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Can The Crowd Do The Job? Exploring The Effects Of Integrating Customers Into A Company’S Business Model Innovation

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  • PHILIPP ALEXANDER EBEL

    (Information Systems Research Center for IS Design (ITeG), University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany)

  • ULRICH BRETSCHNEIDER

    (Information Systems Research Center for IS Design (ITeG), University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany)

  • JAN MARCO LEIMEISTER

    (Information Systems Research Center for IS Design (ITeG), University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany†Institute for Information Management (IWI HSG), University of Sankt Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland)

Abstract

While collaborative business modeling (CBM) constitutes a promising new approach for opening up a company’s innovation process, existing literature lacks empirical evidence of the effects related to this approach. Drawing on related literature on the quality of creative output, this paper proposes that in the context of a CBM initiative, the integration of customers will improve the quality of the generated output. As indicated by the results of our empirical evaluation, customers are indeed capable of developing high quality business models and are able to outperform company experts when it comes to the task of developing new business models.

Suggested Citation

  • Philipp Alexander Ebel & Ulrich Bretschneider & Jan Marco Leimeister, 2016. "Can The Crowd Do The Job? Exploring The Effects Of Integrating Customers Into A Company’S Business Model Innovation," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(07), pages 1-24, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:ijimxx:v:20:y:2016:i:07:n:s1363919616500717
    DOI: 10.1142/S1363919616500717
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Fritzsche, Albrecht & Dürrbeck, Konrad, 2020. "Technology before engineering: How James Bond films mediate between fiction and reality in the portrayal of innovation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 92.
    3. Shinhye Kim & Melanie Bowen & Xiaohan (Hannah) Wen, 2019. "The ultimate co-creation: leveraging customer input in business model innovation," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 9(3), pages 339-356, December.
    4. Elena Freisinger & Sven Heidenreich & Christian Landau & Patrick Spieth, 2021. "Business Model Innovation Through the Lens of Time: An Empirical Study of Performance Implications Across Venture Life Cycles," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 339-380, December.

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