Orchestrating for lead user involvement in innovation networks

To respond to the notable changes in the field of healthcare, innovation networks bringing together industry and public sector actors are needed. Subsequently, the orchestration of such networks has attracted increasing attention. However, most research on network orchestration takes the point of view of the orchestrator and/or the innovation producers. It lacks explicit discussion on the users, especially lead users, in the network orchestration context. On the other hand, while the user-innovation literature tells how lead users can be involved in innovation processes, it focuses on those managerial actions that are meant to specifically influence lead users and misses the network-wide orchestration-related dynamics. Furthermore, a lead user discussion with a focus on customers viewing market trends does not necessarily fully acknowledge healthcare professionals or end users of public sector services. This study starts to bridge these discussions as it introduces findings from a theoretical examination and an illustrative case study. It provides a context-sensitive approach to innovation network orchestration in a situation where active involvement of lead users is crucial for the functioning of the innovation network. Acknowledging the interaction between the innovation network orchestrator, innovating companies, and lead users adds to existing knowledge on how to orchestrate innovation networks.