TY - JOUR T1 - The Role of Academics, Users, and Customers in Industrial Product Development JF - Technology Innovation Management Review Y1 - 2020 A1 - Leena Kunttu A1 - Yrjö Neuvo KW - commercialization KW - customer involvement KW - stakeholder involvement KW - University-Industry Collaboration KW - user involvement AB - Industrial research and development (R&D) is often adopted as a leading strategy for innovation in high-technology firms. It has been recognized that collaboration with external actors has become increasingly crucial for R&D practices in a world where product and service innovation are increasingly challenging for companies involved in knowledge-intensive technology areas. Thus, high-technology firms are increasingly engaging in collaborative relationships with external stakeholders to transfer valuable new knowledge for industrial purposes, or to create new knowledge through a joint learning process. These external stakeholders may include research institutes such as universities, customer firms, or end users of the firm's products or services. Academic involvement in industrial innovation projects has traditionally focussed on the early stages of a product's development process, when new ideas and innovations are being developed. On the other hand, the interaction between a firm and its customers takes place during the final stages of the R&D process, when innovations are brought to market. In this paper, we explore how users and customers can be involved in university-industry collaboration projects from the beginning of the product development process. Based on a case study comprising five long-term university-industry collaborations in Finland, this paper presents collaborative practices through which academic actors, users, and industrial customers may actively take part in the industrial innovation processes. PB - Talent First Network CY - Ottawa VL - 10 UR - timreview.ca/article/1337 IS - 3 U1 - University of Vaasa Leena Kunttu holds a PhD degree in Information Technology (signal processing) from the Tampere University of Technology, Finland (2006), a PhD degree in Economics (innovation management) from the University of Vaasa, Finland (2019), and Master of Arts degree in Education from the University of Tampere (2020). Between 2007 and 2012, she served as Senior Manager in an area of innovation at the Nokia Corporation. During her career in Nokia, she led a number of collaborative projects between the company and external research institutes, such as universities. She also led and participated in joint educational activities between Nokia and universities. Since 2015, Dr. Kunttu has served as a postdoc researcher in an area of innovation at the University of Vaasa. Her current research interests include university-industry collaboration, educational involvement and the commercialization of university technologies. U2 - Aalto University Yrjö Neuvo received his Ph. D, degree from Cornell University in 1974. He had a 19-year academic career as professor of Signal Processing at Tampere University of Technology, as National Research Professor at the Academy of Finland and as a visiting professor at University of California, Santa Barbara. He was Chief Technology Officer and member of the Group Executive Board at Nokia Corporation from 1993 to 2005. His responsibilities included managing R&D activities for mobile phones. After retiring from Nokia he started his third career as Professor and Research Director at Aalto University, Finland. At Aalto, Yrjö has developed university wide programs for doctoral education fostering cross-disciplinary learning and industry-academia interplay. He has been Chairman of ARTEMIS JTI Governing Board 2007 – 2008 and member of the Executive Committee of European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) 2008 - 2012. He was General Chairman of the 1988 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems and of the IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC 2001). He is Life Fellow of IEEE, Member of Academia Europaea, the Swedish Academy of Technical Sciences, two Finnish Academies and holds four honorary doctorates. Asteroid 1938 DN carries his name Neuvo. ER -