Idea Generation by Employees and External Participants in Innovation Competitions

Innovation competitions are considered to be an instrument by which companies can inspire customers and employees to generate value-added ideas. However, there is little research on how the quality contributions are made and by whom. In this paper, a case study-based analysis is carried out at a global telecommunications company. Through the analysis of log files, the participating users are categorized on the basis of their level of activity and membership of user groups. We differentiate between employees and external users. Our findings show that employees generated the best-rated ideas and that they provide more feedback for all other participants than external users. The data also indicate that external users created a higher number of valuable ideas in total. Our results extend the current theoretical discussion in the field of open innovation and provide valuable insights for managers as well.