A conceptual extension of the customer-active paradigm

New product development strategies of suppliers of emerging technologies—a case study of expert systems

“…The concepts of MAP and CAP are reappraised and substantially modified in a series of research papers by Foxall and his colleagues (see Foxall 1986;Foxall and Tierney 1984;Foxall, Murphy and Tierney 1985;Foxall, Johnston and Murphy 1987). The thrust of this research is to provide a more dynamic account of the suppliercustomer interaction occurring within the new product development process and to open up the range of possible approaches to the innovation process that exist.…”

“…In this work, extensive case-studies of customers in different product markets show that "users may play an active, entrepreneurial role in product innovation". Further, Foxall (1986) claims that the user can "also appreciate the potential of his innovation as a new product . .…”

“…This new frame of reference then covers the entrepreneurial behaviour exhibited by the firm's studied by Foxall and his colleagues. The features of MAP, CAP1 and CAP2 as defined by Foxall (1986) and Foxall et al (1985) are presented in Table 1 and Figure 1. Also, Freeman (1974) recognises the contribution of the customer in producing effective innovations but he conceives the supplier-customer interaction in a way which is significantly different to that of von Hippel.…”

“…Source: Foxall (1986) applications in terms of their commercial exploitation may be crucial for gaining a competitive advantage through technological change . But what are the pertinent characteristics of such customers?…”

“…One company provides support for the CAP2 model, as articulated by Foxall (1986). Here, a customer had acquired a significant share of a startup company.…”