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Involving users in new product design and development is in itself not a new phenomenon. Academic research on the subject, however, is relatively new. Since this new millennium research on user involvement in innovations has multiplied, exhibiting that firms who actively involve users in their innovation process can benefit from this initiative, even though literature also warns us for relying too much and too actively on the participation of customers in innovation. However, research is mainly descriptive and explanatory of nature, and is seldom a prescription for firm managers on what to do should they decide to involve their customers in an innovation initiative.

This paper addresses this omission in literature and tries to give some first building blocks for a protocol for firms that want to involve their customers in innovations. This protocol will be the result of the author's further research on literature, previously executed projects by the author, expert interviews and a design and development process, in continuation of this paper.

The research addressed within this paper sets out to develop a framework towards facilitating health-related technology transfer (TT) to and within sub-Saharan African countries. In turn, this framework will attempt to alleviate healthcare burdens in developing nations through a combination of acquisitions and collaborative technology development. Systematic conceptual and comparative literature reviews have been conducted to identify the major characteristics of TT. The conceptual review has outlined the universal characteristics of TT such as TT methods, prominent stakeholders and the importance of knowledge transfer while the systematic comparative review exclusively evaluated sub-Saharan African healthcare TT characteristics such as infrastructure barriers and the marketability of the transfer object. The outcomes of the literature reviews have been clustered into five phases, forming the basis of the conceptual framework. This framework aims to guide a user through the phases of technology development, technology analysis, technology transfer method application, change management and commercialization by providing managerial best practices at each phase. The conceptual framework has been evaluated by incorporating the outcomes of 16 semi-structured interviews conducted with healthcare and TT industry experts. The final framework aims to provide guidelines for any stakeholder involved in healthcare technology transfer regardless of the healthcare implementation by highlighting best practices surrounding stakeholder co-creation, transfer method application and constructing a sustainable healthcare technology transfer venture.

Increasing digitalization and new technological possibilities also entail substantial changes for working methods in the B2B (business-to-business) environment in banking. In this context, the concept of co-creation is critical. Although this concept and the motivation factors behind it have been thoroughly investigated in the B2C (business-to-consumer) sector, only a few research results exist for the B2B context. This study aims to bridge the current knowledge gap and investigate individuals’ motivation to participate in B2B co-creation. By using a case study and qualitative interviews, this study focuses on two aspects: (a) It reveals how a co-creation measure is used in practice in the B2B environment; and (b) it provides information on the motivation factors and outcome from the point of view of the participants in the B2B co-creation project. The paper concludes with an integrative model of the main motivation factors behind B2B co-creation and their effects.

Although innovation laboratories offer creative and distinct physical spaces for mediating and directing innovation processes, research on their applicability for co-creative learning during serious play, particularly through Lego Serious Play (LSP) workshops remains limited. Previous studies suggest that serious play workshops tend to focus on scenarios, problem solving and reflective processes, with limited considerations for joint co-creation and learning potentials within innovation laboratories. Motivated by the creative prospects of metaphoric representations and shared stories, this study explores the possibilities of harnessing LSP for co-creative learning in innovation laboratories. This case study draws theoretical insights and practical relevance from a co-creative learning workshop involving three learning scenarios within a Middle Eastern and emerging economy context. Findings from the workshop show variability in representations, interactions and reflections, shaping possibilities for co-creative learning in innovation laboratories. Representations focus on systems, solutions and problems during fragmented, model-supported, model-mediated and integrated interactions that underpin a range of instance-based, variance-based, convergence-based and divergence-based reflections. These insights contribute to co-creation literature that views value creation as an amalgamation of open, collaborative and user innovation. The study concludes by discussing its theoretical implications, practical applications, and methodological limitations, which serve as the basis for future research directions.