What enables a software firm to persistently reap innovation benefits from a global community of unpaid software developers?

Abstract

Since the phenomenon of users innovating scientific instruments was first documented by von Hippel, the aspect of user innovation has been given a lot of attention in innovation literature. With the increased penetration of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) such as computers and the internet, user innovation has become more and more relevant to society. For software firms gaining access to user innovators can be a valuable but also integral part of their innovation strategy. Gaining and keeping access can however be difficult. It is therefore of great interest to learn of examples of how this is achieved. This is an explorative case study of a software firm that has managed this since 1995. By exploring how the firm managed the relationship with a community of unpaid software developers, this paper finds that the firm is able to benefit from user innovators by creating a virtuous cycle. This virtuous cycle relies on a continuous input of software code from user innovators, and a continuous output of new software incorporating the contributed code as well as new code. This paper confirms some previously mentioned managerial challenges to the relationship, such as the importance of using the right licenses. In addition to this, a new managerial challenge has been identified. When the firm becomes a part of a corporation, complexities arise that need to be handled properly. This should be of interest to both managers and innovation researchers.