Exploring the inbound and outbound strategies enabled by user generated big data: Evidence from leading smartphone applications

Abstract

The Open Innovation paradigm has been increasingly considered as a relevant approach to innovation. Among the different sources, the end users are particularly meaningful. Scholars highlighted several methods and strategies to involve them in the innovation process by asking, observing and giving them the chance to actually co-create. Digital technologies are expanding the span of opportunities in this direction, gathering a huge amount and variety of data while the end user enjoy a digital product, these data can be named as User Generated Big Data (UGBD). The aim of this research is to understand whether UGBD can contribute in User Innovation and to highlight the enabled strategies to create value through them.Leveraging on a multiple case study (Twitter, Spotify, Strava and Deliveroo), the paper first classify UGBD among the methods to foster User Centered Innovation, second it defines two strategies to create value relying on UGBD. First, companies can leverage on a Using Data strategy -addressing both the end user or other player in the ecosystem -fostering service innovation through an inbound approach. Second, a Selling data strategy can be pursued, addressing new clients and fostering business model innovation, enlarging the company's value chain in an outbound perspective.

Fostering digital platform innovation: From two to multi‐sided platforms

“…It builds on previous research and takes different perspectives in a comprehensive model in which transactional and non‐transactional perspectives are merged (Evans, ; Filistrucchi et al, ; Ihlström Eriksson et al, ; Täuscher & Laudien, ) and bring the client‐as‐a‐source perspective to a transactional structure (Trabucchi et al, ). Furthermore, this research enlarges into a discussion on the role that big data may have in innovation (e.g., Del Vecchio, Di Minin, Petruzzelli, Panniello, & Pirri, ; Ostrom, Parasuraman, Bowen, Patrício, & Voss, ; Trabucchi et al, ).…”

“…Therefore, this strategy not only merges transactional and non‐transactional dimensions (Evans, ; Filistrucchi et al, ; Ihlström Eriksson et al, ) and creates the chance to move from two‐ to multi‐sides (Hagiu & Wright, ); it also enables the firm to enlarge the primary activity chain by adding new activities (sides) to exploit the value of existing assets (Sawhney et al, ; Trabucchi et al, ). This needs as a prerequisite the ability to realize that assets within the system may have value for someone outside the platform, and creating and capturing that value.…”

“…This second view considers the end‐users of a digital service as the first side, which provides the platform with a vast amount and variety of data generated through the delivery of the service. The data may be used as a trigger point to enhance the value‐capturing mechanisms for the entire system (Trabucchi et al, ; Trabucchi, Buganza, Dell'Era, & Pellizzoni, ). Indeed, these user‐generated big data have been considered as an innovation trigger that can enable companies to foster both service innovation on the current business, or business model innovation expanding to new groups of customers in an outbound open innovation perspective (Trabucchi et al, ).…”

“…The data may be used as a trigger point to enhance the value‐capturing mechanisms for the entire system (Trabucchi et al, ; Trabucchi, Buganza, Dell'Era, & Pellizzoni, ). Indeed, these user‐generated big data have been considered as an innovation trigger that can enable companies to foster both service innovation on the current business, or business model innovation expanding to new groups of customers in an outbound open innovation perspective (Trabucchi et al, ). The first category, transactional two‐sided platforms, represent the starting point of this research.…”

When agility meets open innovation: two approaches to manage inbound projects

“…Several sources of external knowledge are found in the empirical literature. Users, suppliers and competitors are the main sources of inbound OI (e.g., Trabucchi, Buganza, Dell'Era, & Pellizzoni, 2018). Activating the collaboration through the right incentives is critical and several authors have focused on mechanisms to motivate external sources (e.g., Füller, Matzler, & Hoppe, 2008;Pellizzoni, Buganza, & Colombo, 2015).…”