The Unexpected Sources of Innovation

Abstract

From increased access to information to a shift in production from material to immaterial goods, recent trends enable citizens to become more active agents of change. Both at their homes and workplaces, citizens are witnessed to be producers of goods, including innovations enabling new functions when compared with the existing goods offered on the (local) market. Examples range from tangible goods, such as new brewing technologies for making craft beers, to intangible goods, like open-source software. In the words of Eric von Hippel (2005): innovation is democratizing. In this thesis, Max Mulhuijzen studies the democratization of innovation. With four studies, he researches the development of innovations by individual citizens and when and how these innovations diffuse. Thereby, Max sheds light on the process of innovation brought about by actors not recognized in the traditional academic literature: the unexpected sources of innovation. The first study unravels the process through which citizens produce household sector (HHS) innovations. In particular, how citizens’ income and discretionary time permit them to develop goods at home and subsequently, how these resources allow citizens to be innovative in their efforts. The main contributions of this chapter to the literature are the more nuanced conceptualization of HHS innovation—Max connects the concept to broader constructs on citizen production behavior (e.g., do-it-yourself)—and the sophisticated model theorizing how resources steer innovation by citizens. In the second study, Max takes a helicopter view of the regional factors enabling citizens to develop and diffuse innovations and develops an ecosystem model. Past studies of HHS innovation are weakly correlated concerning the policies they advise, resulting in only a few changes to policymaking. The ecosystem model presented in this chapter explains how the most significant regional elements may determine levels of HHS innovation, how these elements complement or weaken each other, and provides a valuable toolbox to scholars and policymakers in suggesting HHS innovation policies. The third study focuses on the interactions between innovating citizens and firms. Though the academic literature has counseled firms to open up their boundaries and facilitate innovation by and absorb knowledge from users of their products, few theories to date explain variation in users’ characteristics and how this might explain their innovation outcomes. Max examines quantitatively the case of the Ultimaker 3D printer and its online platform YouMagine—such platforms allow users to share freely the product improvements or additions they developed. He offers new insights into the characteristics of users contributing designs well-received by the user community, guiding firms on which users are likely contributors. The final study included in this dissertation considers how a democratized view of innovation implicates innovation in firms by exploring underground innovation, i.e., the innovations employees initiate and develop without their supervisors or managers knowing. Previous studies have reported such cases but did not provide an in-depth account of employees’ motivations—while these can have implications for the diffusion, hence the visibility of underground innovations. This study contributes such an account and reveals three orientations characterizing employees’ projects developed underground.