Co-creation Innovation Research Articles

Value co-creation for open innovation: An evidence-based study of the data driven paradigm of social media using machine learning.

Social media encapsulates one of the most prominent human information behaviours that has rapidly evolved to create a new data-driven paradigm that uses data-intensive digital environments to communicate, collaborate, express opinions and support decisions. This has established social media as a unique information asset for value co-creation as it empowers individuals to actively express opinions and sentiment on all facets of interactions with an external entity. Despite recent research on the theoretical underpinnings of social media in open service innovation, practical demonstrations of actionable insights are limited, mainly due to the voluminous and unstructured nature of social media data. We address this limitation by presenting an evidence-based study that uses machine learning algorithms to generate actionable insights of strategic value from this data-driven paradigm. These outcomes provide fresh perspectives and new thinking that advances social media as an emergent information asset for end-to-end open innovation and incremental value co-creation.

Enabling service innovation and firm performance: the role of co-creation and technological innovation in the hospitality industry

ABSTRACT This study empirically explores the impact of co-creation on technological innovation and firm performance in the hospitality industry. Further, it examines the influence of technological innovation on service innovation and firm performance. Data were collected, using questionnaires, from 340 managers of the luxury hotels (one to five star) operating in Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, India. Structural equation modeling was used to test the relationship between the hypotheses. The findings confirm the positive relationship among all the constructs of the integrated model and provide valuable managerial guidance and implications in the context of hospitality industry.

Understanding the value of co-creation for social innovation interpretations of social innovation and co-creation in European policy-related documents between 1995 and 2018

Social innovation and co-creation have been discussed in academic literature for the last twenty years. However, the interrelatedness and application of these concepts in European Union policy deserves more attention. In our study, we focus on this relationship and application, by analysing the value of co-creation for social innovation. By analysing a large EU dataset, we showed that social innovation and co-creation were used more and more widely and that their use took off after 2010 and 2015 respectively. By applying a contextual analysis, we also revealed that both concepts became connected in EU policy on research and innovation. Our analysis also shows that co-creation became an indicator for successful social innovation in the Horizon Europe Framework programme. These results show the importance of co-creation in policies, but because the concept has not been defined properly, this carries the risk of simplifying co-creation into a box-ticking exercise.

Robots in public spaces: implications for policy design

Rapid advances in digital technologies have allowed robots to become more autonomous and efficacious than ever before. Future developments in robotics hold the potential to transform human robot interactions. We can expect to see robots performing a variety of functions in public spaces. Possibilities exist for robots to greatly improve the quality of our lives and to contribute positively to the safety, creative potential, and atmosphere of public spaces. But as this trend develops, the risk emerges of robots transforming public spaces and social interactions in undesirable ways. By reviewing previous public policy approaches to harnessing and regulating disruptive technology, we consider how public policy could simultaneously enhance opportunities created by the presence of robots in public spaces and reduce the risks of undesirable outcomes. We summarize key insights into a policy design checklist to guide policies on robots in public spaces. These insights cover (1) safety, (2) privacy and ethics, (3) productivity, (4) esthetics, (5) co-creation, (6) equitable access, and (7) systemic innovation.

Organizational Challenges of Online Customer Co-Creation for Innovation: A Middle-Managers’ Perspective in the Italian Food Context

In a nutshell, co-creation is described as a way to open up a company to the outside world, helping to generate product innovations and to update brand meanings. Drawing on the online community and co-creation literature, this paper aims at contributing to exploring the main intra-organizational challenges of online customer co-creation for innovation, from the viewpoint of middle managers. The intent is to broaden the existing conceptual understanding of the main internal factors hindering customer co-creation but also of the practices that could be adopted to best manage the related challenges. 
 
 The study adopts a qualitative approach and is based on the results of eight in-depth, semi-structured interviews with digital and marketing managers, working closely with co-creation initiatives in the Italian food industry, with the aim of exploring intra-organizational challenges perceived by those who are directly involved in co-creation implementation.
 
 The results complement existing literature by 1) offering a more longitudinal vision of the implementation process—and the related internal hurdles, 2) identifying the most appropriate coping strategies and 3) formulating some hypothesis that could support an interpretative model of the capabilities needed to start the process and managing it in a strategic perspective.

Building brands through internal stakeholder engagement and co-creation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to better understand the voice of the internal stakeholder in a way that emphasizes the internal stakeholder as an active force and decision maker in brand co-creation, as part of the new emerging paradigm of internal branding. The main aim is to understand the active role of volunteers in internal branding that is in the co-creation of value. A subsidiary aim is to understand why some volunteers engage deeply and seriously in a nonprofit organization while other volunteers seem less connected?Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework incorporates several motivators to volunteer-led co-creation. A quantitative, co-variance-based structural equation modelling approach is used on survey data of a sample of 357 volunteers from 14 organizations in the Australian nonprofit sector.FindingsThe research findings contribute to the newly emerging internal branding literature focusing on the active co-creation role of internal stakeholders. The main drivers of volunteer co-creation are volunteer engagement, commitment, altruism, values-congruency and brand reputation. Different explanatory mechanisms/motivators apply to each type of volunteer-led co-creation. In a major initiative, the paper demonstrates linkages across the different types of co-creation, with a foundation/pivotal role for one particular type of co-creation, namely, enhanced client-based solutions.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is restricted to the public sector and further research is needed to test applicability to the private sector. Future studies could continue the initiative in the current study to explore the linkages across co-creation types.Practical implicationsImplications depend on which type of co-creation is targeted. Enhancing client-based solutions co-creation requires a very strong role for engaged volunteers. Innovation co-creation requires both engaged volunteers and a propensity to co-create by enhancing client-based solutions. Brand advocacy co-creation is driven by volunteer commitment, altruism and a propensity to co-create innovation.Social implicationsA non-profit context ensures major social implications.Originality/valueThe study operationalizes the Saleem and Iglesias (2016) new internal branding paradigm framework by demonstrating that brands are built organically by interacting and engaging with internal stakeholders (volunteers in this instance), which, in turn, inter alia, motivates co-creation by such internal stakeholders.

Partnered innovation to implement timely and personalized care: A case study.

Understanding how to translate research discoveries into solutions for healthcare improvement is a priority of NIH-funded Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA). This study, supported by one CTSA, aims to capture one process of shaping and implementing innovations to advance the timeliness and patient-centeredness of cardiovascular care. Specifically, we sought to understand a partnership between a private digital health startup company, a university innovation lab, and an academic health system's cardiology program pursuing this goal. The collaboration proceeded through clear phases to address the questions and challenges: problem definition, exploration and formalization of the partnership, innovation co-creation and pilot test, and scale-up planning. Phases were punctuated by key decisions, such as forming the partnership, negotiating terms of the partnership, iterating form and features of the innovation, and exploring sufficiency of its value-add for scale-up and sustainment. Key implementation concepts were apparent, including implementation strategies (e.g., champions and iterative trialing) and the implementation outcomes of acceptability, sustainment, and scale-up. Participants identified potential risks of collaboration, reflected on their co-creation process, and the value of engaging stakeholders in innovation design. Findings may inform subsequent collaborations between innovators and translational researchers. We conducted a case study to understand the partnership; characterize the questions they pursued, their decision points, information and data sources; and identify the challenges and risks. Data were collected through a series of four focus groups with members of each partnering organization. A transdisciplinary research team iteratively worked to condense and synthesize data from audio recorded transcripts into a case narrative.

A context analysis method for empathy in co-creative innovation

A context analysis method for empathy in co-creative innovation

Зборка полісуб’єкта спільного створення інноваційних цінностей

The fundamental prerequisite for the harmonization of socio-economic processes is the development and implementation of an internally coordinated system of views that can set up responsible innovation activities that are implemented on the principles of sustainable development. Achievements in cognitive sciences and postnonclassical management indicate that the paradigm of co-creativity can make a significant contribution to the formation of a new system of views on innovation. The purpose of the article is to analyze and substantiate the theoretical and empirical foundations of the assembly of a polysubject focused on co-creation and expanding the cognitive heterogeneity of the subjects of innovative development to activate the innovative processes of the enterprise and increase the relevance of the created innovations. The article examines the main stages of the assembly of the polysubject of the joint creation of innovative values with their filling in the reference points with indicative signs of group dynamics, fixing the qualitative changes in the community. The constellation of the factor of the effective functioning of polysubject environments for the joint creation of innovative values, which are localized according to the main stages of assembly, is presented. The paper shows that the polysubject of cocreation of innovations is able to generate relevant values to the extent that it is able to reproduce the main spectrum of consumer constructs in the properties of the objects being created. A prerequisite for relevant results of innovation activity is the co-creation of subjects with high cognitive complexity, which together form a cognitively heterogeneous poly-subject, capable of leveling the complexity and uncertainty of market and innovation processes with its own variety of constructs. The conditions for effective interaction of a cognitively heterogeneous polysubject is the prerogative of the moderator of co-creativity, who should be focused on maintaining a high level of diversity of subjects – on the one hand, and on the other, to provide semantic and communication connectivity of actors for effective intersubjective interactions.

The “Bridge” Project: Α European Innovative Intergenerational Approach Using Serious Games for People with Dementia

Intergenerational activities can be an enjoyable way to act on dementia symptoms, enable people with dementia (PwD) social inclusion and bridge the intergenerational (involving also younger and older people) gap by the direct involvement of young people. The Erasmus+ “Bridge” project has developed eight prototypes Serious Games (SGs) (physical, digital or phygital) and innovative Co-Creation Intergenerational Workshops acting on cognitive and behavioral symptoms of dementia between 2018 to 2021. Partners Greece (Alzheimer Hellas), Italy (Anziani e non solo) and Romania (Asociatia Habilitas) have drafted the methodology of co creation workshops and implemented them following guidelines set. The final eight games have been developed and a second implementation of Game playtesting Workshops was organized in each country in order to assess the impact of the games. In total, 24 PwD co-designed and played some games with the cooperation of 6 game-designers, 16 healthcare professionals, 7 caregivers and 21 young volunteers in the first Co-Creation Workshops. Eleven prototypes games had been created and the team of the project took the final decision to develop fully 8 of them. More specifically, the 8 “Bridge” games developed are the Next destination, Flea market, Find the word, Bird-watching, Emotions, The directors, Blooming flowers, Specialite. These have been tested during a series of workshops in October 2020, organized in partner countries. The testing phase involved 47 people: 23 PwD, 17 health professionals, 4 caregivers and 3 young volunteers. Moreover, during the project’s lifetime, The Bridge web-platform (https://projectbridge.eu/), contains MOOCs on the methodology of the Game-Creation Workshops and the final 8 selected SGs.

Combining the Knowledge Appropriation Model and epistemic networks to understand co-creation and adoption of learning designs using log data

Social practices are well-known mediators in the adoption of educational innovations during professional learning, as postulated by the Knowledge Appropriation Model (KAM). However, understanding how teachers adopt new pedagogical approaches at scale is often difficult due to the lack of evidence available about their daily practices. In that sense, log data from online authoring and learning tools offer the possibility of better understanding the creation process of a learning design that reifies an educational innovation. 
 This paper explores how statistical models and Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) can help us understand large-scale patterns in the co-creation and adoption of educational innovations, using KAM as a theoretical framework to analyse log data. More concretely, this paper presents a case study on Go-Lab, an initiative to promote inquiry-based learning at school. Its authoring and learning tool -Graasp- gives us a unique opportunity to track, not only the (co)creation of learning designs, but also their potential implementation in the classroom. The case study uses the aforementioned methodological approach to analyse the role of large-scale support initiatives in the co-creation and adoption of learning designs.

Orchestrator’s interaction in hub-teams facilitating innovation network co-creation

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to identify and develop a framework to clarify facilitating orchestrator hub-team roles; their interactions, linked capabilities and activities; and the hub-team concept. This framework is illustrated by a case study of an orchestrator hub-team facilitating cross-country and network co-creation in Northern Sweden, Norway and Finland.Design/methodology/approachThe following two approaches are used: a conceptual approach that combines various source materials and concepts related to the “bricolage approach”; and an empirical approach that illustrates the conceptual framework using a longitudinal, qualitative, single-case study and the action research method.FindingsBy combining research related to three differing yet somewhat overlapping research perspectives, three facilitating orchestrator hub-team roles are identified, linked to orchestrator capabilities and activities relevant to innovative value creation in extensive networks including both private and public actors highlighting the role of people in networks. An orchestrator hub-team framework and five related activity categories are developed and introduced.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to research on the orchestration of innovative co-creation in extensive networks and network management by clarifying the facilitating orchestrator hub-team roles and their related capabilities and activities, and thereby describing the role of a centrally positioned hub-team.Practical implicationsThe hub-team framework may bring structure and understanding to hub-teams, thus easing and enabling orchestration and value co-creation.Originality/valueThis study offers a further developed, integrated framework for intermediating the facilitating roles of a hub-team orchestrating extensive network and public/private co-creation.

No or low emissions from construction logistics – Just a dream or future reality?

Introduction: Construction sites are among the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the construction industry. Large quantities of construction materials and other resources need to be transported to, within, and from construction sites. Implementation of different construction logistics solutions can reduce the impact from construction. The objectives of this article are to map the status and present the current practice of construction logistics in Norway, and to discuss how different no or low emission construction logistics solutions can be promoted. Methods: Methods applied are a literature review including findings from the recent development of emission free construction sites and qualitative case study with interviews carried out in Norway. Results: Findings indicate that lack of regulations, specific requirements and awareness, and use of traditional methods to avoid risks are some of the challenges for minimizing impact from construction logistics. However, opportunities are also present; mainly driven by political ambitions, improved environmental requirements in public procurement tenders and market demands and ambitions for reductions in emissions and costs. Preliminary results from interviews in Norway support these findings. Conclusions: The study show that the goal of achieving no or low emission from construction site is possible through setting ambitious requirements, good planning and a close and open collaboration between involved stakeholders. Grant support: This work is part of the Joint Programming Initative (JPI) Urban Europe project “Minimizing impact of construction material flows in cities: Innovative Co-Creation”, supported by the national research councils of the participating countries (Sweden, Norway, Austria, Belgium).

Testing Platforms as Drivers for Positive-Energy Living Laboratories

The development of city-driven urban laboratories was considered a priority by the European Commission through Action 3.2 of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan. In this context, positive-energy districts laboratories could take the role of urban drivers toward innovation and sustainability in cities. These urban labs can provide real-life facilities with innovative co-creation processes and, at the same time, provide testing, experimenting, and prototyping of innovative technologies. In this scope, the authors of this work want to share the very first results of an empirical study using the testing facilities provided by the members of the Joint Program on Smart Cities of the European Energy Research Alliance as positive-energy districts laboratories. Six climatic regions are studied as boundary conditions, covering temperate and continental climates. Four scales of action are analyzed: Building, campus, urban, and virtual, with building and campus scales being the most frequent. Most of these laboratories focus on energy applications followed by networks, storage systems, and energy loads characterization. Many of these laboratories are regulated by ICT technologies but few of them consider social aspects, lighting, waste, and water systems. A SWOT analysis is performed to highlight the critical points of the testing facilities in order to replicate optimized configurations under other conditions. This statistical study provides guidelines on integration, localization, functionality, and technology modularity aspects. The use of these guidelines will ensure optimal replications, as well as identify possibilities and opportunities to share testing facilities of/between the positive-energy district laboratories.

Examining trust in consumers as new food co-creators: Does the communicator matter?

Consumers increasingly fulfil the role of co-creators by collaborating with producers in new product development. Communicating that the product has been co-developed with consumers tends to positively influence consumer perceptions. However, research remains limited regarding who should communicate this information, particularly in the case of food products where consumer perceptions largely depend on the trust in the producer and product information. This paper examines the influence of co-creation information communicated by a company vs. by co-creators (i.e. co-creating consumers) on two dimensions of trust in consumers acting as new food co-creators: perceived honesty and perceived competence. Furthermore, it investigates how this effect is moderated by respondents’ familiarity with co-creation as an innovation process. Respondents were presented with the same new food product concept in an online experimental survey with consumers (n = 697) divided into three experimental groups. One group served as the control group with no co-creation information provided. The other two groups were informed that the product was the result of a co-creation activity between the company and consumers, using two types of information communicator. In one group, the company communicated the information, whereas in the other group, it was communicated by the co-creators. Our findings suggest that who communicates the co-creation information matters if consumers are not familiar with co-creation. In this case, co-creators are more likely to facilitate general consumer trust in peer consumers as new food co-creators. This study provides valuable insights for food companies wanting to leverage the value of co-creation for innovation by selecting the information communicator depending on the level of co-creation familiarity in the target market.

Farmer field schools and the co-creation of knowledge and innovation: the mediating role of social capital

Research has repeatedly confirmed that farmer field schools (FFS) can serve as a bridge between science and farm practice, enhancing simultaneously rural social energy. However, even though social capital is a burgeoning topic in FFS research, it is not clear whether and how it mediates FFS performance. In this mixed-methods study, using data from two FFS projects conducted in Greece, we examined if social capital among trainees facilitates the co-creation of knowledge and the co-development of agricultural innovations by farmers. A thematic analysis was performed to analyse qualitative data, whereas regression models were employed for the quantitative strand of analysis. Results revealed that social capital evolves progressively during FFS, enabling the achievement of the project’s aims by enhancing in-group communication, establishing affective ties, instilling a sense of community, and triggering motivational contagion among participants. Statistical analyses confirmed that the “softest” sides of social capital (bonding and connection) significantly contribute to knowledge and innovation co-production. Although this work was based on data derived only from two FFS projects that took place in Greece, our findings underline the importance of social capital for the success of any FFS project and emphasise the need for identifying routes to nurture social capital within FFS.

Evaluation of a digital platform that engages stakeholders in the co-creation of healthcare innovations: A mixed-methods study

Introduction Engaging public and patients in the decision-making processes is on the agenda of many healthcare systems towards sustainable healthcare delivery. While many engagement initiatives are performed face-to-face, an increasing number is conducted online. An example of the latter is the Dutch digital platform Gezonde Mening that engages patients, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders in the co-creation of healthcare innovations. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement performed on Gezonde Mening by focusing on the process of planning, execution and transition of engagement activities. Methods A mixed-methods study was performed by conducting eight semi-structured interviews with developers and funders of Gezonde Mening and an assessment of the psychometric properties of two questionnaires administrated via Gezonde Mening to seek stakeholders’ inputs. While the interviews were analysed deductively and inductively, data from the assessment of psychometric properties were analysed in a descriptive quantitative manner. Data were interpreted through triangulation. Results Assessment of the planning of stakeholder engagement identified needs for having more stakeholders on the platform to enable subgroup analysis and robust insights. Moreover, questionnaires administered by Gezonde Mening showed low validity and reliability. Assessment of the execution of stakeholder engagement indicated that stakeholders are sufficiently informed about engagement. Assessment of the transition of engagement activities showed needs to provide direct results to stakeholders and allow their evaluation of the platform. Conclusion Gezonde Mening digital platform facilitates communication between innovators and stakeholders during engagement activities. However, the study identified room for improvement regarding the planning and transition activities.

Co-creative place innovation in an arctic town

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to shed light on co-creative approaches for place innovation in an Arctic town, based on the relocation of Kiruna’s city center in northern Sweden. Three cases of co-creative innovation processes in Kiruna are investigated and compared: an R&D project about local perceptions and visions of attractive urban environments; an R&D project about norm-creative design principles for inclusive and attractive urban design; and an R&D project about cross-industrial synergies for city center attractiveness.Design/methodology/approachThe study’s research design encompasses a comparative and participatory approach. The comparative approach implies investigation and comparison of three cases of co-creative innovation processes in Kiruna. The participatory approach implies joint development of new knowledge by researchers and local actors. The data consists of participatory observations of workshops and qualitative interviews with local actors.FindingsThe study reveals that the studied processes have harnessed the city center relocation as an opportunity to make Kiruna more attractive to residents and visitors, by using the co-creative approaches of Living Lab, Now-Wow-How and Norm-creative design. These approaches have enabled experts and local actors to jointly identify excluding patterns and norms in the relocation process and to envision inclusive and attractive (re-)configurations and (re-)conceptualizations of the future Kiruna.Research limitations/implicationsThe results add to the academic strand of inclusive urban transformation, by providing insights into co-creative approaches for re-imagining an Arctic town in times of industrial and social change. New insights are provided regarding how the geographical, industrial and cultural identity of an Arctic town can be harnessed to envision new configuration, content and communication that is attractive and accessible for a diversity of residents and visitors.Practical implicationsThe results highlight the potential to harness Arctic and rural characteristics in the promotion of urban attractiveness and public well-being, especially when combined with co-creative identification and transformation of excluding norms and patterns.Originality/valueThe results provide new insights into how co-creative approaches may facilitate innovative and inclusive renewal of towns and cities in the Arctic and beyond.

Co-Creation for Social Innovation in the Ecosystem Context: The Role of Higher Educational Institutions

This study examined the role of Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in promoting, creating, and sustaining social innovation. Recently, HEIs have extended their contribution beyond the traditional function of teaching and research to perform in socio-economic problem-solving. Considering the increasing trends of higher education involvement in social innovation practices, this study tries to examine the tools such as learning processes and systemic thinking approach that could be helpful to align the function and responsibilities of HEIs towards social innovation. The objective is to develop a theoretical understanding of the “co-creation for social innovation” concept and to understand the functions and activities of HEIs that can contribute to this process. To promote co-creation for social innovation, HEIs should actively encourage collaborative learning tools that focus on open platforms for collective action and systemic change that help them to engage with society and strengthen their collaboration with social actors. Different activities such as mutual learning and knowledge diffusion using a transdisciplinary approach, technology-based learning and collaboration, and relational transformation are key enablers that can promote social innovation.

Transcending the pyramid: opportunity co-creation for social innovation

There is a lack of understanding of how social enterprises with their partners co-create opportunities to concurrently generate both social and economic value across the pyramid. Drawing on evidence from multiple case-studies, this paper addresses this gap to further our understanding of opportunity co-creation by social enterprises. We find that social enterprises co-create opportunities to simultaneously generate social and economic value with both the top of the pyramid (TOP) and bottom of the pyramid (BOP) partners; we thus call them Transcending Pyramid Social Enterprises (TPSEs). Opportunity co-creation comprises commercialising the social opportunity characteristics of prevalence, relevance, and accessibility to create both the demand and supply sides of a market. Supply side opportunity co-creation involves fulfilling institutional voids, developing relational capital with the BOP, and meeting the needs of the BOP. Demand side opportunity co-creation involves generating market access to the TOP, raising awareness of value generated by TPSEs, and fulfilling the needs of TOP customers. Co-created opportunities are thus capable of both addressing the economic and social and/or environmental issues of the BOP and meeting the altruistic and consumption needs of the TOP. The implications for social enterprises, their partners, and policy makers are discussed.