Network Challenge (Chapter 2), The: Creating Experience: Competitive Advantage in the Age of Networks

The locus of innovation is shifting from the firm to the network. In contrast to developing standalone products, innovators are drawing together networks that deliver a personalized, co-created experience to the customer. This chapter describes a model in which nodal firms link communities of customers with communities of prequalified vendors. It examines cases from cardiac pacemakers to addressing diabetes and explores the implications of this shift for product and service innovation, value creation, and new sources of competitive advantage.