Manuel Moritz

Bottom-up Economics. Foundations of a Theory of Distributed and Open Value Creation

In many industries, we can observe a paradigm shift from traditional value creation towards value co-creation and open production approaches. The boundaries of companies dissolve and many more stakeholders (suppliers, customers, users, community members etc.) are integrated into the value creation process. Thus, a new understanding and taxonomy of value creation becomes necessary to serve as a reference model in order to describe new phenomena based on the principles of so-called Bottom-up Economics. In an industrial context, openness as a precondition for participation, cooperation and interaction can be seen as a critical success factor. The need for a theory of a distributed and open value creation will be revealed by integrating case observations and conceptual insights from literature that are concerned with co-creation phenomena from a Production Engineering point of view.

Value creation in open-source hardware communities: Case study of Open Source Ecology

Technical progress in production technology, the advancement and spread of information and communication technologies (ICT) as well as the spill-over of the highly efficient and innovative open source principles to the world of physical products represent a new set of tools and concepts to address the challenges of sustainable economic development. Correspondingly, we can observe (new) modes of value creation that put into question traditional economic strategies and assumptions by stressing collaboration instead of competition and knowledge sharing instead of black box engineering. Open Source Ecology (OSE) is a famous example of a nonprofit organization which fosters worldwide participation and collaboration to jointly develop open source hardware for operation in both developing and industrialized countries. Based on the concepts open source appropriate technology (OSAT), the community aims at the free access to the knowledge and knowhow of low-cost and easy-to-build products to empower people to build and run a civilization. This case study describes and analyzes the value creation processes of OSE and derives new opportunities for business models based on openness.

Tesla Motors, Inc.: Pioneer towards a new strategic approach in the automobile industry along the open source movement?

In many industries, we observe a paradigm shift from traditional value creation towards co-creation and open production approaches. The boundaries of companies dissolve and many more players (suppliers, customers, community members, etc.) are integrated into the value creation process. This also implies the share of knowledge to set industry-wide standards and to advance new technologies. Tesla Motors, Inc. recently announced that it would give away all their patents to anyone who in good faith wants to use them. They say their aim was to foster the advancement of electric vehicles to compete with conventional vehicles and give the zero-emission mobility a push. Nevertheless, what about the traditional automobile industry with its big players where even the slightest growth in market share is crucial and the intellectual property (IP) of a company is kept secret like the Holy Grail as it ensures competitive advantages? Based on a Tesla case study our research focusses on product-, company-, market- and industry-specific factors that might enable even small players to start an industry-wide revolution by applying strategic aspects of openness in their business model.

OpenLabs -- Open Source Microfactories Enhancing the FabLab Idea

Increasing social and economic imbalances as well as restricted access to production means and participation in value creation processes ask for new approaches to overcome the asymmetric distribution of knowledge and information between producers and consumers as well as between industrialized and developing countries. Technical progress in production technology, the advancement and spread of information and communication technologies (ICT) as well as the spill-over of the highly efficient and innovative open source principles to the world of physical products represent a new set of tools and concepts to address this challenge. Correspondingly, we can observe (new) modes of value creation that put into question traditional economic strategies and assumptions by stressing collaboration instead of competition and knowledge sharing instead of black box engineering. The FabLab movement (fabrication laboratory) is one emerging and promising approach for decentralized, participative, locally grounded and globally interconnected value creation. This paper presents findings from a study on the latest development, effects and success of FabLabs focusing especially on its potential for development cooperation. Based on findings from the survey and the premises of the FabLab idea, we finally present the multidisciplinary OpenLabs concept.

Who Are Your Design Heroes? Exploring User Roles in a Co-creation Community

Co-creation with users in online communities proved to be a powerful means for product innovation. Crowdsourcing ideas in a contest setting within a community represents an effective method to gather a variety of ideas within a short time and with reasonable financial investment. Users benefit as well. They can be part of industrial value creation, enjoy interacting with a company and socializing with other users, and win a prize. Interestingly, many users not only compete for prizes, but also collaborate with others by giving feedback and exchanging ideas. Thus, we find high heterogeneity among users which asks for adequate community management (incentives, facilitation, communication etc.). In this study, we explore user roles and communication patterns in an industrial design contest community by applying cluster analysis based on network measures and content analysis. Four user roles were found that differ in communication and contribution behavior.

Best Practices and Pitfalls in Open Source Hardware

Easy-to-use and affordable means of production (e.g. 3D printer), access to these technologies (e.g. in makerspaces) and powerful tools for online product design led to the emergence of open source hardware (OSH). Like in open source software, projects and online platforms have been evolving around physical products from various technologies where people jointly develop and freely share designs. We also find businesses that sell products made from these designs and offer complimentary services. This decentralized and collaborative model of value creation offers new opportunities for social, economic and ecological sustainability, but also calls for a different understanding beyond traditional notions. Results from an exploratory study on OSH projects and companies revealed that licensing is a critical issue, communities and partners play a key role in the open source ecosystem and modes of value creation are either centered around design or production in combination with a mix of complimentary services.

Die Zukunft der Wertschöpfung – dezentral, vernetzt und kollaborativ

Will man uber die Zukunft der Wertschopfung diskutieren, kommt man nicht umhin, sich zunachst mit der Frage auseinanderzusetzen, was Wertschopfung heute eigentlich bedeutet. Von welchem Wert reden wir? Und wer schopft oder vielleicht treffender schafft Wert? Weltweit konnen wir beobachten, wie Menschen sich vernetzen und (weitestgehend) frei von Hierarchie und Markt und in der Regel unentgeltlich mit oder ohne Unternehmensbeteiligung gemeinsam Wert schopfen. Neue Wertschopfungsmuster sind dadurch entstanden, die entgegen traditioneller Konzepte auf Offenheit basieren und kollaborativer sowie dezentraler Natur sind (zusammengefasst im Konzept der Bottom-up-Okonomie). Ein interdisziplinarer Ansatz ist erforderlich, der die verschiedenen Sichtweisen aus Technik, Gesellschaft und Recht uber wirtschaftliche Perspektiven hinaus vereint.

Kollaboration und Wettbewerb bei Ideenwettbewerben – eine Userperspektive

Durch die webbasierte Einbindung von und Zusammenarbeit mit unternehmensexternen Individuen wahrend der Ideengenerierung und Produktentwicklung ergeben sich fur Unternehmen neue Moglichkeiten, um ihre Wettbewerbsfahigkeit zu steigern. Insbesondere Ideenwettbewerbe sind unternehmensseitig ein vielversprechendes Instrument, um in kurzester Zeit und zu vergleichsweise geringen Kosten eine grose Menge an kreativen und unkonventionellen Ideen zu einer bestimmten Problemstellung zu erhalten. Zugleich konnen Konsumenten, Hobby-Enthusiasten, Studenten etc. nunmehr Teil der (industriellen) Wertschopfung von Unternehmen werden. In diesem Beitrag werden die Ergebnisse einer Umfrage unter den Teilnehmern der von Local Motors ausgerichteten Airbus Cargo Drone Challenge vorgestellt. Wir finden auch in diesem eher kompetitiv ausgerichteten Wettbewerb starke Anzeichen fur kollaboratives Verhalten der Nutzer, was die These bestatigt, dass es auch auf individueller Ebene eine Form von “Koopetition” geben kann.

Digitale Produktion: Bottom-up-Ökonomie

Im Jahr 2001 pragte Mark Prensky den Begriff der so genannten „Digital Natives“. Damit beschreibt er jene heranwachsende Generation junger Menschen, deren reale und virtuelle Lebenswelt durch das Aufwachsen in einem durch digitale Medien und Technologien veranderten sozialen Kulturraum zusehends verschwimmt. Das (uneingeschrankte) Teilen und Verbreiten von Wissen und Erfahrungen innerhalb sozialer Netzwerke wird dabei zu einem charakteristischen Merkmal digitalisierter Wirtschafts- und Gesellschaftsstrukturen.

The Strategy of Openness in industrial production

Flexibility and adaptability of production systems are still some of the most discussed characteristics of production systems within the traditional manufacturing industry. Because of increasing complexity and dynamics within the corporate environment, some approaches to optimize these traditional characteristics are no longer sufficient to achieve competitive advantages. The ongoing paradigm shift from traditional industrial production to a system of value co-creation forces manufacturers to redefine their role and position within a more open value creation process. Companies have to add principles of openness to previous strategic success factors. In future, the competitiveness of a company will rather be determined by the ability to cooperate with different actors in heterogeneous global networks. Moreover, we have to be aware that the traditional factory as the central production facility will be dissolving more and more. A new strategic approach for those companies might be what we call the Strategy of Openness.