Dictionary

This section has the purpose of sorting out the differences between various terms and phrases related to open innovation. They may of course vary depending on the context in which they appear, but this is how they are viewed in the Open Innovation Forum.

Terms

Collaborative Innovation Network (COIN) The term was coined at the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence and refers to a cyberteam of self-motivated people with a collective vision, enabled by the Web to collaborate in achieving a common goal by sharing ideas, information, and work (Gloor, 2005).

Crowdsourcing The White Paper Version: “Crowdsourcing is the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call.” The Soundbyte Version: “The application of Open Source principles to fields outside of software.” (Howe, 2008)

Global Brain The Global Brain is a metaphor for the worldwide intelligent network formed by people together with the information and communication technologies that connect them into an “organic” whole. (Heylighen, 2000) The term “Global Brain” has also been applied recently in the management field to reflect the global innovation network that companies can tap into to enhance their innovation agenda.

Group Genius The ability of a group working iteratively and collaboratively to seek, model and put into place higher-order solutions. Time compression, systemic workflow, dynamic feedback, individual creativity and collective creativity are core features. (MG Taylor Corporation, 1996)

Innovation technology can be defined as “information and communication technologies [that] enable the exchange of distributed sources of information in the open innovation process” (Dodgson, Gann & Salter 2006, p. 333).

Mass Customization refers to a customer co-design process of products and services which meet the needs of each individual customer with regard to certain product features . All operations are performed within a fixed solution space, characterized by stable but still flexible and responsive processes. As a result, the costs associated with customization allow for a price level that does not imply a switch in an upper market segment. (Piller, 2005)

Networked innovation “occurs through relationships that are negotiated in an ongoing communicative process, and which relies on neither market nor hierarchical mechanisms of control” (Swan and Scarbrough 2005, p. 916).

Open innovation “means that valuable ideas can come from inside or outside the company and can go to market from inside or outside the company as well” (Chesbrough 2003, p. 43)

Outside innovation refers to new ways to engage customers in co-designing companies’ products and services. It’s when customers lead the design of a business’ processes, products, services, and business models. (Seybold, 2006)

Social media can be defined as “the use of computing tools to support, extend, or derive added value from social activity” (Lawley 2004) or “Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings” (Wikipedia). ”[Computer-mediated communication], of course, is not just a tool; it is at once technology, medium, and engine of social relations. It not only structures social relations, it is the space within which the relations occur and the tool that individuals use to enter that space.” (Jones 1995, p. 16)

References

Chesbrough, H. (2003). The open innovation paradigm. In H. Chesbrough (Ed.), Open innovation: The new imperative for creating and profiting from technology (pp. 43-62). Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Dodgson, M., Gann, D., & Salter, A. (2006). The role of technology in the shift towards open innovation: The case of Procter & Gamble. R&D Management, 36(3), 333-346.

Gloor, P. A. (2005). Swarm Creativity - Competitive Advantage through Collaborative Innovation Networks. Oxford University Press.

Heylighen, F. (2000). The Global Superorganism: an evolutionary-cybernetic model of the emerging network society. Journal of Social and Evolutionary Systems

Howe, J. (2008). Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business. Crown Business.

Jones, S. (1995). Understanding community in the information age, in: Jones, S. (Ed.) Cybersociety: Computer-mediated communication and community, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 10-35.

Lawley, E. L. (2004). Social computing in the enterprise. Retrieved Dec 10, 2008, from http://social.it.rit.edu/c2/

MG Taylor Corporation (1996). Glossary of terms. Retrieved Dec 22, 2009, from http://www.mgtaylor.com/mgtaylor/glossary.htm.

Piller, F. (2005) Glossary: Mass Customization, Open Innovation, Personalization and Customer Integration. Retrived Dec 22, 2009, from http://www.mass-customization.de/glossary.htm.

Seybold, P. (2006). Outside Innovation: How Your Customers Will Co-Design Your Company’s Future. Collins.

Swan, J., & Scarbrough, H. (2005). The politics of networked innovation. Human Relations, 58(7), 913-943.