Synergies among Producer Firms, Lead Users, and User Communities: The Case of the LEGO Producer-User Ecosystem

While many firms today proactively involve users in their new product development efforts using a wide variety of methods such as the lead user method, firm-hosted user communities, or mass customization toolkits, some pioneering firms are experimenting with the creation of sustainable producer-user ecosystems designed for the continuous exploration and exploitation of business opportunities. In this paper, the functioning of such ecosystems is studied with particular emphasis on the synergies they can yield. Based on an explorative and longitudinal multiple case study design, the producer-user ecosystem of the firm LEGO is analyzed, and three main actors in the ecosystem are identified: entrepreneurial lead users who aim to start their own businesses, a vibrant user community, and the LEGO company as the focal producer firm and facilitator for multiple user-to-user and user-to-producer interactions. Our study reveals three kinds of synergies: (1) reduced risk for entrepreneurial lead users and the focal producer firm, (2) the extension of the design space of the focal producer firm's products, and (3) the creation of buzz within the user community. Finally, the theoretical and managerial implications of our findings for innovation researchers and practitioners are discussed. (authors' abstract

Discussing Europeanization and East-West dynamics of race, gender, and sexuality

In the following dialogue, Anika Keinz, the invited discussant at the panel »Struggles over Europe« forming part of the »Troubling Gender« conference, and Paweł Lewicki talk about how race, gender, and sexuality are not only entangled in the East-West dynamic but co-constitute the East-West dichotomy too. They discuss racial relations and states of morality, in grappling with the question of what exactly race-critical studies can contribute to both the improved analysis of this dichotomy and to the examination of developments in Europe: What can we observe when looking, for example, at gender and sexual politics in Poland from a race-critical perspective and what can this tell us about nationalisms? Doing so, they take up the discussion Lewicki started, together with Randi Elin Gressgård and Rafał Smoczyński, in the special issue of Intersections. East European Journal of Society and Politics »Struggles over Europe. Postcolonial East/West Dynamics of Race, Gender and Sexuality« (2020, 6/3). This special issue explores the dynamics pertaining to (racialized) gender and sexuality, as well as their local expressions, and asks how they are embedded in broader dynamics and discourses on Europe, Europeanization, and the transformation of (il)liberal states. Lewicki and Keinz then continue their conversation and pick up on certain aspects that came up during the panel discussion. They reflect on how categories such as »race,« »gender,« and »sexuality« contribute to the reproduction of various understandings of »Europe« and »European modernity« and to the (self-)produced notions of »East« and »West« respectively.Im folgenden Dialog sprechen Anika Keinz, die als Diskutantin des Panels "Struggles over Europe" bei der Tagung "Troubling Gender" eingeladen war, und Paweł Lewicki, einer der Organisatoren dieses Panels, darüber, wie Rasse, Geschlecht und Sexualität nicht nur in der Ost-West-Dynamik verwoben sind, sondern auch die Ost-West-Dichotomie mitkonstituieren. Sie sprechen über rassialisierte Relationen und moralische Konstellationen, während sie sich mit der Frage auseinandersetzen, was genau kritische race studies zur besseren Analyse dieser Dichotomie sowie zur Untersuchung der Entwicklungen in Europa beitragen können: Was können wir beobachten, wenn wir z.B. die Geschlechter- und Sexualpolitik in Polen aus einer rassismuskritischen Perspektive betrachten und was kann uns das über Nationalismen sagen? Damit knüpfen sie an die Diskussion an, die Lewicki gemeinsam mit Randi Elin Gressgård und Rafał Smoczyński in der Sonderausgabe von Intersections. East European Journal of Society and Politics "Struggles over Europe. Postcolonial East/West Dynamics of Race, Gender and Sexuality" (Bd. 6/3, 2020). Dieses Special Issue erkundet die Dynamiken von (rassifiziertem) Geschlecht und Sexualität mit ihren jeweiligen lokalen Ausprägungen und fragt, wie sie in breitere Dynamiken und Diskurse über Europa, Europäisierung und die Transformation (il)liberaler Staaten eingebettet sind. Lewicki und Keinz setzen ihr Gespräch fort und greifen einige der Aspekte auf, die während der Podiumsdiskussion zur Sprache kamen. Sie diskutieren,  wie Kategorien wie "Rasse", "Geschlecht/Gender" und "Sexualität" zur Reproduktion verschiedener Vostellungen von "Europa" und "europäischer Moderne" sowie zu den (selbst-)produzierten Vorstellungen von "Ost" bzw. "West" beitragen.Peer Reviewe

Technological competence leveraging projects via intermediaries: Viable means to outbound open innovation and mediated capability building?

Aiming at reaping the benefits of open innovation, a growing number of organizations utilizes innovation intermediaries as external facilitators. However, the effectiveness of such intermediaries, especially in outbound open innovation, such as leveraging existing technologies in new market opportunities, remains unclear. We aim to investigate if and how externally conducted technological competence leveraging (TCL) projects provide value to the focal organization. Based on interviews with key personnel and analysis of reports from such projects conducted in the course of several research consortia at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, we find that the projects were successful in identifying new application fields. Further, the externally conducted projects also contributed to the development of TCL-related project capabilities within the focal organization. This research also identifies a number of barriers to short- and long-term success such as lack of a company-internal perspective and project owners without management responsibilities

CFD Based Improvement of the DLN Hydrogen Micromix Combustion Technology at Increased Energy Densities

Combined with the use of renewable energy sources for its production, Hydrogen represents a possible alternative gas turbine fuel within future low emission power generation. Due to the large difference in the physical properties of Hydrogen compared to other fuels such as natural gas, well established gas turbine combustion systems cannot be directly applied for Dry Low NOx (DLN) Hydrogen combustion. Thus, the development of DLN combustion technologies is an essential and challenging task for the future of Hydrogen fuelled gas turbines. The DLN Micromix combustion principle for hydrogen fuel has been developed to significantly reduce NOx-emissions. This combustion principle is based on cross-flow mixing of air and gaseous hydrogen which reacts in multiple miniaturized diffusion-type flames. The major advantages of this combustion principle are the inherent safety against flash-back and the low NOx-emissions due to a very short residence time of reactants in the flame region of the micro-flames. The Micromix Combustion technology has been already proven experimentally and numerically for pure Hydrogen fuel operation at different energy density levels. The aim of the present study is to analyze the influence of different geometry parameter variations on the flame structure and the NOx emission and to identify the most relevant design parameters, aiming to provide a physical understanding of the Micromix flame sensitivity to the burner design and identify further optimization potential of this innovative combustion technology while increasing its energy density and making it mature enough for real gas turbine application. The study reveals great optimization potential of the Micromix Combustion technology with respect to the DLN characteristics and gives insight into the impact of geometry modifications on flame structure and NOx emission. This allows to further increase the energy density of the Micromix burners and to integrate this technology in industrial gas turbines

Anthropological Perspectives on Gender Politics in/of Europe

Over the last few decades, the politics of gender and sexuality have turned extremely hostile across Europe. Long fought for rights and antidiscriminatory politics have come under heavy attack, while Gender Studies programs have been banned. In tandem, feminist arguments are being instrumentalized by right-wing movements so as to cement nationalist projects and racist positions. This turmoil regarding the politics of gender in Europe has become even more complex as gender, sexuality, and race find themselves used as markers of both progress and backwardness within the postcolonial, postsocialist European landscape reproducing old and creating new hierarchies within the societies and between them. Based on the 2021 conference “Troubling Gender: New Turbulences in the Politics of Gender in Europe,” organized by the Commission on Gender Research and Queer Anthropology of the German Association for European Ethnology and Empirical Cultural Analyses, this issue of Berliner Blätter hence assembles an array of analytical papers as well as polyvocal written discussions seeking to make sense of these developments as well as of their local and regional articulations and effects. The issue brings together queer/feminist voices and analyses from the Eastern and Western European contexts; furthermore, it examines the possibilities for solidarity across different positionalities and engages with diverse histories of struggle. The issue presents analyses informed by gender and queer theory, as mostly based on ethnographic research, and thus ultimately allows us to better understand the current conjuncture of the politics of gender and sexuality in and of Europe. With this, it partakes in the ongoing feminist and queer struggles to build a better future for all those concerned.Im letzten Jahrzehnt haben sich Politiken rund um Geschlechter und Sexualitätspolitik in ganz Europa äußerst feindselig entwickelt. Erkämpfte Rechte und eine antidiskriminatorische Politik sind massiv unter Beschuss geraten, Studiengänge der Geschlechterforschung wurden verboten. Gleichzeitig werden feministische Argumente von rechtsgerichteten Bewegungen instrumentalisiert, um nationalistische Projekte und rassistische Positionen zu zementieren. Noch weiter kompliziert wird die Situation dadurch, dass Geschlecht, Sexualität und Rasse in der postkolonialen, postsozialistischen europäischen Landschaft als Marker für Fortschritt und Rückständigkeit dienen, wodurch alte Hierarchien innerhalb der Gesellschaften und zwischen ihnen reproduziert und neue geschaffen werden. Ausgehend von der Konferenz „Troubling Gender: Neue Turbulenzen in der Geschlechterpolitik in Europa“, organisiert 2021 von der Kommission für Geschlechterforschung und Queere Anthropologie in der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Europäische Ethnologie und Empirische Kulturwissenschaft (DGEKW), bringt die Ausgabe der Berliner Blätter queere und feministische Stimmen und Analysen aus dem ost- und westeuropäischen Kontext zusammen. Gemeinsam versuchen sie, diese Entwicklungen, ihre lokalen und regionalen Artikulationen und Auswirkungen zu verstehen. Neben den geschlechter- und queertheoretisch fundierten Analysen, die sich größtenteils auf ethnografische Forschungen stützen, ergründen polyvokale, dialogisch geschriebene Beiträge die Möglichkeiten der Solidarität über verschiedene Positionen hinweg und zeigen die verschiedenen Geschichten von gender- und queerpolitischen Kämpfen und Epistemologien in Europa. Die Ausgabe ermöglicht so ein differenziertes Verständnis der aktuellen Situation der Geschlechter- und Sexualitätspolitik in und für Europa und hat damit teil an den laufenden feministischen und queeren Kämpfen um eine bessere Zukunft für alle Beteiligten.Peer Reviewe

FCC Physics Opportunities: Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report Volume 1

We review the physics opportunities of the Future Circular Collider, covering its e+e-, pp, ep and heavy ion programmes. We describe the measurement capabilities of each FCC component, addressing the study of electroweak, Higgs and strong interactions, the top quark and flavour, as well as phenomena beyond the Standard Model. We highlight the synergy and complementarity of the different colliders, which will contribute to a uniquely coherent and ambitious research programme, providing an unmatchable combination of precision and sensitivity to new physics

HE-LHC: The High-Energy Large Hadron Collider: Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report Volume 4

In response to the 2013 Update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics (EPPSU), the Future Circular Collider (FCC) study was launched as a world-wide international collaboration hosted by CERN. The FCC study covered an energy-frontier hadron collider (FCC-hh), a highest-luminosity high-energy lepton collider (FCC-ee), the corresponding 100 km tunnel infrastructure, as well as the physics opportunities of these two colliders, and a high-energy LHC, based on FCC-hh technology. This document constitutes the third volume of the FCC Conceptual Design Report, devoted to the hadron collider FCC-hh. It summarizes the FCC-hh physics discovery opportunities, presents the FCC-hh accelerator design, performance reach, and staged operation plan, discusses the underlying technologies, the civil engineering and technical infrastructure, and also sketches a possible implementation. Combining ingredients from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the high-luminosity LHC upgrade and adding novel technologies and approaches, the FCC-hh design aims at significantly extending the energy frontier to 100 TeV. Its unprecedented centre-of-mass collision energy will make the FCC-hh a unique instrument to explore physics beyond the Standard Model, offering great direct sensitivity to new physics and discoveries

FCC-ee: The Lepton Collider: Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report Volume 2

In response to the 2013 Update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics, the Future Circular Collider (FCC) study was launched, as an international collaboration hosted by CERN. This study covers a highest-luminosity high-energy lepton collider (FCC-ee) and an energy-frontier hadron collider (FCC-hh), which could, successively, be installed in the same 100 km tunnel. The scientific capabilities of the integrated FCC programme would serve the worldwide community throughout the 21st century. The FCC study also investigates an LHC energy upgrade, using FCC-hh technology. This document constitutes the second volume of the FCC Conceptual Design Report, devoted to the electron-positron collider FCC-ee. After summarizing the physics discovery opportunities, it presents the accelerator design, performance reach, a staged operation scenario, the underlying technologies, civil engineering, technical infrastructure, and an implementation plan. FCC-ee can be built with today’s technology. Most of the FCC-ee infrastructure could be reused for FCC-hh. Combining concepts from past and present lepton colliders and adding a few novel elements, the FCC-ee design promises outstandingly high luminosity. This will make the FCC-ee a unique precision instrument to study the heaviest known particles (Z, W and H bosons and the top quark), offering great direct and indirect sensitivity to new physics