Open Business Models and Closed-Loop Value Chains: Redefining the Firm-Consumer Relationship

Driven by recent socio-economic developments, manufacturing firms increasingly adapt their business models along two dimensions. Apart from vertically integrating the entire product life cycle, traditionally separated tasks are re-allocated into new forms of horizontal stakeholder collaborations. Incorporating these two dimensions, this article develops a framework of nine business model archetypes that holistically capture the increasing openness of business models towards consumers in the emerging closed-loop value chain. Using illustrative examples, it demonstrates their broad applicability in different industries and derives important managerial implications for firm-consumer relationships, the relevance of consumer communities, new product development activities, and the sustainability of business models

Predicting the future of additive manufacturing: A Delphi study on economic and societal implications of 3D printing for 2030

Additive manufacturing (colloquially: 3D printing) is a highly discussed topic. Previous research has argued that this technology not only has profound effects on manufacturing businesses but also on society, which demands new corporate strategies and policies alike. Thus, the development of reliable future scenarios is key for strategic planning and decision making as well as for future research. Dedicated academic studies in this field remain scarce. We present the results of an extensive Delphi survey on the future of additive manufacturing with a focus on its economic and societal implications in 2030. Via an initial round of extensive qualitative interviews and a Delphi-based analysis of 3510 quantitative estimations and 1172 qualitative comments from 65 experts, we were able to develop and validate 18 projections that were then clustered into a scenario for the most probable future. The scenario is built on the six Delphi projections with the highest consensus on the likelihood of occurrence. We complement this most probable scenario with a discussion on controversial, extreme scenarios. Based on these findings we derive implications for industry, policy, and future research

From Mass Customization to Collaborative Customer CoDesign

The idea of integrating users into the design and production process is a promising strategy for companies being forced to react to the growing individualization of demand. The use of e-business applications has been discussed as a approach for mass customization for over one decade. There is a huge amount of literature on manufacturing and information systems for mass customization. However, there has been little research looking at the role of the customer within the co-design process. Customers face new uncertainties and risks (“mass confusion”) when acting as co-designers. We discuss possible risks evolving during the interaction between customers and suppliers. We propose solutions for the “mass confusion” problem, and we challenge the assumption made by most mass customization researchers that offering customized products requires an individual (one-to-one) relationship between the customer and the supplier. We envision a different way of addressing the problem by using communities instead of one-to-one relationships. The objective of our paper is to build and explore the idea of communities for customer co-design

BENKLER REVISITED – VENTURING BEYOND THE OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE ARENA?

The organizational principles of open source software (OSS) development have challenged traditional theories in economics, organization research and information systems. In a seminal paper, Benkler (2002) provided a comprehensive framework to structure and explain these OSS principles. Coined Commons-Based Peer Production (CBPP), his framework has inspired a large stream of research on OSS. The objective of our paper is to determine whether CBPP also provides a viable framework to investigate projects of open innovation in non-software related domains. Using a case study approach, we focus on four projects that attempt to operate in line with the OSS phenomenon, but deal with tangible outputs (biotechnology, automobiles, entertainment hardware, and public patent review). We show that in general the CBPP framework is well-suited to explain open value creation in these domains. However, we also find several factors which limit its adoption to non-software related arenas

Sustainability and Resilience in Alliance-Driven Manufacturing Ecosystems: A Strategic Conceptual Modeling Perspective

The challenge of sustainability rests on the ability of organizations to change their practices to meet the needs of current and future generations. To date, most research on organizational change has focused on how to change within a single organization. However, an increasing number of sustainability challenges require changes across multiple organizations. In this paper, we summarize strategic challenges faced in such a setting and outline a conceptual modeling approach for strategic analysis of alliance-driven solutions. We illustrate our ideas with a case study in digital agriculture, a field particularly relevant to sustainability, and end with the identification of issues for further research

Broker Models for Mass Customization Based Electronic Commerce

While the competitive advantage of mass customization has been widely substantiated in management theory since more than a decade, its implementation in business can be observed just within the last years. In this paper we demonstrate how modern Internet technologies and possibilities of e-business work as success factors for mass customization. Especially, we deploy how intermediaries can add new value to mass customization based business models in electronic commerce

Finding the right role for social media in innovation

Although some companies have been able to use social media to develop new insights that lead to successful new products, many others simply do not know how to utilize social media for innovation. Whats more, some companies have seen their innovation performance negatively affected. Nevertheless, social media provides a game-changing opportunity for companies that learn how to exploit it. In order to use social media for innovation, organizations need clear strategies and objectives. The authors of this article recently studied the social media practices of large global companies as they relate to new product development, using data from the Product Development Management Associations 2012 Comparative Performance Assessment Study. Broadly speaking, we found that for many companies, the results of using social media for new product development fell short of expectations. Less than 50% of the companies surveyed use social media during the new product development process. Many of the companies we surveyed didn't seem to recognize the differences and functionalities of different social media platforms and media sources. It is critical that top leadership play an active role by encouraging cooperation and idea sharing among the various players

Radical innovation: making the right bets

Report published by Advanced Institute of Management ResearchOur research reveals that organisations, here in the UK and elsewhere, must face up to the complex challenges associated with exploring and developing radical ideas and innovations if they are to continue to be successful in the long term. ■ Discontinuous innovation – ‘doing something different’ innovation – is often the driver of sustained competitive advantage and shareholder value creation. As such the ability to support radical innovation is an essential organisational competence. ■ The decision-making process in which resources are allocated to innovation projects is extremely challenging, as the degree of uncertainty involved means that using conventional systems and processes often leads to radical ideas being rejected. ■ The research identifies twelve excuses that organisations use to justify their decision not to pursue radical innovation. Organisations must learn to recognise when they are making these excuses and find other ways of evaluating how to behave when faced with radical innovation. ■ The innovation selection environment that operates in organisations can be described in terms of four zones. In two of those zones, new strategies are required for innovation selection decision-making. ■ There are a number of promising strategies that can help organisations to back an innovation winner. These include: building alternative visions; bridge-building to/from outside the box; probe and learn method; using alternative evaluation and measurement criteria; mobilising sponsorship and championship; using alternative decision-making pathways; deploying alternative funding structures; using alternative – dedicated/devolved/decentralised – implementation structures; mobilising entrepreneurship inside and outside the firm. ■ Through a thorough understanding of the innovation selection process, organisations can avoid the pitfalls that lead to abandoning potentially marketwinning radical ideas. At the same time they can learn how to implement strategies that nurture and develop that all-important discontinuous innovation.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC

Stage-gate and agile development in the digital age: Promises, perils, and boundary conditions

Some artists begin with careful plans, sketches, preliminary drawings and even paintings before settling on one particular direction. Claude Monet, for example, carefully planned and prepared his work to coincide with specific natural light, timing his activity according to when and how daylight touched his canvas (House, 2004). His work was revolutionary: masterpieces such as his famous Impressions, Sunrise and subsequent Water Lilies series were intended to capture the feelings initiated by observation and interpretation; they exceeded the mere recording of scenery details. Other artists seemed to obtain their inspiration internally, beginning with little formal preparation. They approached the canvas experientially. Jackson Pollock adopted this style with his famous drip paintings - action pieces that were acclaimed to show motion, depicting accidents and energy