When I look back at my first published article—"Users as Innovators: A Review, Critique, and Future Research Directions" in the Journal of Management (2010)—I can't help but smile at how it came to be. It wasn't supposed to be a standalone paper. But sometimes the most meaningful work emerges from unexpected places.
The Spark: A Question About Innovation
My passion for research was ignited by a deceptively simple question: Where does innovation come from?
For decades, the answer seemed obvious: firms innovate. Manufacturers and producers develop new products, and users simply buy and use them. But then came Eric von Hippel's groundbreaking work challenging this assumption. In his studies, von Hippel showed that users—whether firms using scientific instruments or individuals modifying sporting equipment—were often the actual sources of innovation. They weren't just passive consumers waiting for companies to solve their problems; they were actively creating solutions themselves.
This revelation fascinated me. If users could be innovators, what did that mean for how we understood the entire innovation process?
The PhD Journey at EPFL
I was fortunate to pursue these questions during my PhD at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland, supervised by Dominique Foray. The environment there was intellectually rich, surrounded by supportive colleagues like Chris Tucci, Marc Gruber, and Anu Wadhwa. These scholars didn't just teach innovation theory—they embodied it in how they approached research questions.
One of the most pivotal connections came through the PhD seminars. They brought in external scholars, including Allan Afuah from the University of Michigan. Allan became not just a teacher, but an important mentor and eventually a co-author on this paper. His ability to see the bigger theoretical picture while staying grounded in empirical reality shaped how I thought about research.
Another crucial collaborator was Bettina Bastian, a fellow PhD student. Working with Bettina taught me the value of peer collaboration—how two doctoral students, wrestling with similar questions from different angles, could push each other's thinking forward.
When a Literature Review Takes on a Life of Its Own
Here's the thing about this paper: I never intended to write a standalone literature review article.
Like any good PhD student, I was reading everything I could find about user innovation. von Hippel's work, the empirical studies across industries, the theoretical explanations, the debates about sticky information and lead users... I was consuming it all. Maybe I read too much. (Okay, definitely too much. 😉)
At some point, I realized my "background section" had grown into something substantial. I had organized the literature into coherent streams, identified patterns, spotted gaps, and started asking critical questions about where the field needed to go. The literature review had become rich enough, comprehensive enough, that it deserved to be its own contribution.
This realization was liberating: The questions I was asking about the sources of innovation might actually help other researchers too.
Two Sides of the Innovation Coin
What made this paper particularly meaningful for me was how it illuminated both sides of the innovation equation. Yes, users can be innovators—that was the exciting finding. But what did this mean for manufacturers? How should producers respond when their customers start innovating?
This dual perspective—understanding both the user's role as an innovator and the implications for firms—planted the seeds for what would become my enduring interest in open innovation. If innovation can come from outside the firm, how do you create systems to recognize it, encourage it, and benefit from it?
Looking Back
This paper, published in 2010 with Allan and Bettina, became my foundation. It taught me that comprehensive reviews aren't just summaries—they're opportunities to synthesize, critique, and chart new directions. It showed me the power of asking fundamental questions about innovation. And it reminded me that sometimes the most valuable work emerges when we allow ourselves to follow our intellectual curiosity, even when it takes us in unexpected directions.
The sources of innovation remain a fascinating question, one I'm still exploring today through the lens of open innovation, user entrepreneurship, and collaborative innovation. But it all started here, with a literature review that refused to stay in the background.
Citation: Bogers, M., Afuah, A., & Bastian, B. (2010). Users as innovators: A review, critique, and future research directions. Journal of Management, 36(4), 857-875. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206309353944
Marcel Bogers is a Full Professor of Open & Collaborative Innovation at the Eindhoven University of Technology and a Research Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley.
He speaks, writes, and advises on how organizations can create and capture value through openness and collaboration.
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