Erich Von Hippel in his splendid appraisal of
innovation reasoned home innovation or user driven innovation constitutes a critical
yet discounted component of the innovation process. The users as they innovate in their ‘home’ or ‘office’
environment deliver valued service to the firms. Given the heterogeneity of
needs, it is difficult for a firm to produce personalized or customized goods
without a trade-off on price. Therefore the biome compels the users adapt the
standardized offering by tinkering with these products to suit their localized contextual
needs. In doing so, they emerge as lead indicators of the demand patterns for the
goods and physiognomies of the goods. In a previous piece http://stalkingtheory.blogspot.com/2020/01/output-saving-and-digital-domain.html
, quoting Lancaster, it was argued that the individualities of the good rather
the good itself engendered utility to the user. Therefore, it is vital for the
firms to decode the user needs thus making available the relevant
characteristics. Furthermore, many an occasion, the users innovating provides
the lead indicator for the future development of goods and services.
Product development is a function of implied
demand uncertainty and the user driven innovation answers the puzzle in a
significant way. Yet in diffusing the innovation, the firms and users or
amateurs adopt different pathways. Firms are close ended and seek to protect
the innovation through patents, trademarks, trade dress, industrial designs,
copyrights etc. At times, bundle of these Intellectual property rights are also
utilized to prevent others from encroaching or erecting barriers of entry to
monetize the innovation. Yet users adopt open ended approach allowing a free
revealing of information.
This feature of free revealing is not just in
the case of innovation. Many often engage in free revealing lot of information
around the globe. In the rise of social media coupled with platforms thriving
on user generated content, free revealing has seen a catalyst and thus
experiencing exponential growth. The success is however a function of what
Yochai Benkler might term accreditation and relevance.
Accreditation is a measure of credibility of
the user and thus a tool to avoid adverse selection. The user review ratings,
adopted from the paradigm of Suroweicki’s Wisdom of Crowds are one measure of analyzing
accreditation. Relevance is about how the information revealed is useful in the
given context. Given the background thus
provided, it is worth examining the reasons for free revealing of information
Enjoyment of process
To many, revealing the knowledge one possess is
a sort of enjoyment. There is inherent pleasure at being able to address
queries or clarifications of others on topics you know better relative to
knowledge seekers. In the process, it is often noted, the solution giver too
raises her knowledge. Knowledge is non rivalrous and in fact anti-rivalrous.
Implied, the more the knowledge is shared, its value is enriched as a
multiplier and thus greater utility for both providers and seekers.
Reciprocal Altruism
To many, information is given and take process.
For instance, in discussion forums and bulletin boards on travel and tourism,
there are queries on routes, accommodation, facilities to a particular destination.
There is good possibility, somebody is familiar with the same and reveals the
information about the same without any monetary consideration. However there is
selfish gene at play. The provider is altruistic in the unexpressed anticipation
that there would be reciprocity when he/she needs information about unfamiliar
geography or topography they might wish to navigate in the near future. Though no demand exists on this date, yet you
supply information in the anticipation that others will supply the same when
demand exists from your side.
Signaling
There is certain degree of knowledge in every
individual and out of the knowledge arises wisdom. Yet there is propensity to
demonstrate knowledge and wisdom to the rest of the world. Therefore the
inherent tendency to offer unsolicited ‘gyan’ to all and sundry. Given the rise
of platforms like Quora, Yahoo Answers etc, offering answers to questions posed
is great way of signaling knowledge albeit in implicit way to the rest of the world.
On platforms like Innocentive, Kaggle, demonstration of knowledge apart from
being possible monetizing opportunity sends signals to prospective recruiters.
Recruiters often do not know the capabilities
of their job hunters. An indirect mean of assessing their signal of
capabilities is their performance on platforms like Kaggle etc. Those scoring
high indicate a greater talent and thus a hot prospect for recruitment. Given the
paucity of talent relatively speaking, it is important signal for salary
negotiations too.
Practical’ solution
To many engaged in innovation, free revealing
might be the only solution available. Their inability to scale up or commercialize
leaves with no other option but the to reveal it. The spill overs from
revealing the same in terms of signaling, linking to prospective recruiters
etc. act as an incentive to reveal. To some,
revealing them to suppliers would be a step forward in ensuring stable supply
of materials and other resources for further development.
Positive feedback
loops
Steven Johnson in his book “Markets, Networks
and Technological Evolution’ (2010) posits inventions are a function of efforts
in networked ecosystem than an outcome individual furlough. The idea of lone
scientist is passe. Therefore for users engaged in sort of innovation,
irrespective of the reason, have all the reasons to share it with the rest of
the community. Open hardware and open software platforms play a key role in
diffusing the prototype and enabling the subsequent feedback loops. These loops
go long way in developing the product from draft idea or prototype into an
outcome ready to be monetized.
Reputation
McClelland posited that an individual’s action
are in part to fulfilling her need for achievement, affiliation and power. To an
innovator working away from the mainstream so as to speak, is desirous of being
linked to achievement. The development of more and more innovations,
improvisations etc enhance the reputation of the user innovator in the
community thus perhaps implicitly satisfying the need for achievement.
Similarly those answering prolifically on Quora, Reditt etc. too have their
reputations enhanced. The reputation might not lead to direct spill overs in
terms of daily lives yet add to their self-esteem. To quite a few, this might
be step upward in Maslowian hierarchy.
No IP protection
To quite many an innovation, given the nature
and context, little scope and prospect exists for leveraging the protection
offered by intellectual property rights. The cost of acquiring such rights
might outweigh any benefits. Further there might be difficulties in proving no
prior art. Secondly, many of the innovations are essentially are improvisations
or adaptations to given context making it difficult to go for IP protection as
an individual. For firms given their portfolio, even small improvisations might
not entail marginal costs of significant level to seek IP protection, yet for
smaller innovators, it might be very difficult to do so. The alternative to
protecting innovation and thus linking to themselves is ironically go for free
revealing. The emergence of IP alternatives stand in good stead for such
innovations.
Insufficient
incentives
To quite a number of innovations, incentives
are simply insufficient not to reveal the same and seek monetization. In such a
scenario, it might make better sense to reveal and target the above objectives
than keep it in house.
Reuse
To many academics, the signal of
career progress is linked to the citation of their published works rather than
ideas created. It must be observed that others are following your work and
finding certain utility in the work. This implies a role of an academic in
furthering the knowledge creation in his or her sphere. Therefore, publishing
and thus sharing the insights garnered in their research might be a rational
objective and thus enable its reuse
Substitutable
information and Diffusion of Secrets
As the adage goes, nothing
remains a secret especially when it is marked secret. Similarly in the
industry, very little remains secret and each one knows or at least generic
idea about other’s secrets. Further given the circumstantial necessities, it is
possible they have worked substitutable ideas and thus very little incentive
for keeping it secret. There is always a positive spill over of being first to
reveal and diffuse and monetize the externalities than keep it hidden in house
as trade secret. Moreover, to scientists and engineers, the need is the general
principles in product development rather than the blue print for the exact
product. Reverse engineering with adaptations adds to disincentive of keeping
information secret when the general principles of designing and developing the
same are well known.
Backward Bending
Labour Supply Curve
For many, despite being
passionate about certain things, it might not be possible to make it a career
goal. Yet with passage of time, as they earn money and reputation in their
career, they now turn attention to their interests be it art, music, theatre,
design etc during their free time. The work leisure trade off depicted in
backward bending labour supply curve would create positive supply in leveraging
what Clay Shirky calls Cognitive Surplus. The output thus achieved is more of
fulfilment of inherent passion than monetization thus allowing the creative to
be revealed to the rest of the world.
Concluding Remarks
As we have observed there are
several reasons for user innovators in multiple areas to reveal their
information and achievements to the rest of the fraternity. This is what
precisely would further aid development of goods, services, ideas art etc thus
a positive spill over for the society
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