Flemming Sørensen

The geographies of social networks and innovation in tourism.

ABSTRACT Tourism firms operate in a business environment in which innovation is important for firm survival. In spite of this, there is an apparent lack of knowledge concerning innovation processes in tourism firms. This article combines considerations about the geographical characteristics of tourism with social innovation network and agglomeration theories so as to develop a theoretical framework of the social innovation network geography of tourism. The theoretical framework presents arguments for different types of social network geographies and their innovation benefits. An empirical study of tourism firms in destinations in the Province of Malaga, Spain illustrates the theoretical framework. The overall conclusion of the article is that there are several social network geographies of tourism. However, in the empirical study local networks are found to be loose and dense whereas non-local networks are strong and sparse. This social network geography secures access to varied information benefits sustaining innovation. The analysis of social network geographies of tourism does, however, only provide one little piece of the puzzle of understanding innovation in tourism firms.

The balance between bricolage and innovation: management dilemmas in sustainable public innovation

Innovation is usually understood as a conscious development and implementation of new products or services. This article takes its starting point in a case study that shows how ‘innovation’ in reality happens as small step ‘bricolage’ – as a ‘do-it-yourself’ problem-solving activity taking place in daily work situations. Consequently, an experiment was carried out with the purpose of testing if, how and with what results the ‘bricolage’ can be better integrated with the organisations more formal innovation procedures.

Dynamics of Experience Service Innovation: Innovation as a Guided Activity. Results from a Danish Survey

This paper is a first attempt to identify patterns and dynamics of innovation in experience service firms building on a survey of Danish experience firms. The paper shows that innovation in experience service firms takes place in an open and interactive process drawing on many sources of innovation. At the same time, innovative firms also seek to differentiate themselves strongly from other firms. This indicates that innovation in these firms can be understood as interactive and situated within a division of labour at the same time. Interaction and situation are complementary forces of innovation that seem critical to benefiting from innovation. The paper argues that innovation is both an open and highly situated and guided activity.

Handbook on the Experience Economy

Contents: 1. Introduction to the Experience Economy Jon Sundbo and Flemming Sorensen PART I: EXPERIENCE FUNDAMENTALS 2. The Experience Economy: Past, Present and Future B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore 3. Postindustrial Growth: Experiences, Culture or Creative Economies? Anne Lorentzen 4. Defining and Categorizing Experience Industries Berit T. Nilsen and Britt E. Dale 5. The Economic Value of Experience Goods David Emanuel Andersson and Ake E. Andersson 6. The Experience Market Gerhard Schulze 7. Experience as the DNA of a Changed Relationship between Firms and Institutions and Individuals Anna Snel 8. Experiencing and Experiences Christian Jantzen 9. The Power of the Economy of Experiences: New Ways of Value Creation Albert Boswijk PART II: TOPICS 10. IT and Experiences: User Experience, Experience Design and User-Experience Design Jens F. Jensen 11. Consumer Immersion - a Key to Extraordinary Experiences Ann Heidi Hansen and Lena Mossberg 12. Innovation in the Experience Sector Jon Sundbo, Flemming Sorensen and Lars Fuglsang 13. Toward More Intertwined Innovation Types: Innovation through Experience Design Focusing on Customer-Interactions Dorthe Eide and Lena Mossberg 14. Entrepreneurship in the Experience Economy: Overcoming Cultural Barriers Lars Fuglsang and Flemming Sorensen 15. Networking in the Experience Economy: Scaffolded Networks between Designed and Emerging Regional Development Dorthe Eide and Lars Fuglsang 16. Experiencing Spatial Design Connie Svabo, Jonas Larsen, Michael Haldrup and Jorgen Ole Barenholdt 17. The Essential Role of Community in Consumption of a Shared Experience: Lessons from Youth Sport Laurence Chalip, Yen-Chun Lin, B. Christine Green and Marlene Dixon 18. Volunteering and User Creation in Communities of Interests Sune Gudiksen PART III: APPLICATION FIELDS 19. The Social Experience of Cultural Events: Conceptual Foundations and Analytical Strategies Fabian Holt and Francesco Lapenta 20. From Creative Cluster to Innovation Platform: The Rise of the Dr. Who Experience in Creative City Cardiff Philip Cooke 21. Unpacking the Spatial Organization of US Videogames Industry: Lessons for Research on Creative Clusters Jan Vang and Ted Tschang 22. Concept Experiences and their Diffusion: The Example of the New Nordic Cuisine Jon Sundbo, Donna Sundbo and Jan Krag Jacobsen 23. Experiencing Everyday Life a New: Applied Theatrical and Performative Strategies Gry Worre Hallberg and Olav Harslof 24. Radical Change in Health Care to Achieve Superior Patient Experience Albert Boswijk Index

Introduction to the experience economy

This illuminating Handbook presents the state-of-the-art in the scientific field of experience economy studies. It offers a rich and varied collection of contributions that discuss different issues of crucial importance for our understanding of the experience economy. Each chapter reflects diverse scientific viewpoints from disciplines including management, mainstream economics and sociology to provide a comprehensive overview.

Innovation in the experience sector

This paper presents the first general investigation of innovation in the experience sector based on a survey. Experience firms are very innovative. Their innovation rate is significantly above other sectors’. The characteristics of the innovative experience innovations and innovative firms are similar to those found in services (and to a large degree in manufacturing). The paper also deals with measurement problems in innovation surveys applied to the experience sector and argue that the experience sector should be included in general surveys such as the CIS.

Potentials for user-based innovation in tourism: the example of GPS tracking of attraction visitors

The tourism sector – already one of the fastest growing industries in the world – is currently undergoing extensive change thanks to strong market growth and a transition to more experience-based products. The capacity for firms to innovate and adapt to market developments is crucial to their success, but research-based knowledge on innovation strategies in tourism remains scarce. This pioneering Handbook offers timely, original research on innovation within the tourism industry from a number of interdisciplinary and global perspectives.

Experience economy, creative class and business development in small Danish towns

The Experience Economy is increasingly seen as a potential for cities to attract the creative class and, consequently, to induce business development. In Denmark, not only large cities but also small towns trust in this possibility. However, the applicability of an experience-induced business development in smaller towns may be questioned. This article presents a comparative case study of four small Danish towns which in different ways have developed experiences to attract the creative class and create business development. The analysis discusses how the different strategies have varying results, but also illustrates the severe limitations in creating business development based on experiences and the creative class in smaller towns.

SPEEDING UP INNOVATION: BUILDING NETWORK STRUCTURES FOR PARALLEL INNOVATION

Minimisation of time-to-market strategies can provide companies with a competitive advantage in dynamic and competitive environments. Using parallel innovation processes has been emphasised as one strategy to speed up innovation processes and consequently minimise the time-to-market of innovations. Much innovation today takes place in open structures in which networks play an important role. However, little is known about how innovation networks can facilitate parallel innovation processes. This paper discusses how innovation network structures develop and support exploration and exploitation in parallel innovation processes and in this way sustain speedy innovation processes. A case study of an innovation network is carried out by analysing communication structures and the information contents of emails related to a particular innovation process. The analysis shows how certain characteristics of the network facilitate the parallel innovation process but also how such processes place new requirements on such networks and their management.

Service Encounter-Based

This chapter argues that substantial potential exists for service encounter-based innovation in tourism. However, there are also a number of obstacles. Based on theoretical discussions on potentials and obstacles, a Knowledge Chain Model of service encounter-based innovation in tourism is developed. It suggests how weak or broken knowledge chains limit companies’ potential for benefiting from service encounter-based innovation. The relevance of the model is illustrated by a comparative case study of four tourism companies. In light of the theoretical frameworks and empirical findings, the chapter suggests how experimental methods can join research and practice to enhance the innovative potential of tourism companies while providing the research community with valuable knowledge.