“INCENTIVES FOR USER PARTICIPATION IN

OPEN INNOVATION NETWORKS”

Håkan Ozan, CSC

November 2009
”INCENTIVES FOR USER PARTICIPATION IN
OPEN INNOVATION NETWORKS”
Håkan Ozan, CSC

November 2009

Peer collaboration in innovation networks may be

commenced for various reasons. In this article those reasons
are explored and we briefly discuss the lock-in effects that
come with them.

Innovation networks are founded on peer expertise.

People who participate in innovation productivity, 3) learn new skills and

networks usually form a dedicated
community of members existing
outside conventional organizations
but sharing a common interest or
area of expertise. Membership and
roles within the community are based
on contribution and merit, not on
external hierarchical status. The
community develops its own internal
hierarchy based on skills and
contributions.
Main incentives are peer
recognition and the value of
[product] improvements
People initially join innovation
networks because they are fascinated
by the challenge and care deeply
about the goals of their community.
Their primary currency of reward is
peer recognition. (Gloor, 2005) Other
primary values for participants are to
1) build wider networks and connect
to people with complementary
business-critical competence, 2) build
personal relationships with leaders in
the field, which will improve their own
often find themselves promoted.
Open source software communities
for example are composed of
individuals who collaborate toward a
common goal but do not share a
common employer and are not
governed by an employment
hierarchy. According to the inventor
of the open source software Apache
Cocoon, the strongest driver for open
source developers is to boost their
ego by gaining a reputation as a
supreme programmer. Even though
the voluntary work in open source
projects does not pay off
immediately, it is considered a long-
term career investment. In a large
web-based study of Linux developers’
motivation, three main categories
were found; 1) collective motives to
help the community reach its goals, 2)
peer recognition motives, to work
with good people and to have them
recognize your capabilities, 3) direct
reward motives, such as learning,
having fun or making money.
”INCENTIVES FOR USER PARTICIPATION IN
OPEN INNOVATION NETWORKS”
Håkan Ozan, CSC

November 2009

In a recent study performed by a People who have joined a network and

research team at the Airport Living started collaborating with peers will
Lab the participating user innovators be less likely to leave the community.
There are primarily four reasons for
where questioned for the motivational this:
drivers for participation. In this
specific study all participants were - Recognition. When interacting with
employees at the airport but with peers there are increased likeliness of
different work roles. The single most receiving positive feedback for
popular incentive was “improving my distinguished traits of the participant.
For many, it
own work
is
situation”. important
Hence, to interact
when in a
voluntary community
activity was where your
an option special
knowledge is appreciated. Leaving the
to make their own situation better,
community would mean ending the
they were well willing to work (to a recognition stimulus.
certain limit) extra without personal - Belonging. When relationships have
financial gain to achieve a better been built within the network, both
situation for themselves, since this emotionally and professionally, they
would improve their overall work may all be lost if membership is
discontinued. For very deep
experience. Also highly regarded, but
engagements, participants may even
still way behind the leading give up other external relationships
alternative, was “intellectually that compete for participants’
stimulating” and “collaborating available time.
collectively” while the incentive - Investment. Once certain
“financial compensation” was rated investments have been made to the
community - may they be man-hours,
surprisingly low.
monetary or skill - the investment
made will not turn into profit if the
Innovation network participation network is abandoned.
may lead to long-term commitments
due to lock-in effects
”INCENTIVES FOR USER PARTICIPATION IN
OPEN INNOVATION NETWORKS”
Håkan Ozan, CSC

November 2009

- Decisiveness. When members have

started working towards a mutual
goal, they may get very absorbed by
reaching targets so that backing out
is not an option. One underlying
reason may be simple stubbornness;
another may be the engagement of
actually fulfilling the goals, or solving
the targeted problems, of the group -
not for the sake of securing the
profits but for the intrinsic purpose of
finishing what has been started.

By joining innovation networks,

participants find that they are able to
get better faster by working with
others in the networks rather than
working on their own. Successful
innovation networks must therefore
focus on building long-term
relationships with participants,
creating opportunities for repeated
interactions that demonstrate the
value of cooperation. ¶
 “INCENTIVES FOR USER PARTICIPATION IN
OPEN INNOVATION NETWORKS”
Håkan Ozan, CSC
Håkan Ozan is a strategic management consultant at Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) who is
specialized in IT strategy and innovation management. He is the Innovation Manager of CSC Sweden
and has an M.Sc in Computer Science and a B.Sc. in Economics. He has been working with, and
researching, practical open innovation for several years and is currently the project manager of the
Airport Living Lab at Stockholm-Arlanda Airport and the project manager of the Open Innovation
Frameworks research project.

Further reading

Ghazarian, N. (2009). User Studies Within a Living Lab Context – Case Studies From Airport
Living Lab. Master Thesis in Computer Science, Uppsala University.

Gloor, P. A., (2005). Swarm Creativity - Competitive Advantage through Collaborative

Innovation Networks. Oxford University Press.

Hagel III, J. & Seely Brown, J. (2006). Creation Nets: Harnessing the Potential of Open
Innovation.

West, J. & O’Mahoney, S. (2008). The Role of Participation Architecture in Growing

Sponsored Open Source Communities.

Open Innovation
From the Open Innovation Forum’s perspective open innovation involves all aspects of
creating new business opportunities by engaging end-users in co-creative activities. Web
2.0 technologies has caused electronic collaboration to evolve, hence paving the way for
companies to invite customers and employees to be involved in the refinement of their
offerings. Ideally open innovation will create win-win situations where users get services
that are more oriented to their needs and organizations will offer services that are more
desired by the market.

The Open Innovation Forum

The Open Innovation Forum aims at being a knowledge hub and rallying point for user-
oriented open innovation, where innovation experts and researchers can collaborate on
improving theories and practices, while open innovation novices are invited to follow, or
take active part, in the development of the area.

www.openinnovationforum.com
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