Why Do User Communities Matter for Strategy?

Sonali K. Shah; Frank  Nagle

Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2019

Why Do User Communities Matter for Strategy?

by Sonali K. Shah and Frank Nagle

Abstract

User communities represent a unique organizing structure for the exchange of ideas and knowledge. They are organizations composed primarily of users working collaboratively, voluntarily, and with minimal oversight to freely and openly develop and exchange knowledge around a common artifact. The prevalence of user communities appears to be on the rise, as evidenced by communities across a variety of fields ranging from software to Legos to sports equipment. In this essay, we discuss how firms can benefit from working with user communities––that is, we discuss the opportunities for firms to leverage user communities as a source of open innovation. We theorize the conditions under which user communities will emerge and function and discuss the benefits that user communities can provide and the challenges they can create for firms, thereby illustrating the relevance and import of user communities to firms and the strategic management literature.

Keywords: strategic management; Knowledge Sharing; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Organizations; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Strategy;

Language: English

Format: Print

44 pages

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Citation:

Shah, Sonali K., and Frank Nagle. "Why Do User Communities Matter for Strategy?" Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-126, June 2019.

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