Embedded Lead Users inside the Firm

Download or read book Embedded Lead Users inside the Firm written by Tim Schweisfurth and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-10-05 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The central phenomenon of this book are embedded lead users (ELUs): employees of firms who experience emerging needs and profit from solutions to these needs (i.e. who exhibit lead user characteristics) in relation to one or more of their employing firm’s products or services. In three subsequent studies I explore, how embedded lead users contribute to corporate innovation. I show which factors foster the lead userness of employees and what characterizes embedded lead users’ behaviors. This holds various implications for firms, e.g. with respect to the integration of user knowledge for innovation.​