Abstract
To intensify the new product and service development
process, companies have to admit that they need to be
enriched by new external knowledge outside the company.
Utilising customers' or potential customers' creativity
and innovation capability has a lot of potential in new
product development and service design. The open
innovation (OI) concept, lead-user literature as well as
value co-creation literature provide interesting
possibilities to companies to improve their innovation
processes by utilising the customer community creativity.
Collaborative online innovation communities can maximise
users' innovation potential by enabling collective
thinking, which is superior to the ideas of individual
users.
Therefore, this study focuses on customer involvement in
new product development especially in collaborative
online innovation communities. The overall aim of this
twofold research is to provide a framework for building
and managing a collaborative online innovation community
based on the knowledge of both sides: the users'
motivations to participate and the maintainers'
opportunities to
facilitate the community especially through rewarding.
To achieve the purpose of the study two research
questions are answered: 1) Why users participate in
collaborative online innovation communities and 2) How
can maintainers facilitate collaborative online
innovation communities by rewarding? The first question
takes the user's perspective, which is then completed
with the maintainer perspective in the second research
question focusing on maintainers' ways of facilitating,
especially by rewarding users in collaborative online
innovation communities. The research questions are
examined in five publications.
This multiple case study includes three online innovation
communities: FellowForce, CrowdSpirit and Owela. The main
empirical data was collected from the maintainers by
e-mail survey and semi-structured interviews and from the
members of the communities through a web survey during
the years 2007-2008.
The respondents brought out various factors that motivate
them to participate in collaborative online innovation
communities. The factors they mentioned were: new
viewpoints, a sense of efficacy, a sense of community and
fun. Furthermore, interesting objectives, an open and
constructive atmosphere, making and acquiring better
products, winning and rewards, also motivated the
respondents to collaborate.
The results indicate that the lack of proper tools
inhibits collaboration in online innovation communities.
Moreover, 92% of the respondents suggested that all group
members should be rewarded in some way. In addition, the
study suggests that the rewarding strategy should be
clear and transparent. Rewarding should be based on the
efforts and quality of the work, instead of giving
rewards based on quantity of the ideas or lotteries. The
system should be flexible and rewards should be valuable
for everyone. In addition to tangible rewards (e.g. money
and products), intangible rewards (e.g. recognition) are
also relevant. All in all, the equity and the democracy
of the rewarding system are important factors for online
innovation community users.
This exploratory and multidisciplinary research
represents a path opening in studies concerning customer
involvement in companies' new product development
processes in collaborative online innovation communities.
From the managerial viewpoint the study contributes to
providing valuable information for companies on building
and managing collaborative online innovation communities.
Original language | English |
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Qualification | Doctor Degree |
Awarding Institution |
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Supervisors/Advisors |
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Award date | 29 Apr 2011 |
Place of Publication | Espoo |
Publisher | |
Print ISBNs | 978-951-38-7730-9 |
Electronic ISBNs | 978-951-38-7731-6 |
Publication status | Published - 2011 |
MoE publication type | G5 Doctoral dissertation (article) |
Keywords
- online communities
- open innovation
- collaboration
- intermediaries
- motivation
- rewarding
- monetary
- non-monetary
- tangible
- intangible
- recognition
- case study