Embedded lead users - supplying need knowledge for innovation

3 Embedded lead users - supplying need knowledge for innovation  

Another issue which points at the existence and relevance of embedded lead users is that the boundaries of the firm are not a clear demarcation criterion in practice the traditional clear cut view of individual user vs. manufacturer innovation is too simplistic. 

I follow their call and investigate the contribution of embedded lead users to corporate product innovation. 

In this chapter I explore the phenomenon of embedded lead users. Reconsider the phenomenon in focus A company employs users that use the market offerings of the company. I present evidence of embedded lead users contributions to innovation across many industries mountain-bikers take their firm s new products on a ride on the weekend and test new devices, disabled employees introduce new ideas for product development which they encounter during using their wheelchair, employees of computer hardware firms immerse in gaming communities and filter the communities knowledge to transfer it into the firm. Even if I observed this phenomenon in various cases, there exists no or little empirical evidence [see II.2.5 for an exhaustive discussion on this]. The question, how embedded lead users contribute to corporate innovation, and more specifically what resources and capabilities they deploy, will be the guiding rail for this chapter. 

1 focus on answering this specific question by conducting 35 interviews with managers and embedded lead users in 23 firms. I gathered evidence from the sports and leisure industry, in which many employees were lead users for the products they developed or marketed. To a lesser but also relevant extent, I observed this phenomenon in the 

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