INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL PERSPECTIVES ON USER INNOVATION: WHAT WAS LEFT BEHIND? A REVIEW OF CURRENT LITERATURE

Abstract

This paper carries out a systematic and up‐to‐date literature review in the domain of user innovation (UI). Unlike previous reviews, this paper scrutinizes the “locus” of UI, meaning it distinguishes between studies focusing on external‐to‐the‐firm conditions of UI (user’s types, users’ roles, enabling platforms, etc.) and papers focusing on internal‐to‐the‐firm conditions of UI, such as strategies, capabilities, and organizational routines that trigger and support UI processes. This review shows that internal‐to‐the firm conditions represent a clearly neglected subject in the domain of UI studies. Thus, this paper encourages more research – both theoretical and empirical – to be carried out on the strategic, organizational, and managerial sides of UI.

Keywords

• co‐creation
• co‐development
• customer‐driven innovation
• user innovation
• user involvement