Open Innovation Through Online Communities

Researchers have recently advocated the use of open innovation models to capitalize on new sources of innovation. One such promising source of new innovations comes from the actual end users of an organization’s products and services. However, many organizations have difficulty absorbing these innovations due to a fear over losing control of the innovation process, and a lack of absorptive capacity to understand and assimilate end user ideas. The purpose of this chapter is to review the currently espoused strategies for integrating end users into an organization’s innovation process: incorporating user toolkits, strategic positioning of personnel, engaging lead users, and implementing user innovation communities. These strategies were identified in a time when interactions between an organization and its end users interacted through face to face communications. We extend this prior work by examining the implementation and management of online user innovation communities, drawing upon our research of the Dell IdeaStorm web site. We conclude the chapter with areas in need of future research.