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May 06, 2008
Co-Creation
Over the years, I have used a number of names and terms to describe the new direction in production: joint production; user-driven innovation; the fusion of services and manufacturing; "just-in-time-and just-for me;" "high-tech, high-touch;" production v. transaction v. problem solving. Now C.K. Prahalad and M.S. Krishnan have given it a new title -- "Co-Creation" in their new book The New Age of Innovation: Driving Cocreated Value Through Global Networks. (FYI - There is even a blog on the book: New Age Of Innovation | A Blog On Transforming Business Models.)
Geoffrey Colvin explains the heart of the idea in his column today in the Washington Post - 'Co-Creation' Is Your Latest Invention:
The idea is that the most successful companies no longer invent new products and services on their own. They create them along with their customers, and they do it in a way that produces a unique experience for each customer. The critically important corollary is that no company owns enough resources -- or can possibly own enough -- to furnish unique experiences for every customer, so companies must organize a constantly shifting global web of suppliers and partners to do the job.
. . .
If this sounds like the old mass-customization idea, it decidedly isn't. That concept was about a company offering customers many choices on a wide range of product or service attributes, but the company still had to decide which choices to offer and then deliver them. In co-creation, the choices are infinite, and the company neither imagines nor delivers them all. Similarly, if this sounds like Web 2.0, it sort of is, but it's much bigger, since it's more than an Internet phenomenon.
The challenges are clear. Most companies, especially old ones, are organized exactly wrong to capitalize on co-creation. They're built around the processes of creating products and services and managing owned resources -- just the opposite of the skills needed in the new model. In the same way, most managers (especially old ones) lack an intuitive feel for how the new model works.
This last point is especially important. Our organizational structures don't work for the new model. How do companies re-align themselves? What does it mean for economic prosperity and job creation? And what are the public policies needed to foster this re-alignment? Key questions for the I-Cubed Economy.
Posted by Ken Jarboe at May 6, 2008 10:03 AM
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Comments
See also the Business Week review C.K. Prahalad: The New Age of Innovation
Posted by: Ken Jarboe ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.athenaalliance.org/weblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at May 23, 2008 10:13 AM