User Innovation - from successful commerce to saving lives: Case Studies from Pakistan

This article aims to highlight how user innovation is becoming a main stream phenomenon in developing countries like Pakistan, through analysis of actual cases of global success. The article commences with an initial review... [ view full abstract ]

This article aims to highlight how user innovation is becoming a main stream phenomenon in developing countries like Pakistan, through analysis of actual cases of global success.

The article commences with an initial review of literature in order to demarcate the boundaries of user innovation with relevance to the country under study. The research takes an in-depth view into five case studies of Pakistani entrepreneurs who have created a global impact through their ground breaking user innovations. In-depth interviews were conducted with the respondents, for this purpose. The user need for the innovation, methodology and diffusion strategy have been studied separately for all the cases.

Based on the individual cases, the article then looks to answer some specific research questions pertaining to the user innovation practices currently underway in Pakistan.

The paper also re-contributes to the literature through presentation of a ‘Model to stimulate User Innovation in developing countries’. This model has been developed based on insights acquired from experts in 9 different industries of the country, in addition to the 5 case areas covered in this paper.

This is the first research conducted in the area of user innovation in Pakistan. It has immense practicality as it highlights the journey to success by actual practitioners. It will hence serve as a valuable guideline for upcoming entrepreneurs and user innovators entering the field. In addition, the research questions and user innovation model will also open new avenues for research by academicians and scholars in other sectors of the country and for other developing countries of the world.