we find that a collaborative setting increases participants’ effort as well as the interaction among participants. In particular, we find that participants allocate more time to improving ideas of other participants, leading to a higher overall performance of the idea contest. With respect to the payment method, we find that introducing performance-based compensation in idea contests is particularly promising in a collaborative setting.
Crowdsourcing as an Innovation Strategy: A Study on Crowdsourcing Platforms in Austria and Switzerland
Presenter: Milica
Sundic (Vienna University of Technology)
Coauthors: Dr. Karl-Heinz Leitner
Plenary Group: Innovation Contests - Group II
Plenary Order: 3
Breakout Room: D - Aldrich 110
Abstract:
This paper includes a study of three innovation platforms: 'Atizo.com'by the Swiss company Atizo, 3M's 'Zukunft-Innovation' and A1 Telekom Austria's 'A1 Innovation Days' - both from Austria. The study includes interviews with the companies and community users, representing innovators from Austria, Switzerland and Germany. We have analyzed Crowdsourcing as an Open Innovation strategy for idea-contests. Motives and incentive-systems that occur within Idea Insourcing or Crowdsourcing are questioned from the consumer?s as well as from the company?s point of view. Further, the study discusses the risks of Crowdsourcing and the importance of intellectual property in an age of idea diffusion. The examined case studies show consistently positive experiences with Crowdsourcing and crowd-based idea-contests. At the same time however,the analyzed communities also show a tendency to closing, because in many cases a small group of actors provides similar problem solving strategies repeatedly.
Winning by Losing - Motivations of Participants in an Extreme Form of Innovation Tournaments
Presenter: Florian
Schirg (WU Wien)
Coauthors: Christopher Lettl
Plenary Group: Innovation Contests - Group II
Plenary Order: 4
Breakout Room: D - Aldrich 110
Abstract:
The presented study aims at exploring the motivation of participants in large-scale innovation competitions. Besides a range of systematic differences to classical innovation tournaments, an additional contrast becomes salient: These tournaments such as the X-Prize offer very large prizes, yet the amount of prize money awarded does not attain the level of investment needed for actually claiming the prize. In Innocentive-style competitions, prize money offers a clear incentive to participate. Underlying motivations in such extreme settings, where it even appears to be economically irrational to participate, so far have remained unexplored.
From Idea Competitions to Online Games - A Longitudinal Analysis of Creative Process Engagement
Presenter: Maximilian
Witt (Institute of Information Systems, Technische Universität Braunschweig)
Coauthors: C.W. Scheiner, S. Robra-Bissantz, K.-I. Voigt
Plenary Group: Innovation Contests - Group II
Plenary Order: 5
Breakout Room: D - Aldrich 110
Abstract:
As an “inflationary increase” in the use of idea competitions has been observed, organizations must concentrate on the utilitarian and on the hedonic appeal of these systems alike. It is argued that individuals who use a more hedonic system are also more involved in (1) problem identification (PI), (2) information searching and encoding (ISE), and (3) idea and alternative generation (IAG). In our study we examine, whether an idea competition, designed as a multiplayer online game, can lead to permanent creative process engagement. Two longitudinal studies have been conducted: 27 persons participated in the first study and 58 persons in the second study. The studies were partly supplemented with qualitative interviews to identify causes for changes. We found that players were more engaged in ISE than in PI and IAG. Longitudinal differences exist for all components, which can be explained by an altered perception towards missions and game mechanics.
Is Gamification the New Solution for Idea Competitions? Longitudinal Insights into the Perception of Game Mechanics towards Motivation
Presenter: Christian
Scheiner (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)
Coauthors: M. Witt, K.-I. Voigt, S. Robra-Bissantz
Plenary Group: Innovation Contests - Group II
Plenary Order: 6
Breakout Room: D - Aldrich 110
Abstract:
Idea competitions integrate both insiders and outsiders into the innovation activities of organizations. Due to an overabundance of existing idea competitions, organizations have started to introduce game mechanics in order to increase the level of motivation and to differentiate own competitions from others. However, studies of game mechanics, especially on a longitudinal level, are missing. To take a first step in closing this research gap, this study examines the perception of game mechanics with respect to motivation and demotivation on a longitudinal panel base with two independent studies. In the first study, 27 participants spent in total 1072 hours in the idea competition to complete the given tasks, while in the second study, 58 participants spent more than 2250 hours. The findings regarding the motivational perception are heterogeneous and contradict, to some extent, the common opinion especially of practitioners who assume positive effects.
Search and Open Innovation
How Constraints and Knowledge impact Open Innovation
Presenter: Sebastian
Spaeth (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Plenary Group: Search and Open Innovation - Group II
Plenary Order: 7
Breakout Room: E - Aldrich 111
Abstract:
Empty
Critical factors for implementing broadcast search: a qualitative analysis
Presenter: Dirk
Lüttgens (TIM Group, RWTH Aachen)
Coauthors: Dirk Lüttgens, David Antons, Frank Piller
Plenary Group: Search and Open Innovation - Group II
Plenary Order: 8
Breakout Room: E - Aldrich 111
Abstract:
New management practices, such as the broadcast search method, that have emerged in the context of the open innovation model have been widely recognized and described as promising means to efficiently gain access to relevant technical knowledge. We report the findings of a study aimed at investigating the implementation of broadcast search as an alternative approach to internal trial and error based problem solving. The results of our study provide evidence that the internal organizational setup of client companies (i.e. the availability of the right structures and internal processes) is a crucial factor for a successful implementation of the method as a standard management practice. More specifically we find that experienced and successful client companies tend to show higher degrees of process formalization and have dedicated organizational structures where broadcast search activities are coordinated by a central unit with access to necessary resources and practical knowledge.
Searching or Sitting in the Right Spot? The Regional Scope of Open Innovation
Presenter: Christoph
Ihl (RWTH Aachen)
Coauthors: Mathias Kube, University of Hamburg, Chair for Public Management (Germany)
Plenary Group: Search and Open Innovation - Group II
Plenary Order: 9
Breakout Room: E - Aldrich 111
Abstract:
Prior research has shown that firms with an 'open' search strategy for knowledge can achieve a superior innovative performance. We investigate in how far the effectiveness of such a strategy is moderated by the regional knowledge endowment in which the firm is embedded. This is represented by private sector R&D activity in a firm's home and neighbouring regions. Our study is based on a sample of 370 German manufacturing firms merged with NUTS-3 data of 429 regions. Using a tobit model we find that it is important to be searching in the right spot: the innovative activity of the private sector surrounding firms improves the effectiveness of their open searches. It offers valuable formal and informal cooperation on mainly tacit and market-relevant knowledge. Open innovation strategies and partly 'outsourcing' of R&D can result in a competitive advantage. Furthermore geography matters as the moderation effect vanishes with increasing geographical distance.
Costs and Benefits of Openness in Innovation Search
Presenter: Mikko O.J.
Laine (Aalto University School of Science)
Plenary Group: Search and Open Innovation - Group II
Plenary Order: 10
Breakout Room: E - Aldrich 111
Abstract:
In complex and turbulent product environments characterized by intense competition and short product life-cycles, firms need to constantly innovate to sustain. The open innovation framework has been posited as an answer for firms to achieve a sufficient rate of successful innovations. However, previous research on open innovation has not yet fully explored the costs associated with engaging in the open search for innovation knowledge suggested by the framework. In this research I investigate these complex dynamics by the aid of computer simulation, employing Kauffman’s NK-model of fitness landscapes. Benefits of openness in innovation search are conceptualized as resulting in better-informed change modes for firms’ products, and the relative costs are explored in terms of time and associated cumulative payoff. These effects are modeled in multiple product and environmental configurations.
Searching for External Knowledge: Multi-Level Evidence on the Antecedents of Inbound Open Innovation
Presenter: Tomas
Farchi (IAE Business School)
Coauthors: homas Marc Bohné, Torsten Oliver Salge
Plenary Group: Search and Open Innovation - Group II
Plenary Order: 11
Breakout Room: E - Aldrich 111
Abstract:
Informed by recent advances in social psychology and social cognition, this paper focuses on managers’ perceptions and their effect on the scope of external knowledge search. More specifically, it explores the extent to which managers’ perceptions of their own innovation capabilities and of the innovation context they are embedded in influence their level of search openness. Moreover, this study analyzes how this perceptual effect is moderated by managers’ innovation experience and aspirations. This general theoretical model is tested empirically by means of two distinct studies at the project and at the firm level. Our findings have important implications for the open innovation literature, as they shed light on the perceptual and social psychological mechanisms that drive search openness.
The Social Side of Open Innovation: The Role of Social Capital in Open Innovation Communities
Presenter: Matthias
Rass (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)
Coauthors: Angelika C. Bullinger, Kathrin M. Moeslein
Plenary Group: Search and Open Innovation - Group II
Plenary Order: 12
Breakout Room: E - Aldrich 111
Abstract:
Open innovation initiatives have the potential to connect a large number of individuals and collectives. Recent research emphasizes the interactive character of innovation and points to the need for research on social ties, networks, and communities. It is the purpose of this study to add to the understanding of the role of social relationships in open innovation communities. We investigate teams that are part of an open innovation network and analyze how their internal and external relationships affect knowledge exchange and combination and innovation performance. Drawing on social capital theory and extant literature on open innovation, we develop and test a model that integrates different aspects of the structure and content of social relationships and conceptualize social capital as a multi-dimensional construct. Results show the importance of social relationships in open innovation settings in general, but also illustrate which specific facets and configurations of social capital are particularly beneficial.
Firms & Communities
User Innovation without Physical Product Change
Presenter: Satoshi
Horiguchi (Kobe University)
Coauthors: Susumu Ogawa
Plenary Group: Firms & Communities - Group II
Plenary Order: 13
Breakout Room: F - Aldrich 011
Abstract:
Prior studies on user innovation have paid attention to “development” and “modification” by users. It can be said that these are value creation with some physical change by users. However, some users find a completely new use for existing products without any physical change, one which is utterly unexpected for producer firms. This can also be considered user innovation even if it is not accompanied by physical change of the product. On the basis of this interest, we carried out a survey in Japan and gathered 2,000 samples. The data showed that consumers who found a completely new use of existing products account for 2.0%. Most of them are neither creators nor modifiers. It suggests that “Democratizing Innovation” (von Hippel, 2005) has been more widely spread than we have expected.
Relational Models of Knowledge Sharing: Transitioning between markets and communities
Presenter: Hind
Benbya (Montpellier Business School)
Coauthors: Tanya Menon
Plenary Group: Firms & Communities - Group II
Plenary Order: 14
Breakout Room: F - Aldrich 011
Abstract:
This paper examines how people within an existing population opt for market- versus community-based mechanisms to guide their knowledge sharing behaviors. Participants were previously acquainted, but had limited interactions because of geographical distance. To facilitate knowledge sharing in this distributed environment, we designed a technology where participants could opt to either buy knowledge (using an incentive structure based on a virtual point system) or request it for free. We use a data-driven, inductive approach from 550 members and over 5000 interactions (1784 questions, 3746 answers) over a period of nine months, to understand when participants opt for two IT artifacts: incentives (i.e., offering incentives for knowledge or not) and identity display (i.e., visible vs. anonymous interaction). Because the technology offered participants the freedom to choose either market or community mechanisms, we can document when and how relational models emerge and decline over time.
Utilization of Users Expertise in Product Testing - Evidence from the Pharmaceutical industry
Presenter: Marie
Smed (Technical University of Denmark)
Coauthors: Søren Salomo, Carsten Schultz and Kenneth A. Getz
Plenary Group: Firms & Communities - Group II
Plenary Order: 15
Breakout Room: F - Aldrich 011
Abstract:
An often-neglected source of information in new product development is the testing and approval process of high-tech products. In many industries products undergo external prototype testing, where users play a key role by testing the new product in natural business settings. On these beta testing processes product functionality is in focus, but in high-tech product testing users can also supply knowledge on usage patterns and product related services. This study contributes to the literature by exploring how product developers utilize users expertise, generated in product testing. Further, when collaborating with users in their natural business settings, the network is likely globally dispersed, and the mean of communicating between user and producer in the testing process are therefore tested. A dataset of 395 medical sites respondents are applied to study the knowledge generated and shared by medical sites to pharmaceutical producers in late stage drug development.
Turning Dilemmas into Paradoxes – Contributions of Systems Theory in Managing Community Boundaries
Presenter: Ghita
Dragsdahl Lauritzen (DTU Business, the Technical University of Denmark)
Coauthors: Søren Salomo, Anders La Cour
Plenary Group: Firms & Communities - Group II
Plenary Order: 16
Breakout Room: F - Aldrich 011
Abstract:
A large body of literature indicates that innovation stems not only from a firm’s internal investments, but also relies on input from external sources. Correspondingly, firms and communities increasingly gather in collaborations in order to create value and innovate. However, at the interfaces between communities and firms conflicts arise due to undefined boundaries, which result in a lack of clear roles. Current research within the user innovation literature introduces such tensions as dilemmas between competing demands that firms must balance in order to encourage and benefit from user contributions. This paper brings in systems theory and shows that what is currently described as dilemmas are in fact paradoxes that must be embraced in order to foster innovation. We develop a new construct of community boundaries that explains how firms can attend to competing logics of power, identity and competence simultaneously and hereby leverage the innovation potential.
Policy and Government
Measuring User Innovation:
Presenter: Joana
Mendonca (Directorate for education and science statistics)
Coauthors: Eric von Hippel, Jeroen de Jong, Pedro Oliveira
Plenary Group: Policy and Government - Group II
Plenary Order: 17
Breakout Room: G - Aldrich 012
Abstract:
This paper presents a new survey developed to measure user innovation, implemented on a large scale in Portugal. In addition to a contribution on our understanding of user innovation, this work adds new knowledge on the development of new indicators to systematically characterize innovation by individual users, which can become an important tool in the design of measures to improve collaborative routines to foster open innovation, in the support of innovation policy design, but may also have implication in higher education systems, in what regards acquired skills and capabilities to innovate. It is not yet clear what human resources capabilities and skills are required, what type of motivations individuals have to innovate, how they perceive their own innovations, and what type of user are more willing to diffuse their innovations. Results from this survey will shed some light into these issues and provide useful, new indicators to measure user innovation.
Measuring user innovation – The Finnish Community Innovation Survey 2010 (CIS 2010)
Presenter: Jari
Kuusisto (University of Vaasa / SC-Research)
Coauthors: Mervi Niemi Statistics Finland
Plenary Group: Policy and Government - Group II
Plenary Order: 18
Breakout Room: G - Aldrich 012
Abstract:
Until recently official statistics have not recognised, nor measured user innovation activities. Now Statistics Finland has taken an important step forward. For the first time ever, user innovation activities in b2b context were measured in the context of official Community Innovation Survey (CIS) 2010 coordinated by Eurostat. The survey was carried out carried out by Statistics Finland during spring 2012. Data was obtained from almost 2,200 enterprises measuring the intensity and nature of user innovation in business context. Around 80 per cent of innovating firms incorporated user information or users in their innovation activity during the survey period. Almost half of the innovating firms also commercialised user innovations. Involvement of users was most common among enterprises that developed (radical) new to the market product innovations. The results of the survey are encouraging and more countries are encouraged to carry out CIS survey with user innovation questions.
Innovation community policy - Swedish case study
Presenter: Peter
Svensson (VINNOVA (the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems))
Coauthors: Erik Borälv
Plenary Group: Policy and Government - Group II
Plenary Order: 19
Breakout Room: G - Aldrich 012
Abstract:
Innovation is the primary factor for long-term economic growth. Many countries have special governmental agencies dedicated to the creation innovations because of innovations increase the country’s competitiveness in the global economy and the welfare of its citizens. Universities and large firms have historically received the majority of governmental research and innovation resources. However, there is evidence that consumers and innovation communities also provide the economy with innovations. This study investigates a governmental agency project that nurtures innovation activities through cooperation with a Hackathon. The Hackathon produced more commercially verified inventions in a short time period for less cost compared to many other governmental programmes. Governmental support increased the sustainability of the Hackathon without interfering with its bottom-up organization. This study has captured some of the effects of governmental support for Hackathon and discusses the pros and cons of targeting innovation activity instead of research activity.
‘User’ innovation by public sector organizations: Innovation and openness in regulation inside government
Presenter: Rasmus
Koss Hartmann (Copenhagen Business School)
Coauthors: Christoph Hienerth
Plenary Group: Policy and Government - Group II
Plenary Order: 20
Breakout Room: G - Aldrich 012
Abstract:
This paper examines the conceptual possibility and variety of open forms of innovation in regulation inside government. By exploratively approaching regulation inside government as a distinct type of innovation, we ask whether and how innovation in regulation might be amenable to collaborative and open forms of innovation. To answer these questions, we mobilize user innovation theory to, firstly, develop a functional concept of the sources of innovation in regulation. We find that regulators, regulatees and self-regulators constitute possible sources of innovation and demonstrate how and why regulators have been the primary source of innovation. Secondly, we build a typology of different forms of openness. Operating at different scales and through different open arrangements, we find a variety of empirical and conceptual variety of ‘user’ innovation in regulation. We then offer a range of propositions that might serve to guide further empirical research.
Identifying Participants' Roles in Open Government Platforms and its Impact on Community Growth
Presenter: Giordano
Koch (HYVE AG)
Coauthors: Johann Fueller, Katja Hutter
Plenary Group: Policy and Government - Group II
Plenary Order: 21
Breakout Room: G - Aldrich 012
Abstract:
This paper is concerned with the theoretical deduc-tion and network based analysis of user roles in a pub-lic sector online participation project. In this exploratory study we investigate the heterogeneity of community participants, by deducing typical roles, the development over time and possible influences on the overall community building process. The more comprehensive understanding of the underlying network structure will contribute to a better understanding of Open Government activities in general. We find different user roles to differ in kind and quality of their contributions in creating, shaping, and disseminating Open Government activities. The communication and contribution behavior of indi-viduals as well as the identification of different user roles was analyzed by using social network analysis (SNA).
Innovation Wetlands
Presenter: Andrew
Torrance (MIT Sloan School of Management)
Coauthors: Eric von Hippel
Plenary Group: Policy and Government - Group II
Plenary Order: 22
Breakout Room: G - Aldrich 012
Abstract:
User innovation occurs within “innovation wetlands” – complex “ecosystems” composed of individual and collaborative inventors. The innovation wetlands are vulnerable to excessive regulation by government agencies. Although regulation is generally intended to focus on commercial entities, such as firms, in practice agencies often exceed their legal authority by regulating even noncommercial activities of individuals. The great power commanded by agencies, such as the FDA, makes them formidable opponents for individual innovators. The chilling effect of this power imbalance can substantially harm user innovation and the sharing of information among users. However, the legitimate scope of permissible regulatory action is limited by several legal factors, including agency governing statutes, the United States Constitution’s Commerce Clause, the right to privacy/autonomy, and the constitutional right to free speech. Recognition of existing legal protections for the innovation wetlands is vital to prevent damaging encroachment on this valuable ecosystem that fosters user and collaborative innovation.