Orchestrating for lead user involvement in innovation networks

Pia Hurmelinna-Laukkanen,Satu Nätti,Minna Pikkarainen

doi:10.1016/j.technovation.2021.102326

Abstract

To respond to the notable changes in the field of healthcare, innovation networks bringing together industry and public sector actors are needed. Subsequently, the orchestration of such networks has attracted increasing attention. However, most research on network orchestration takes the point of view of the orchestrator and/or the innovation producers. It lacks explicit discussion on the users, especially lead users, in the network orchestration context. On the other hand, while the user-innovation literature tells how lead users can be involved in innovation processes, it focuses on those managerial actions that are meant to specifically influence lead users and misses the network-wide orchestration-related dynamics. Furthermore, a lead user discussion with a focus on customers viewing market trends does not necessarily fully acknowledge healthcare professionals or end users of public sector services. This study starts to bridge these discussions as it introduces findings from a theoretical examination and an illustrative case study. It provides a context-sensitive approach to innovation network orchestration in a situation where active involvement of lead users is crucial for the functioning of the innovation network. Acknowledging the interaction between the innovation network orchestrator, innovating companies, and lead users adds to existing knowledge on how to orchestrate innovation networks.

Highlights

In recent years, generating innovations has become notably net worked (de Man, 2004; den Hertog et al, 2010; Powell and Grodal, 2006; Powell et al, 2010; Valkokari et al, 2012)
Network orchestration can be defined as the discreet and dynamic coordination of the network formation and collaboration, which in volves a number of dimensions such as knowledge mobility, network stability, and innovation appropriability promoting value capturing among the participants (Dhanaraj and Parkhe, 2006; Hurmelinna- Laukkanen and Natti, 2018)
The voluntary nature of lead user participation, multiple different user groups, demanding work tasks of health professionals, dispersion of end-users, privacy and regulation issues, potentially competitive and even conflicting relationships among network actors, fear of knowledge leaks, and constant time pressure perceived by lead users are examples of issues that argue for the importance of diligent network orchestration

Summary

Introduction

In recent years, generating innovations has become notably net worked (de Man, 2004; den Hertog et al, 2010; Powell and Grodal, 2006; Powell et al, 2010; Valkokari et al, 2012) While this kind of operations model can be highly beneficial, managerial challenges emerge from the related complexity and the need to acknowledge varying motivations of the involved parties (Bocquet and Mothe, 2010; Clarke and Crane, 2018; Lee, 2009; Paasi et al, 2010; Porter, 2010; Swan and Scarbrough, 2005; Teece, 2000). An orchestrator can be an individual actor or group of actors (e.g., organized under a single organization) who actively steers, guides, and facilitates the network participants in the innovation process (Hurmelinna-Laukkanen and Natti, 2018). It has been acknowledged that the orchestrator can change as the innovation process proceeds from one stage to the and that orchestration tasks can be shared between multiple orchestrators (Hurmelinna-Laukkanen and Natti, 2018)

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion