TY - JOUR
T1 - Users as innovators
T2 - exploring the limitations of user-driven innovation
AU - Trott, Paul
AU - Duin, Patrick Van Der
AU - Hartmann, Dap
N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Prometheus on 16/09/13, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/08109028.2013.818790."
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Considering users as innovators has gained considerable support over the past 30 years. Eric von Hippel’s work in this area forms a significant part of the theoretical underpinning and evidence behind this concept. Many further studies have been undertaken to support it. It has contributed to our understanding of innovation management in general and new product development in particular. Even so, Lüthje and Herstatt emphasise that empirical findings are scarce and that the most radical innovations of the last 35 years were not developed by users. Thus, in this paper we critically review the lead-user theory and focus on three specific areas of weakness of the lead-user concept (conceptual, methodological, empirical), and argue that improvement in these areas would considerably strengthen its standing. We conclude that although lead users can contribute to the innovation process, this contribution should not be overstated, and that insufficient attention has been paid to the limitations of this theory.
AB - Considering users as innovators has gained considerable support over the past 30 years. Eric von Hippel’s work in this area forms a significant part of the theoretical underpinning and evidence behind this concept. Many further studies have been undertaken to support it. It has contributed to our understanding of innovation management in general and new product development in particular. Even so, Lüthje and Herstatt emphasise that empirical findings are scarce and that the most radical innovations of the last 35 years were not developed by users. Thus, in this paper we critically review the lead-user theory and focus on three specific areas of weakness of the lead-user concept (conceptual, methodological, empirical), and argue that improvement in these areas would considerably strengthen its standing. We conclude that although lead users can contribute to the innovation process, this contribution should not be overstated, and that insufficient attention has been paid to the limitations of this theory.
U2 - 10.1080/08109028.2013.818790
DO - 10.1080/08109028.2013.818790
M3 - Article
SN - 0810-9028
VL - 31
SP - 125
EP - 138
JO - Prometheus
JF - Prometheus
IS - 2
ER -