Users as Innovators and Entrepreneurs in the Context of Sustainable Development

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Prahalad & Rangaswami 2009, p. 10). This is particularly important, when considering the high failure rates of newly launched products due to acceptance problems of products that do not meet the customers’ needs (Crawford 1977, p.51). Empirical studies show that depending on the industry these failure rates vary between 50 and 90%. (Reichwald & Piller 2009, p.128).

However, in order to gain user innovations that contribute to sustainable development, producers need to consider sustainability goals in the development process. If sustainability is not targeted, sustainable products will less likely emerge. One reason for this is a lack of interest in sustainability issues amongst users, as product features such as comfort are often more relevant to consumers (Beck, Kropp & Odukoya 2009, p.4). The study Visio.M, which was conducted by the Technical University of Munich in collaboration with experts from the industry, represents one example for this phenomenon. The aim of the research project was to develop an electric car at an affordable price that provides safety and comfort combined with a reasonable driving range. To consider consumer insights in this development, an Online Research Community (ORC) was conducted by HYVE. ORCs are “moderated, web-based platforms which enable dialogue-based research with a large number of selected consumers.” Based on the findings, users appreciated the concept of an electronic car. Nevertheless, they were hardly willing to compromise on comfort. The common comfort standards as unlimited air condition and heating are influencing the range that an electro car can drive without recharging. A large group of participants showed a low readiness to buy an electric car, as long as the problem comfort vs. range is not solved. (Bilgram & Gruber 2013, p.15)

This requirement of sustainable awareness might represent a barrier for sustainable development in the context of user integration, as many companies still do not pursue sustainability in the first place. However, some studies have shown that “sustainability initiatives can help to create profits and business opportunities.” (Bonini & Swartz 2014, p.5)

Also, the user needs to be aware of sustainability issues in order to generate sustainable innovations. Accordingly, lead users who show interest in sustainable activities could represent a promising group to foster sustainable innovations in this context.

Lead users can not only contribute innovations to the product development of producers, but can get active by themselves. “After they found small companies to produce their innovations for sale”, they become so called user entrepreneurs (Shah 2000, p.3). “User entrepreneurship describes individuals who create innovative products or services because they need them for their own use and subsequently found firms to commercialize their innovations” (Shah, Smith & Reedy 2012, p.1).

A distinction can be made between end-user and professional-user entrepreneurs. Professional-user entrepreneurs “found firms around innovations meant for use in a previous job or business”. End-users found firms based on their individual need as a consumer. (Shah, Smith & Reedy 2012, p.2)

According to Schaltegger and Wagner many sustainability-improving innovations are carried out by smaller firms, which “implies a significance of entrepreneurship for the nexus of sustainability and innovation” (Schaltegger & Wagner 2011, p.15). User entrepreneurs as founders of smaller firms can therefore clearly contribute to sustainable development.

However, for small firms it might be difficult to transfer their sustainable offers to the mass market, which would be a necessity for holistic sustainable development. This is a strength of larger companies (Schaltegger & Wagner 2011, p.13), which is why a collaboration of smaller and larger firms could be a promising approach to bring forward sustainable development.

Such collaborations can be found along Open Innovation processes, which were previously outlined in figure 1-2 as small funnels.

One emerging field which tackles social and environmental challenges is social entrepreneurship, for instance. There is no clear definition of this term. One possible definition comes from Lepoutre et al. (2011, p.4) who define social entrepreneurship as an “entrepreneurial activity with the explicit objective to address societal pains.” Overall, social entrepreneurs are driven by altruism.

An example for a social enterprise, which was launched by a professional-user entrepreneur, is VisionSpring. The founder Jordan Kassalow is “an optometrist by training, [who] now runs an organization that sells ready-made reading glasses to people in the developing world.”

User Entrepreneurship provides a very promising basis to foster sustainable development, taking into account that firms of user entrepreneurs are launched by individuals who have a strong personal need for the product, technology or service and are passionate about their idea and business.

3. Conclusion

Sustainable development is a necessity, considering the current social, environmental and economic challenges. Users and entrepreneurs can be a valuable source for innovations which help to achieve sustainable development. Nonetheless, if sustainability is not clearly targeted in the product development or within a business, this goal can easily fall into desuetude.

Considering the involvement of users as innovators this can be a serious challenge. Even though there is an increasing awareness for sustainability issues in general, consumers still tend to prioritise individual needs and comfort higher than sustainability.

This is not the case considering sustainability oriented user entrepreneurs, who found own small firms. They focus on innovations that are sustainable while at the same time meeting their needs. Sufficient funding for the development and/or later collaborations with larger institutions can help them thrive.

In conclusion, lead users who are aware of sustainability issues and user entrepreneurs that aim to foster sustainable development through their business can be valuable drivers for sustainable development “that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (ed. WCED 1987, p.41).

Number of words: 1876 

References

Beck, G, Kropp, C & Odukoya, D 2009, ‘Open Innovation for Sustainable Futures’ (en), in The Center for Sustainable Design (en), pp. 14–9, viewed 19 May 2015, <https://w3-mediapool.hm.edu/mediapool/media/fk11/fk11_lokal/forschungpublikationen/publikationen_4/dokumente_44/kropp_1/Open_Innovation_for_sustainable_futures_Beck_Kropp_Odukoya.pdf>,