The Contribution of Different Online
Communities in Open Innovation Projects
Michael A. Zeng
Helmut-Schmidt-University Hamburg
Institute of Technology and Innovation Management
Prof. Dr. Hans Koller
Agenda
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Research Questions
Empirical Field
Method
Findings
Future Research
Michael A. Zeng
The Contribution of Different Online Communities
in Open Innovation Projects
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July 28, 2014
Motivation
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The Contribution of Different Online Communities
in Open Innovation Projects
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Research Questions
How do brand communities and innovation communities differ?
How could they be used best in new product development processes?
Innovation community
?
Idea generation
Michael A. Zeng
Brand community
?
Screening
Development
?
Testing
The Contribution of Different Online Communities
in Open Innovation Projects
Launch
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Empirical Field
Innovation community
Brand community
powered by
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in Open Innovation Projects
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Method: Sample
Company
α
β
γ
δ
ε
ζ
η
θ
ι
κ
Michael A. Zeng
Business area
Number of
employees
Jewelry
eight
Hosiery/ legwear
three
Restaurant
ten
Restaurant
two
Fashion
two
Town planning
two
Cosmetic
two
Public bath
one
Distillery
three
Social aid programs two
unserAller Project
Ring; collection set
Garter for Oktoberfest
Wafer topping
Breakfast; business lunch
Belt
Suggestions for donations
Face care set
Suggestions to renew a public bath
Carnival liqueur
Language application
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Method: Research design
Interview guideline developed
Interviews conducted
Interviews transcribed using the software F5
Category system developed
(qualitative content analysis (Mayring 2010))
Interviews categorized in MaxQDA
Inter-rater reliability: 89%
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The Contribution of Different Online Communities
in Open Innovation Projects
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Findings
Brand loyalty
Innovation community
Brand community
on crowdsourcing platform
on social network
Open
innovation
process
Innovative members
Idea generation
Screening
Development
Testing
Launch
Marketing effect
 Would be best to bring the potential of both communities together in a harmonized form
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The Contribution of Different Online Communities
in Open Innovation Projects
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Future Research
• Does this harmonized strategy work with a larger sample? And how?
• What about other fields? More complex products or processes?
• Brand communities with stronger social relations than among
Facebook fans?
Michael A. Zeng
The Contribution of Different Online Communities
in Open Innovation Projects
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Thank you! Questions?
Contact
Michael Zeng
Helmut-Schmidt-University/ University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg
Institute of Technology and Innovation Management
Holstenhofweg 85
22043 Hamburg
Germany
+49 40 6541 3735
michael.zeng@hsu-hh.de
Michael A. Zeng
The Contribution of Different Online Communities
in Open Innovation Projects
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July 28, 2014
BACKUP
Michael A. Zeng
The Contribution of Different Online Communities
in Open Innovation Projects
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July 28, 2014
Findings
Brand loyalty
Innovation community
Brand community
on crowdsourcing platform
on social network
Open
innovation
process
Innovative members
Idea generation
Screening
Development
Testing
Launch
Marketing effect
 Would be best to bring the potential of both communities together in a harmonized form
Michael A. Zeng
The Contribution of Different Online Communities
in Open Innovation Projects
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July 28, 2014
Characteristics of a BC on FB
According to Loewenfeld (2006):
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Non-geographical
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Based on interests
•
offline
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Admirer of the brand
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Interaction
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Sense of community/ corporate feeling
•
Connection of values and needs
Michael A. Zeng
and/or
online
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in Open Innovation Projects
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Example
Michael A. Zeng
The Contribution of Different Online Communities
in Open Innovation Projects
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July 28, 2014
Example
Michael A. Zeng
The Contribution of Different Online Communities
in Open Innovation Projects
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July 28, 2014
References
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Chesbrough, H. W. (2006). Open Business Models: How to Thrive in the New Innovation
Landscape. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Füller, J., Matzler, K., & Hoppe, M. (2008). Brand community members as a source of innovation.
Journal of Product Innovation Management, 25(6), 608–619.
Janzik, L., & Raasch, C. (2011). Online communities in mature markets: Why join, why innovate,
why share? International Journal of Innovation Management, 15(04), 797–836.
Mayring, P. (2010). Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse: Grundlagen und Techniken (11th ed.). Weinheim:
Beltz.
Kim, A. J. (2000). Community Building on the Web: Includes Index. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press.
Möslein, K. M., Reichwald, R., & Kölling, M. (2011). Open innovation in der
Dienstleistungsgestaltung. WSI Mitteilungen, 64(9), 484–490.
Muniz Jr., A.M., and O’Guinn, T.C. (2001). Brand Community. Journal of Consumer Research. 27, 4,
412–432.
Ollila, S., & Elmquist, M. (2011). Managing open innovation: Exploring challenges at the interfaces
of an open innovation arena. Creativity and Innovation Management, 20(4), 273–283.
Shani, A. B., Sena, J. A., & Olin, T. (2003). Knowledge management and new product development:
A study of two companies. European Journal of Innovation Management, 6(3), 137–149.
Schau, H. J., Muniz Jr., A. M., & Arnould, E. J. (2009). How Brand Community Practices Create
Value. Journal of Marketing(73)5, 30-51.
Schroll, A., & Römer, S. (2011). Open Innovation heute: Instrumente und Erfolgsfaktoren.
Zeitschrift für Information Management und Consulting, 26(1), 58–64.
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in Open Innovation Projects
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Theoretical Background: Online Communities
•
Online communities:
– Individuals with same interests or common goals
– Discussion via an Internet platform, especially Web 2.0
(Janzik, Raasch 2011; Kim 2000)
•
Innovation communities:
– Include Lead User characteristics and innovative skills
– Ideas are collaboratively developed and discussed
(Janzik, Raasch 2011; Shani, Sena, Olin 2003)
•
Brand communities:
– Strong connection to the brand and/or the product
– Can be used as innovation sources
(Schau, Muniz, Arnould 2009; Janzik, Raasch 2011; Muniz, O’Guinn 2001; Füller, Matzler, Hoppe 2008)
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The Contribution of Different Online Communities
in Open Innovation Projects
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Theoretical Background: Online Community Platforms
•
Self-designed platform
– Better to control
– Community is smaller
(Schroll, Römer 2011)
•
Third party platforms:
– Innovation intermediary
• Helps other companies to
implement open innovation into
their business
• Two-sided market between
innovator and inventor
(Schroll, Römer 2011, Chesbrough 2006;
Möslein, Reichwald, Kölling 2011; Ollila,
Elmquist 2011)
– Social media
• Low-cost possibility to connect with
users
• Critical mass cannot always be
reached
(Schroll, Römer 2011)
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The Contribution of Different Online Communities
in Open Innovation Projects
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Method and Data: Interview Procedure
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Informed via email about the research project
5 interviews personally at the company
5 telephone interviews
Interview guideline ensured that the obtained data was comparable
Rather guided conversations, open-ended, and held in German
Tape-recorded
Conducted between August and September 2012
The length of an interview ranged between ten minutes and one hour with an
average duration of forty minutes
Audio files were transcribed with the software F5
Topics of the interview guideline:
– Experiences with open innovation and unserAller
– Comparison with their brand community
– Influence of open innovation on their product development process
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The Contribution of Different Online Communities
in Open Innovation Projects
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Method and Data: Evaluation Procedure
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Evaluated with a self-developed category system, based on Mayring’s (2010)
qualitative content analysis
– Inductive and deductive category generation
– Five categories:
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Open innovation in general
Social media/ unserAller
Impact of customer integration
Growth
Future
Interviews were coded with the software MaxQDA
Inter-rater reliability with an arithmetic mean of 88.75 %
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The Contribution of Different Online Communities
in Open Innovation Projects
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July 28, 2014