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Technologies de l’information et variété des formes co-création : vers un nouveau paradigme pour la Défense américaine
Abstract
Information technology and the variety of forms of co-creation : Toward a new paradigm for American Defense
This article investigates the role of Defence as an active user of technology. It shows that two user centric models of innovation co-exist : the owner and Lead user status. The article analyses the consequences of user’s characteristics on the client and firms relationships. It focuses also on the consequences of user’s characteristics on the technological and organizational capabilities associated to the client. The article is based on a depth case study related to the US Defence and on its role in the innovation processes.
... It also implies new forms of technological development based on local practices and uses (Stoop 2005). National military ecosystems always addressed the role of users in innovation processes with diversified approaches (Mérindol 2015). The various roles of Defence as users impact the content of its knowledge capacities and the co-specialization between Defence and the firms. ...
... In the context of the Cold war, Defence and firms create together the product architecture matching the requested operational specifications (Gholz 2005). They contribute to finding solutions in the process of technological integration but the nature of this contribution depending of the distribution of knowledge inside national military ecosystems (Mérindol 2015 (Franke & al, 2003). Lead users influence the others users' behaviour. ...
The article investigates the link between technological challenges and knowledge capacities in order to understand the evolution of the ecosystem in the context of technological change. The article focuses on focal organization. Technological challenges are appraised with respect to this nature and location. The article shows that the transformation of focal organization’s knowledge capacities affects the collective strategy in the ecosystem in order to capture the value of innovation. The transformation introduces specific issues associated with the realignment process of knowledge capacities throughout the ecosystem.
The article is based on a comparative case study between the French and US national military ecosystems. These ecosystems represent a complex web of interactions and technological overlapping between the main stakeholders and are characterized by a major technological change with the massive introduction of ICTs.
... Technology adoption in defense activities has been an important workstream in defense economics. Mérindol (2015) studies the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on innovation models in this field. Bellais (1998) analyzes the challenges and consequences of ICTs adoption in the defense sector. ...
This paper employs graph theory to assess the extent of integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies within defense activities and investigates how the performance of the national innovation system (NIS) influences this integration. The analysis utilizes data from 33 countries with defense industries, observed from 1990 to 2020. Empirical findings indicate that the United States (U.S.) leads globally, with a significant gap between the U.S. and other countries. NIS performance increases the level of integration of AI technologies in defense activities, suggesting that policies aimed at strengthening NIS performance should have positive externalities on defense activities in terms of integrating AI technologies. Technological diversification, knowledge localization, and originality are key dimensions of NIS performance that significantly enhance the integration of AI technologies within defense activities. They exhibit similar average marginal effects, suggesting comparable impacts. The cycle time of technologies has an inverted-U shaped relationship with the level of integration.
... The traditional approach to military innovation revolves around maturity scales applied to technologies (Technological readiness level or TRL, eventually complemented with Technological maturity assessment, TMA). The entanglement between the management of innovation and of technologies represents a major source of ambiguities (Mérindol, 2015). The assimilation of the management of innovation with the management of technology is totally comfortable with linear processes of innovation. ...
This article investigates recent evolutions in Defence-related innovation management, and its reorganisation towards joint efforts operating user-centric innovation and open innovation rationales in parallel to more traditional perspectives framed by the (top-down) management of technologies. It is the introductory paper of a series of policy papers which will focus on the way EU Member States have taken into account the necessity to review their defence innovation policy. The future case study articles will also elaborate on the consequences of such changes for procurement policies and for the management of armament programmes. New mindsets and ways of working are required to generate more agility, more frugality, tighter time frames for the implementation of solutions, and increased cost-effectiveness. War fighters must be present around the table of the management of innovation from the earliest stages of the projects onwards. Open innovation rationales must be introduced to attract talents and expand the boundaries of communities working for Defence. New intermediaries such as corporate incubators, accelerators, innovation hubs become key players in this framework. We do not minimize the disruption incurred by these elements, most notably in the interaction with the industry and with system integrators. However, we promote the idea that thinking in terms of ecosystems is more suitable to this new perspective than the traditional (and closed) approach in terms of Defence industrial base. The article also illustrates these directions with case studies on DARPA, the US DIU program, French military labs, the UK JHub, and the NATO Innovation Hub.
Keywords: open innovation, user centric innovation model, dual use technologies, Defence ecosystems, innovation intermediaries, military capabilities
Jusqu’à présent, la conduite des programmes s’appuie sur des processus très contrôlés et très directifs. Or, il faut désormais trouver de nouvelles méthodes plus agiles, permettant de mieux prendre en compte les innovations, les propositions des utilisateurs et les ressources d’autres acteurs ne venant pas de la défense.
Le changement technologique a fait l’objet de nombreuses recherches anglo-saxonnes, retracées dans plusieurs revues de la littérature, à la différence de la littérature francophone, pourtant abondante, sur le sujet. L’article propose d’y remédier. Les publications francophones sont analysées à partir de trois angles de vue (technologie, individu et organisation). Cette analyse débouche sur un cadre intégrateur, offrant une base pour la réflexion et l’action. Nous avons choisi de nous concentrer sur une période de 15 ans (2005-2019). Ce choix se justifie par les évolutions rapides et récentes des travaux sur le changement technologique en organisation, entre autres dues à l’émergence de la littérature sur le numérique et la digitalisation.
Nous avons opté pour deux sources de données distinctes, Google Scholar et Cairn. Le choix de ces deux bases s’explique par le fait que nous nous focalisons sur la littérature francophone. Dans les deux cas, nous avons commencé par définir une liste de 19 revues francophones en sciences humaines, classées (HCERES, CNRS ou FNEGE) en sociologie, psychologie, ergonomie ou sciences de gestion. Ces revues ont été choisies parmi les autres revues classées dans ces domaines parce qu’elles avaient publié un ou plusieurs articles de recherche sur le sujet.
The process of user-centered innovation: how it can benefit both users and manufacturers and how its emergence will bring changes in business models and in public policy.
Innovation is rapidly becoming democratized. Users, aided by improvements in computer and communications technology, increasingly can develop their own new products and services. These innovating users—both individuals and firms—often freely share their innovations with others, creating user-innovation communities and a rich intellectual commons. In Democratizing Innovation, Eric von Hippel looks closely at this emerging system of user-centered innovation. He explains why and when users find it profitable to develop new products and services for themselves, and why it often pays users to reveal their innovations freely for the use of all.The trend toward democratized innovation can be seen in software and information products—most notably in the free and open-source software movement—but also in physical products. Von Hippel's many examples of user innovation in action range from surgical equipment to surfboards to software security features. He shows that product and service development is concentrated among "lead users," who are ahead on marketplace trends and whose innovations are often commercially attractive.
Von Hippel argues that manufacturers should redesign their innovation processes and that they should systematically seek out innovations developed by users. He points to businesses—the custom semiconductor industry is one example—that have learned to assist user-innovators by providing them with toolkits for developing new products. User innovation has a positive impact on social welfare, and von Hippel proposes that government policies, including R&D subsidies and tax credits, should be realigned to eliminate biases against it. The goal of a democratized user-centered innovation system, says von Hippel, is well worth striving for. An electronic version of this book is available under a Creative Commons license.
OVERVIEW: Most firms now use some form of idea-to-launch process such as a Stage-Gate® system. The question is: Do these processes really work? And what are the elements of a best-in-class idea-to-launch system that really make a difference? A second and related question concerns the governance of the idea-to-launch model. Sadly there is a lack of hard evidence as to what governance structure works best and just what its impact is, if any. This article reports the results of an American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC) and Product Development Institute (PDI) study of 211 businesses with a focus on performance metrics and practices. Top performing businesses are identified, and those practices that distinguish these businesses from the rest are probed. The article provides insights into best practices in both the idea-to-launch process and its governance that are strongly connected to positive innovation performance.
This paper uses an analysis of developments in aircraft engine control
systems to explore the implications of specialization in knowledge
production for the organization and the boundaries of the firm. We
argue that the definition of boundaries of the firm in terms of the
activities performed in house does not take into account that decisions
to outsource production and other functions are different from decisions
to outsource technological knowledge. We show that multitechnology
firms need to have knowledge in excess of what they need for what
they make, to cope with imbalances caused by uneven rates of development
in the technologies on which they rely and with unpredictable product-level
interdependencies. By knowing more, multitechnology firms can coordinate
loosely coupled networks of suppliers of equipment, components, and
specialized knowledge and maintain a capability for systems integration.
Networks enable them to benefit from the advantages of both integration
and specialization. Examples from other industries extend to other
contexts the model we develop.
En combinant des ressources issues de la sociologie de la traduction et de la sociologie de l'action, l'auteur propose dans cet article un certain nombre de concepts permettant l'analyse de l'action avec des dispositifs techniques. Celle-ci peut être envisagée selon trois modalités qui effectuent chacune le lien entre contenus techniques et compétences des acteurs : traduction, coopération, coordination. L'article débouche sur une analyse des conditions d'infélicité dans l'action avec les dispositifs techniques.
Firms manufacturing video games and player communities enjoying the games are closely related, not only in a producer-user way, but also in co-development, testing and diffusion activities. This paper explores these tight relationships. The interaction between firms and user communities in this industry has drastically increased in intensity and quality with the introduction and development of social software. However, Social software has simultaneously raised new managerial challenges. Based on a theoretical discussion and empirical material we propose a typology of users in the video game industry. These communities have different reactions to incentives coming from firms producing games and therefore have to be approached and harnessed with specific community management practices and social software devices.
What role do users play during innovation? Ever since it was argued that users can also be the sources of innovation, the literature on the role of users during innovation has grown tremendously. In this paper, we review this growing literature, critique it and develop some of the research questions that could be explored to contribute to this literature and to the theoretical perspectives that underpin the literature.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss and classify the roles of customers in innovations. In literature on innovations, customers have been increasingly emphasised as a source for innovations and also in how they help develop ideas in their early phases. This paper exemplifies various customer roles in innovations through three case studies. These describe the customer as initiator, as co-producer and as inspiration for business development. Through using role theory to discuss customers in innovations, it becomes explicit how customers may play their traditional roles, add roles or transfer to new roles beyond the scope of being a customer. Furthermore, the paper shows that customer roles change during the innovation process from added or transferred towards more traditional ones.
The Department of Defense has demonstrated success in managing innovation. The military’s approach to innovation management extends beyond traditional distinctions between internal and external innovation modes. Summarizing specific innovation strategies available to managers develops recognition of this growing reality. The article concludes with resulting lessons that can be more widely adopted by managers.
[eng] This article inquires the specificities of the contribution of first level contractors and systems integrators on the basis of instances taken in military aeronautics (Mirage IV, JSF F-35, 400 M). The orga nization of complex programs (CoPS) is analyzed with special reference to know ledge exchanges. Simultaneous reference to the distinction between component and architectural knowledge (Henderson & Clark 1990 ) and to recent developments on knowledge and networks (Callon 1999 ; Amin & Cohendet 2004 ) makes it possible to point out the evolution in the relationships between the first- level contractor and the other contributors to the triptych State-science-industry. Specificities of systems integration represent a new function for some of these firms. The participation to the network may be associated to the criticity of knowledge 'and competencies ) required by the on-going programs. Network consolidation depends on their relevance for the forthcoming projects. [fre] Cet article étudie l'évolution du rôle du maître d'œuvre industriel à partir d'exemples empruntés à l'aéronautique militaire (Mirage IV, JSF F-35, A 400 M). L'organisation des programmes complexes à technologies multiples peut être analysée au prisme des flux de connaissances. L'utilisation conjointe, d'une part de la distinction entre component et architectural knowledge (Henderson et Clark 1990) et d'autre part des développements récents sur l'analyse des flux de connaissances au sein des réseaux (Callo, 1999 ; Amin et Cohendet 2004), permet de singulariser l'évolution dans le rôle du maître d'œuvre face aux autres acteurs du triptyque État - recherche - industrie et les spécificités associées à la fonction d'intégrateur de systèmes. Les entrées et sorties du réseau peuvent être reliées à la criticité des connaissances dans les programmes en cours et la consolidation du réseau dépend de leur pertinence pour les programmes à venir.
Our study focuses on the question what kinds of users are able to actively contribute to the development of radical innovations and what firms can learn from them to improve their innovative capability. A multiple case study analysis was conducted in the field of medical technology. The case study analysis reveals that users with a unique set of characteristics can contribute substantially to the development of radical innovations. By interacting with these users, firms learned on the product innovation dimension, process dimension and technology dimension.
The capability-based view of the firm is based on the assumption that firms know how to do things. Assuming the existence of a thing called 'organizational knowledge', in the first part of the paper we identify its main building blocks and we provide a description of its inner structure. This results in an analysis of the relationships among key concepts like organizational routines, organizational competencies and skills. In the second part, we consider some empirical implications of the adoption of a capability-based view of the firm in dealing with issues like horizontal and vertical boundaries of the firm, innovation and corporate performance. Some implications for strategic management are also discussed.
The economics of knowledge is a rapidly emerging subdiscipline of economics that has never before been given the comprehensive and cohesive treatment found in this book. Dominique Foray analyzes the deep conceptual and structural transformation of our economic activities that has led to a gradual shift to knowledge-intensive activities. This transformation is the result of the collision of a longstanding trend—the expansion of knowledge-based investments and activities—with a technological revolution that radically altered the production and transmission of knowledge and information. The book focuses on the dual nature of the economics of knowledge: its emergence as a discipline (which Foray calls "the economics of knowledge") and the historical development of a particular period in the growth and organization of economic activities ("the knowledge-based economy").
Corporate innovation management geared to long-term success calls for a strategy to grow innovations into a substantial competitive advantage. This, however, coincides with an enormous failure-rate at the market, especially in the field of breakthrough innovations. Hence, in recent times, companies are trying to alleviate the risk of lacking user-acceptance through opening their innovation processes to external actors, particularly customers. The method of integrating lead users is determined by the effective and systematic identification of leading-edge customers, which is considered to be a critical phase within this approach. With the arrival of Web 2.0 applications, there is a huge potential to improve these selection processes. Our research into online communities and weblogs scrutinised the search criteria in an online environment and revealed the following characteristics as crucial factors for the online identification of lead users: being ahead of a market trend, high expected benefits, user expertise and motivation, extreme user needs as well as opinion leadership and an online commitment.
Many of the world’s leading firms are developing a new model of industrial organization based on systems integration. Rather
than performing all productive tasks in-house, companies are building the capabilities to design and integrate systems, while
managing networks of component and subsystem suppliers. This article illustrates how systems integration evolved from its
military, engineering-based, origins in the 1940s and 1950s to a modern-day strategic capability across a wide variety of
sectors. Taking a resource-based view of the firm, the article shows how systems integration capabilities underpin the way
high-technology companies compete by moving selectively up- and downstream in the marketplace through the simultaneous “twin”
processes of vertical integration and disintegration. Systems integrators of capital goods move downstream into service-intensive
offerings to expand revenue streams and increase profitability. By contrast, producers of high-volume components and consumer
goods use systems integration capabilities to exploit upstream relationships with input suppliers. In both cases, strategic
options and capabilities are shaped by the life cycle of each product. The article develops a clearer understanding of systems
integration, arguing that it now represents a core capability of the modern high-technology corporation.
A number of different kind of organizations in the US defence industry claim expertise in systems integration, including major prime contractors that build weapons systems, for-profit and non-profit technical advisors, and government laboratories and organizations that manage weapons acquisition. This chapter describes the supply and demand structure for the various types of systems integration capabilities. It considers various ways of measuring the quality of systems integration capabilities, including the limits of regulatory standards enforcement and of non-market competition among systems integration organizations. It proposes ways to preserve vital systems integration capability in a political economic environment that normally favours spending on production, rather than on project management expertise.
The US government needed more than money, a good strategy, and determination to wage the Cold War: it needed to invent the institutions that could sustain and co-ordinate the long-term enlistment of technology and industry for military purposes. The military structures that could command co-ordination when most in society were ready to accept military discipline and priorities were inadequate for managing the less than total mobilization that followed. Describes the creation and institutionalisation of a variety of special organisations and skills that allowed the military to manage effectively the design and development of complex weapons systems during the Cold War.
A large body of research has pointed out the need for a contingent approach in the design of new product development processes, highlighting the risk of simply accepting a normative perspective that leads to the identification and diffusion of decontextualized “best practices.” In the literature there are contrasting views regarding the identification of the characteristics of product innovation processes in extremely uncertain and dynamic conditions. Some studies propose a fascinating dichotomy: the contraposition between flexible processes and Stage-Gate® processes. They maintain that Stage-Gate® processes are characterized by “early and sharp” product definition and clear separation between concept development and implementation (detail design and production ramp-up), whereas flexible development models seek to delay the concept freeze point and overlap product development stages going beyond concurrent engineering. Other studies have arrived at seemingly conflicting results; the suitability of the early and sharp product definition approach in turbulent environments is debated without supporting the dichotomy between flexible processes and Stage-Gate® processes. Moreover, additional reasons for questioning the contraposition between Stage-Gate® and flexible processes come from a series of studies on the management of discontinuous innovation. The aim of the present study was to develop a conceptual framework that can overcome this widely accepted but controversial dichotomy. The framework is based on the recognition of the orthogonality among three analytical dimensions: organizational, informational, and temporal. The organizational dimension refers to the structuration of the process. The informational dimension deals with classifying the development activities and investigating the firm's product definition approach (early and sharp mode vs. late freeze mode). The temporal dimension relates to the execution strategies of development tasks. The three-dimensional framework enables us to better understand the complex relationships between the degree of structuration in process design (organizational dimension), the degree of intersection between problem-formulation and problem-solving in product definition (informational dimension), and different types of execution strategies (temporal dimension).
As product complexity and the rate of market change have dramatically increased over the last years, firms find it increasingly difficult to forecast product requirements in their development processes. This article redefines the problem from one of improving forecasting to one of increasing product development agility and thus reducing the need for accurate long-term forecasts. It introduces the notion of development flexibility, shows how it can be measured, and presents results from a large empirical study on integrated systems development, which found that projects using flexible technologies outperformed projects using inflexible technologies by a factor of 2.2 (in person-months). Finally, the article proposes three major strategies for introducing flexibility into organizations. These strategies can help firms increase their agility and position themselves to succeed in accelerating and more turbulent markets.
The paper focuses on the issue of the role played by the client in coopetition. The selected industry is the American defense industry. The main interest of this industry is that the client is in a monopsony position and is able to play an architectural role. He can influence coopetitive strategies in different manners : creating a small group of providers, creating incentives for these firms to cooperate, creating situations where firms adopt self-restraining strategies, etc. Strategic actions and reactions between the client and his providers are analyzed from the coopetitive perspective.
L’émergence d’une économie fondée sur la connaissance a profondément modifié le rôle de la Défense dans l’innovation. A partir des années 1990, la Défense n’est plus considérée comme une locomotive technologique mais son niveau d’implication dans le processus d’innovation n’a pas pour autant été clairement redéfini. En s’intéressant à son statut d’usager de la technologie (maître d’ouvrage et Lead user), cet ouvrage met en perspective les nouvelles formes de contribution de la Défense à l’innovation.
Cet ouvrage rend cohérents deux niveaux d’analyse. Le premier renvoie aux compétences technologiques et organisationnelles que la Défense met en œuvre. Ces compétences sont analysées comme une capacité d’absorption des connaissances produites dans les réseaux. Le deuxième niveau d’analyse concerne les modes de gouvernance des projets technologiques mis en œuvre entre la Défense, l’industrie et la recherche publique. Les relations se fondent sur une combinaison entre des modes de coordination fondées sur la hiérarchie, le marché et les communautés.
Cette analyse a été élaborée à partir d’une comparaison entre les Etats-Unis, la France et le Royaume-Uni. Cette méthodologie permet d’identifier les facteurs qui permettent à la Défense de s’adapter au contexte de l’économie fondée sur la connaissance.
Information Age technology offers empowering opportunities to the organizations that can best take advantage of them. The Navy introduced network centric warfare as their Information Age concept. Unfortunately, the current acquisition system strangles initiative and precludes motivated Naval personnel from initiating network centric operations in the fleet. Further, this acquisition System will not permit the procurement of the more technically challenging network centric components needed for a true long term network centric force. Analyzing the five tenets of the network centric warfare concept reveals tangible end items needed to grow a network centric force. The results of those analyses suggest these requirements separate into two groups: essential hardware and software acquirable in the near term by adjusting the current acquisition system; and advanced networks and platforms available only after fundamental change to the acquisition process. This paper indicates these short term adjustments will launch rudimentary network centric operations in the Navy while the necessary long term reforms will make possible the envisioned future network centric force.
Some in Congress have expressed concern about the government's use of private-sector lead system integrators (LSIs) for executing large, complex, defense-related acquisition programs. LSIs are large, prime contractors hired to manage such programs. Supporters of the LSI concept argue that it is needed to execute such complex acquisition efforts, and can promote better technical oversight and innovation. Two LSI-managed programs the U.S. Army's Future Combat System (FCS) and the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater program have been strongly criticized by some observers because of cost and schedule overruns, and the potential for possible conflicts of interest. P.L. 110-181/H.R. 4986, the FY2008 National Defense Authorization Act, contains a provision (Section 802) that prohibits the awarding of future contracts for LSIs. H.R. 5658, the House-passed version of the FY2009 National Defense Authorization bill contains a provision (Section 4203) that would prohibit federal executive agencies from awarding new contracts for LSI functions in the acquisition of major systems, while S. 3001, the Senate-proposed bill, is silent on the LSI issue. This report will be updated.
Building on the research tradition that understands organizations as problem solving institutions, this paper focuses on the micro processes that underlie problem framing and solving. The paper compares the developmental efforts of the three world's leading aircraft engine manufacturers, and their suppliers, to single out the strategic and organizational elements that may – or may not – lead firms to identify the critical interdependencies underlying a technical problem. We argue that firms that are able to frame and re-frame problems successfully are those equipped with systems integration capabilities, namely, a set of routines and heuristics that enable firms to explore and experiment alternative patterns of problem decomposition.e mre_1010 67..80
"Lead users" are defined as being at the leading edge of markets, and as having a high incentive to innovate. Empirical research has shown the value of lead user need and solution data to new product development processes. However, the nature of the lead user construct itself has not been studied to date. In this paper we fill this significant gap by proposing and evaluating a continuous analog to the lead user construct, which we call leading edge status (LES). We establish the validity and reliability of LES and examine the characteristics of users having high levels of this variable. We also offer a first exploration of how LES is related to traditional measures in diffusion theory such as dispositional innovativeness and time of adoption (TOA). We find a strong relationship and explain how users with high LES can offer a contribution to both predicting and accelerating early product adoption.
Consumers today have more choices of products and services than ever before, but they seem dissatisfied. Firms invest in greater product variety but are less able to differentiate themselves. Growth and value creation have become the dominant themes for managers. In this paper, we explain this paradox. The meaning of value and the process of value creation are rapidly shifting from a product- and firm-centric view to personalized consumer experiences. Informed, networked, empowered, and active consumers are increasingly co-creating value with the firm. The interaction between the firm and the consumer is becoming the locus of value creation and value extraction. As value shifts to experiences, the market is becoming a forum for conversation and interactions between consumers, consumer communities, and firms. It is this dialogue, access, transparency, and understanding of risk-benefits that is central to the next practice in value creation.
Accurate marketing research depends on accurate user judgments regarding their needs. However, for very novel products or in product categories characterized by rapid change—such as “high technology” products—most potential users will not have the real-world experience needed to problem solve and provide accurate data to inquiring market researchers. In this paper I explore the problem and propose a solution: Marketing research analyses which focus on what I term the “lead users” of a product or process.
Lead users are users whose present strong needs will become general in a marketplace months or years in the future. Since lead users are familiar with conditions which lie in the future for most others, they can serve as a need-forecasting laboratory for marketing research. Moreover, since lead users often attempt to fill the need they experience, they can provide new product concept and design data as well.
In this paper I explore how lead users can be systematically identified, and how lead user perceptions and preferences can be incorporated into industrial and consumer marketing research analyses of emerging needs for new products, processes and services.
One important market related capability for firms which seek to develop radical innovations is the competence to involve the ‘right’ users at the ‘right’ time in the ‘right’ form. While former studies have identified a rather passive role of users in the radical innovation process, this paper focuses on the involvement of such users that are in the position to play an active role as inventors and (co)-developers. A multiple case study analysis was conducted in the field of medical technology. Five radical innovation projects within four firms were selected including medical robots and computer-assisted navigation systems. The case study analysis reveals that firms who closely interact with specific users benefit significantly for their radical innovation work. These users have a high motivation toward new solutions, are open to new technologies, possess diverse competencies, and are embedded into a very supportive environment.
This study contributes to our understanding of the innovation process by bringing attention to and investigating the process by which innovators outside of firms obtain innovation-related resources and assistance. This study is the first to explicitly examine how user-innovators gather the information and assistance they need to develop their ideas and how they share and diffuse the resulting innovations. Specifically, this exploratory study analyzes the context within which individuals who belong to voluntary special-interest communities develop sports-related consumer product innovations. We find that these individuals often prototype novel sports-related products and that they receive assistance in developing their innovations from fellow community members. We find that innovation-related information and assistance, as well as the innovations themselves, are freely shared within these communities. The nature of these voluntary communities, and the “institutional” structure supporting innovation and free sharing of innovations is likely to be of interest to innovation researchers and managers both within and beyond this product arena.
This article evaluates the assumption that interaction within customer–supplier relationships is always the pivotal point for innovation. The article proposes that the relevance of customer and supplier relationships depends on the nature and maturity of the technology being developed, thus exploring the potential variation in customer–supplier interactions during different phases of the innovation life cycle. The article commences with a brief introduction to the literature and then uses the findings from a survey to illustrate the premise of the article. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings and outlines the plans for the next stage of the research.
The US Department of Defense (DOD) normally pursues a closed approach to technological development. It captures results from its own sponsored research and development (R&D), and the results are kept shielded by restrictions on related publications and exports. This R&D strategy is no longer viable. Now most military technology has commercial origins, the US no longer dominates all relevant technological fields, and sophisticated dual-use technology is accessible to adversaries in open global markets. DOD can address this dilemma by drawing on external R&D that tests a technology’s general capabilities against a variety of potential uses and by placing more of its internal emphasis on technology integration. Historically, this approach to military R&D also yields more commercial spin-offs.
Empirical studies of innovation have found that end users frequently develop important product and process innovations. Defying conventional wisdom on the negative effects of uncompensated spillovers, innovative users also often openly reveal their innovations to competing users and to manufacturers. Rival users are thus in a position to reproduce the innovation in-house and benefit from using it, and manufacturers are in a position to refine the innovation and sell it to all users, including competitors of the user revealing its innovation. In this paper, we explore the incentives that users might have to freely reveal their proprietary innovations. We then develop a game-theoretic model to explore the effect of these incentives on users’ decisions to reveal or hide their proprietary information. We find that, under realistic parameter constellations, free revealing pays. We conclude by discussing some implications of our findings.
This volume breaks new ground by showing how leading businesses create and implement projects to drive strategy and innovation. Projects are used to coordinate activities with customers and suppliers and ensure that organizations become more dynamic and adaptable. The book extends the resource-based view of the firm to focus on the business lessons learned from the design and production of high-value complex products and systems (CoPS), which have always been project-based. As well as new frameworks and management tools, it provides case studies of high-technology industries--such as telecommunications, flight simulation and medical devices. © Andrew Davies and Michael Hobday 2005 and Cambridge University Press 2009.
While military personnel are often involved in the design of information technology, the literature on military innovation generally assumes defense contractors are the primary producers. Furthermore, general organizational theories of user innovation have only been tested on cases involving corporate employees or private citizens in substantially less regulated environments than military users. This paper examines user innovation theory in a military context through a historical study of the user-led development of FalconView, the popular standard for digital mapping applications throughout the U.S. military and some other government organizations. This paper finds that while user innovation theory can explain aspects of the emergence and diffusion of military user innovation, existing theory understates the challenges involved with generating and sustaining user innovation within a complex bureaucracy. Successfully innovating users must be creative with organizational as well as technical resources. National Science Foundation, IGERT Program
Innovation is rapidly becoming democratized. Users, aided by improvements in computer and communications technology, increasingly can develop their own new products and services. These innovating users—both individuals and firms—often freely share their innovations with others, creating user-innovation communities and a rich intellectual commons. In Democratizing Innovation, Eric von Hippel looks closely at this emerging system of user-centered innovation. He explains why and when users find it profitable to develop new products and services for themselves, and why it often pays users to reveal their innovations freely for the use of all. The trend toward democratized innovation can be seen in software and information products—most notably in the free and open-source software movement—but also in physical products. Von Hippel's many examples of user innovation in action range from surgical equipment to surfboards to software security features. He shows that product and service development is concentrated among "lead users," who are ahead on marketplace trends and whose innovations are often commercially attractive. Von Hippel argues that manufacturers should redesign their innovation processes and that they should systematically seek out innovations developed by users. He points to businesses—the custom semiconductor industry is one example—that have learned to assist user-innovators by providing them with toolkits for developing new products. User innovation has a positive impact on social welfare, and von Hippel proposes that government policies, including R&D subsidies and tax credits, should be realigned to eliminate biases against it. The goal of a democratized user-centered innovation system, says von Hippel, is well worth striving for. An electronic version of this book is available under a Creative Commons license.
To solve a problem, needed information and problem-solving capabilities must be brought together. Often the information used in technical problem solving is costly to acquire, transfer, and use in a new location—is, in our terms, “sticky.” In this paper we explore the impact of information stickiness on the locus of innovation-related problem solving. We find, first, that when sticky information needed by problem solvers is held at one site only, problem solving will be carried out at that locus, other things being equal. Second, when more than one locus of sticky information is called upon by problem solvers, the locus of problem solving may iterate among these sites as problem solving proceeds. When the costs of such iteration are high, then, third, problems that draw upon multiple sites of sticky information will sometimes be “task partitioned” into subproblems that each draw on only one such locus, and/or, fourth, investments will be made to reduce the stickiness of information at some locations.
Information stickiness appears to affect a number of issues of importance to researchers and practitioners. Among these are patterns in the diffusion of information, the specialization of firms, the locus of innovation, and the nature of problems selected by problem solvers.
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