User-innovation Beyond Market Barriers: The Case of Machinima

Stefan Haefliger, Chair of Strategic Management and Innovation at ETH Zürich

Biography

http://www.smi.ethz.ch/people/stefhaef/

Abstract

In many fields and industries, users innovate to solve problems. User-innovation theory explains the conditions under which users innovate. Thus far, the theory has focused on vertical innovation, showing how users move from ideas, to solutions, to commercialization within one market. In this article, we examine user innovation that enters new markets. Reviewing the literature on user innovation, strategy and market entry, we propose that users can move from ideas to commercialization beyond market boundaries, giving rise to horizontal user-innovation. Assets freely or restrictively revealed in one market (video games) are exploited by users in another market (film). We develop a model of horizontal user-innovation that takes into account complementary assets, intellectual property rights, learning, and user entry strategies. Applying a multiple case-study design, we conduct a first test of the model on machinima, a community of digital movie entrepreneurs who apply 3D game-engines to shoot films.

Location:

Lunch: 12:45-13:15, LGS foyer
Seminar: 13:15-14:15, LGS