Collaboration with Customers in Network-Based Innovation Processes - Network and relations in the Fuzzy Front-End

Abstract

There is a general tendency that product life cycles get shortened and there is an increased customer demand for individualized products. These trends put pressure on companies to continuously bring new products to the market (Cooper & Kleinschmidt 1987a)

 

Further it is a tendency that users of products are becoming more able to innovate by them selves rather than wait for the manufacturer to make the desired changes to products. This regards both fims and individual consumers (von Hippel 2005). Often these customers develop important product- and process innovations (Harhoff, Henkel, & von Hippel 2003).

 

A possible response to the above described challenges of customization and faster innovation processes could be a closer collaboration with customers through strong and early linkages (Rothwell 1994).

 

This article extends the different concepts of "user-innovation" originated by Eric von Hippel to a network innovation perspective and discusses the different concepts as a method when identifying industrial customers for network based innovation. This is done in order to provide insights in how the Fuzzy Front-End of network based innovation can become more efficient.