CONNECTING DIGITAL INNOVATION & CUSTOMER ENAGEMENT : A case-study within the business-to-business software industry
Dekker, Barend (2019-08-23)
CONNECTING DIGITAL INNOVATION & CUSTOMER ENAGEMENT : A case-study within the business-to-business software industry
Dekker, Barend
(23.08.2019)
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
suljettu
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on:
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe202001243273
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe202001243273
Tiivistelmä
Despite the burgeoning interest in digital innovation, the domain lacks a clear customer perspective in B2B settings. Prior studies have demonstrated the individual prospects of both digital innovation and customer engagement but neglected to connect the two con-structs. Since the constructs are converging in practice, ignoring this can hamper the value creation and business success and leave the academia in the dark. This study aims to connect these two constructs by finding out how customers can be engaged in digital innovation. Building on existing work from both disciplines the question is: How can B2B software companies engage customers in digital innovation? In this context, customer engagement is defined as creating deep connections with customers that drive purchase decisions, and customer interaction and participation over time. Rooted in a literature review on digital innovation and customer engagement, a case-study was per-formed within an international B2B software company. Qualitative data was gathered by conducting semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the data demonstrated that B2B software companies can engage customers with digital innovation by delivering meaningful experiences through their digital products & services that are: customizable & integrated, collection of micro-services, personalized & exception-based, meaningful & proactive, and support-friendly. Second, companies can embrace and involve the customer by considering the customer journey to innovate together, involve customers for feedback, become a buyer’s advocate, and to dedicate customer team. Third, companies must adopt a B2C digital appearance by tracking user behavior to provide a smooth experience and offering a B2C service and experience to create deep connections with customers over time. To do so, companies must carefully consider their adoption approach, which entails: start the transition at the top, culture change throughout the entire value chain, bring value to customers by delivering services, and guide customers in ab-sorbing digital innovation. Lastly, they have to deal with digital barriers, i.e. adoption time of the stakeholders, basic elements hinder the adoption, serving the customer with existing technologies while transforming to new ones hinders the adoption of digital innovation, and insufficient time for employees to improvise and experiment. Future re-search is needed on the connection between digital innovation and customer engagement. These studies ideally include the organization’s external perspective and encompass multiple case-studies both in- and outside the B2B software industry. To practitioners, the researcher suggests centering all the digital innovation efforts around the customer and involve them closely in the innovation process.