Hans Mühlbacher

Community based innovation: How to integrate members of virtual communities into new product development

Online consumer groups represent a large pool of product know-how. Hence, they seem to be a promising source of innovation. At present, except for open source software, little is known about how to utilize this know-how for new product development. In this article we explore if and how members of virtual communities can be integrated into new product development. We explain how to identify and access online communities and how to interact with its members in order to get valuable input for new product development. This approach we term “Community Based Innovation.” The Audi case illustrates the applicability of the method and underscores the innovative capability of consumers encountered in virtual communities.

Community based innovation: a method to utilize the innovative potential of online communities

In this article, the authors suggest a method to utilize the existing innovative potential of online communities by integrating its members virtually into new product development. The introduced concept of community based innovation (CBI) which is founded on groundwork of social exchange and interaction theory was explored, tested and refined in several already conducted business projects in the consumer goods sector. As result of this action research the authors illustrate CBI as a practitioners guideline consisting of four systemized steps along one case study in the automotive industry. The presented study helps to get a deeper understanding and a more detailed overview concerning the procedures and activities used in practice.

MIPS—managing industrial positioning strategies

Abstract Based upon a critical review of the literature on strategic marketing, positioning, segmentation, and differentiation, the authors suggest a model of how to structure a positioning process in industrial markets. A case study in industrial engineering and construction demonstrates the practical applicability of this process.

Balanced versus focused responsiveness to core constituencies and organizational effectiveness

Purpose – To test how responsiveness to key organizational stakeholders (owners, customers, employees) is related to organizational effectiveness (OE). Focused versus balanced strategies of responsiveness are compared.Design/methodology/approach – Employs Boolean algebra to study performance of 69 companies in three industries over a ten‐year period. Responsiveness to key stakeholders and performance are measured using publicly available data provided by these organizations (Compustat by Standard & Poors).Findings – Provides evidence that balanced responsiveness to multiple constituencies is more likely to lead to high OE than focused responsiveness to a single one. Trade‐offs in responsiveness to key stakeholders are found supporting the idea that serving multiple interests is challenging. Most results are not industry‐specific – the usefulness of a balanced strategy of responsiveness may be generalized.Research limitations/implications – Responsiveness embraces organizational behaviors not covered by a...

The use of trade-off analysis for the design of holiday travel packages

Abstract A model of consumer holiday travel package awareness, preference, and choice presented in the first part is applied to learn the destinations competing with Tirol, Austria, for 1987 summer holiday visitors. Open-ended unaided awareness questions were used to measure holiday destination competitors and the relative top-of-mind-shares of Tirol among different target markets. A constant-sum question was used to measure preferences for each respondent toward the destinations he or she was most aware of. Conjoint analysis was used to measure the relative importance of five relevant holiday package features: choice of destination, type of accommodations, number of nights at the destination, total cost per day of the trip, and kind of vacation considered. Cluster analysis based on these relative importances and on the relative utilities of feature categories/levels revealed different consumer segments to be addressed differently with summer holiday package offers.

Successful implementation of new market strategies—A corporate culture perspective

The article deals with the problem of diagnosing cultural change necessitated by a shift in market strategy and the measurement of adaptability of an existing corporate culture. Starting from the proposition that there has to be a fit between strategic goals, goal‐relevant norms of behaviour followed by the employees, and their attitudes concerning the contents of the norms in order to be able to successfully implement a new market strategy, the authors develop an approach for measuring discrepancies between these variables. Describing an empirical study run in a middle‐sized Austrian company they show how the approach may work in practice. The degree of cultural change required is delected and located. An evaluation of the existing cultures adaptability clearly indicates that necessary changes may encounter higher risks of failure.

Online Forum Discussion-Based Forecasting of New Product Market Performance

manuscript. Hans Mühlbacher is Professor of Business Administration at the University of Innsbruck School of Management, Universitätsstraße 15, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria; Phone: +43/512 507 7200, Fax: +43/512 507 2842, E-Mail: hans.muehlbacher@ uibk.ac.at Johann Füller is CEO of Hyve AG, Munich, MIT Research Fellow and Research Affiliate, University of Innsbruck School of Management, Universitätsstraße 15, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria; Phone: +43/512 507 7202, Fax: +43/512 507 2842, E-Mail: johann.fueller@uibk. ac.at Lorraine Huber is a professional skier freelance in Lech, Austria, A-6764 Lech, Dorf 272, E-Mail: lori@lorrainehuber.com Online Forum Discussion-Based Forecasting of New Product Market Performance

Online Communities und Innovation

Im Zeitalter der “Open Innovation” fordern Forscher wie Berater, das Wissen der Kunden aktiv in den Entwicklungsprozess einfliesen zu lassen (vgl. Chesbrough 2003; Prahalad/Ramaswamy 2004; Sawhney/Verona/Prandelli 2005; Vandenbosch/Dawar 2002). Die Fahigkeit eines Unternehmens, externes Wissen zu absorbieren wird als entscheidender Faktor gesehen, um erfolgreiche Innovationen hervorzubringen und im Wettbewerb bestehen zu konnen (vgl. Cohen/Levinthal 1990; Hargadon 2003; Sawhney/Prandelli/Verona 2003). Mit Hilfe des Internets ist es moglich geworden, auf das Wissen von oftmals weit verstreuten Konsumenten zuruckzugreifen und dieses Wissen fur die Leistungsentwicklung zu nutzen. Fur fast jedes Hobby (z.B. Touren gehen, Musik), jede Produktkategorie (z.B. Weine, Kameras) und Lebenssituation (z.B. Schwangerschaft, Krankheiten) existieren Qnline Communities, in denen sich interessierte Konsumenten treffen. Tausende Gleichgesinnte kommen auf diesen virtuellen Platzen zusammen, um ihre Eindr:ucke zu schildern, Erfahrungen mit neuen Produkten zu berichten, Schwierigkeiten mit Ausrustungsgegenstanden und Moglichkeiten zur Losung erlebter Probleme zu diskutieren oder ihre Wunsche und Bed:urfnisse zu artikulieren. Die Moglichkeit, mit erfahrenen Gleichgesinnten aus aller Welt in Kontakt zu treten, machen Online Communities zu bevorzugten Treffpunkten kreativer und innovativer Konsumenten (vgl. Bagozzi/Dholakia 2002). Mitglieder von Online Communities modifizieren existierende Produkte und generieren Ideen fur neue Produkte. Sie teilen diese Ideen mit den anderen Mitgliedern der Community, die ihrerseits die vorgestellten Ideen diskutieren, beurteilen und Verbesserungs erortern. Dadurch tragen sie zur Weiterentwicklung der Ideen bei. Ein Beispiel fur eine innovative Qnline Community ist das virtuelle Cafe “alt.coffee”, in dem Kaffee-Genieser ihre Ideen und Erfahrungen daruber austauschen, wie Kaffeemaschinen und Rostgerate verbessert werden konnen, um ein optimales „Geschmackserlebnis“ zu erzielen. KochEnthusiasten treffen sich hingegen in der Community„chefkoch.de“ und :uberlegen, wie Kuchengerate und Kochutensilien verbessert werden konnen oder wie sich Gesichte geschmacksschonender und gesunder zubereiten lassen. Mitglieder der „ilounge.com“ Community haben sich dem Apple iPod verschrieben. Sie diskutieren Probleme und Schwachstellen, wie z.B. die kurze Lebensdauer der iPod Batterie, und entwerfen neuartige Designs f:ur die nachste Generation des iPod.

Equipment-Related Knowledge Creation in Innovative Online Basketball Communities

This chapter investigates how knowledge related to basketball equipment emerges and spreads within online basketball communities. Our netnographic research shows that within online basketball communities commonly shared knowledge arises through shoptalk of members’ product usage experiences, basketball-related know-how and opinions. Knowledge-sharing is not only supported by vivid stories but also by uploaded pictures and drawings to which community members are referring. Valuable discussions are archived and can be easily found and accessed by every community member. New knowledge emerges within online basketball communities by members’ jointly working on problems or tasks self-stated by individual, well-respected community members in the form of ‘friendly’ competitions. While many community members provide their product judgement and engage in discussions on how to improve the user-generated designs, only a small number of community members possess sufficient creativity, domain-specific skills and motivation to develop new basketball shoes. The high quality and variety of community members’ knowledge seems to be a promising source of innovation. In addition, various examples indicate community members’ positive predisposition to share their know-how and ideas with producers. This leads to discussing how creative communities can be virtually integrated into a company’s innovation process.

Upstream and direct influences on new product performance in European hightech industrial firms

This paper examines three issues. First, do multiple possible paths to high versus low new product performance (NPP) occur among European, high-tech, industrial manufacturing firms? Second, what are the upstream influences on high NPP? For example, what background factors affect the levels of the KSFs? Third, do consistent country-level differences occur among Austrian, German, and Swedish executives in their evaluations of antecedents and high-tech NPP? To probe these issues, a total of 771 chief operating officers and project managers participated in face-to-face long interviews (McCracken, 1988) covering 241 less and 264 more successful than average industrial NPD projects. The empirical findings support the propositions that: (1) multiple paths lead to high versus low NPP; (2) unique antecedent variables affect the KSFs for high NPP; and (3) for several upstream and direct influences, consistent national differences occur among executives’ assessments of NPP. A key implication of the study for NPD executives is to recognize the possibility of alternative paths leading to successful NPD.