The adoption of open innovation and co-creation in Malaysian telecommunication industry

Abstract

In the recent years, open innovation and co-creation concepts engaging customers in organizations have been gaining widespread attention around the globe. This is particularly significant in the telecommunication space, given the abundant benefits from economy of scale, ease of access to resources, shorter innovation cycles, supportive customer service and enhanced business processes. Thus, this research attempts to identify the factors that influence the adoption of open innovation and co-creation in Malaysian telecommunication industry. The current era imposes criticality for telecommunication companies (telcos) to solidify their collaborations and partnerships, innovation exchange and co-create with their customers using social media tools, in order to sustain and thrive in the industry. To achieve the purpose of the study, a preliminary investigation was conducted using qualitative approach and based on a number of semi-structured interviews, with participation from four staff of a selected telco in Malaysia. The findings highlighted six factors, namely cost control, partnership models, standard conformance, go-to-market strategy, flexible communication and knowledge exchange. Subsequently, these findings may be included in the process of developing a conceptual model for open innovation and co-creation with customers using social media platforms in Malaysian telecommunication industry. Ultimately, this study could contribute to the telecommunication industry in formulating, planning, executing and reviewing the telcos business strategy based upon open innovation and co-creation concepts.