Call for Papers: Special Issue

Special Issue in the Journal of Entrepreneurial Researchers

“Unlocking the Power of User Inclusion in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Processes”

Editors of Special Issue

• Tatiana Iakovleva, professor within University of Stavanger, Norway.
• Elin Oftedal; professor within University of Stavanger, Norway.
• Luciana Maines da Silva, professor within UNISINOS, Brazil.
• John Bessant, professor within Exter University, UK.
• Eduardo Manuel de Almeida Leite, Professor at the School of Technologies and Management at the University of Madeira, Portugal.
• Agata Gurzawska, Ph.D., Research Manager at Trilateral Research, Ireland.

Information

The articles that fit this topic will be admitted on continuous basis and published if accepted dafter the double blind-review process

Full papers (which should not exceed 14,000 words, excluding titles, abstracts, keywords, bibliography, figures, and tables) should be submitted on JER’s Submission Portal. Please indicate during submission that you wish to be considered for this special issue by writing a comment for the editors during Step 1, “Start”.

Accepted papers will be immediately published online. Please follow the journal’s Instructions for Authors.

This Special Issue is supported by the ISPIM Special Interest Group for Responsible Innovation.

Optional Paper Development Workshops will be held at the 2025 ISPIM Connect at Cape Town, Southern Africa and 2025 ISPIM Conference in Bergen, Norway.

Call: Unlocking the Power of User Inclusion in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Processes

Users play a vital role in innovation, offering unique perspectives and providing access to tacit knowledge that non-users may struggle to generate. Their involvement in the innovation process enhances the alignment of new products and services with user needs, addressing issues of fit and compatibility. The expanding body of research on user innovation, particularly the "free innovation" model (Von Hippel, 1994; 1998; 2005, 2016), underscores the value of engaging users as a low-risk input at the early stages of innovation. This engagement can yield novel ideas, validated prototypes, and access to communities of lead users and early adopters. By fostering such collaboration, companies can accelerate the diffusion of innovations while addressing compatibility and adoption challenges at the outset (Bessant et al., 2019; 2024).

Moreover, the inclusion of users in the innovation process aligns with the principles of Responsible Innovation (RI), which emphasize the creation of value along the triple bottom line: economic, environmental, and societal. By integrating user insights, innovations, and entrepreneurial efforts can achieve more responsible, sustainable and meaningful outcomes (Von Schomberg, 2013; Iakovleva et al., 2021a; 2024; Thapa and Iakovleva, 2023).

Responsible innovation (RI) refers to the process of developing new products, services, or processes with a conscious focus on their long-term impact on society and the environment. It involves anticipating and addressing potential ethical, social, and ecological issues at the outset (Owen et al., 2013; Naughton et al., 2023). The principles of RI include inclusivity, sustainability, reflexivity, and responsiveness (Stilgoe et al., 2013; 2020). Inclusion enables firms to identify whose needs, voices, and interests should be prioritized and at which stages of the innovation process. Anticipation encourages firms to consider both the intended and unintended outcomes of their innovations, as well as their broader societal impacts. Reflexivity promotes critical examination of the underlying motivations, goals, worldviews, and assumptions shaping the innovation process. Lastly, responsiveness focuses on how firms can address stakeholders’ and users’ concerns regarding innovations (Stilgoe et al., 2013).

While all four dimensions of Responsible Innovation (RI) are essential, our focus is specifically on the inclusion dimension. Inclusion is defined as the involvement of diverse stakeholders and users in innovation activities to capture their ideas, creativity, and voices, fostering dialogue and discussions that generate social intelligence (Stirling, 2005; Von Schomberg, 2019).

Moreover, intentional inclusion contributes to a sense of perceived ownership of innovation outcomes and fosters creativity (Felin & Zenger, 2014; Timmermans et al., 2020; Huang et al., 2024). Reflecting on inclusion involves critical considerations such as identifying the stakeholders to involve, determining the modes of participation, deciding when to involve them, and understanding how to engage them effectively (Silva et al., 2019; Thapa and Iakovleva, 2025 forthcoming; Mulloth and Iakovleva, 2024 forthcoming).

User inclusion, reflection on their insides, and pivoting businesses ensure that innovation is not only about technological advancement but also about considering its broader impact on society and the environment. However, in the landscape of modern business practices, the implementation of RI principles often collides with traditional business requirements. This tension is emblematic of a deeper chasm between ethical imperatives and profit-driven goals, as discussed in several studies (Bacq and Aguilera, 2022; Blok & Lemmens, 2015; Oftedal et al. 2019). Challenges of implementing use inclusion relates to information sharing, possible leakage of knowledge, time and resources that such inclusion and co-creation requires (Bessant et al., 2019; Blok, 2019, Iakovleva 2024; Gurzawska, 2023).

Besides challenges that firms face in including users, it is also important to acknowledge that not all users are equally engaged in the innovation process. Their involvement spans a spectrum, ranging from passive recipients of innovation to highly committed 'hero' innovators who actively contribute to generating and developing new ideas (Bessant et al., 2019; 2024; Iakovleva et al., 2021; 2024). This spectrum serves as a framework for understanding user engagement, highlighting the often-overlooked individuals at the less engaged end—those whose potential has yet to be fully realized and whose voices still need to be amplified.

The quest for including such user’s voices into innovation and entrepreneurial process is a complex issue. Understanding and addressing user needs and aspirations is essential, but it requires more than traditional methods such as market surveys or focus groups. It calls for specialized approaches and tools that go beyond identifying gaps or issues with existing solutions, enabling users to articulate their unmet needs and imagine new possibilities for innovation. Thus, the first challenge lies in articulation—how can we assist users in effectively expressing their insights and ideas?

Generating ideas is only the starting point of the innovation journey; the real challenge lies in the continuous process of learning and refinement, where concepts gradually take shape and become reality. Central to this process are discussions focused on transforming these ideas into actionable outcomes (Baldwin and Von Hippel, 2011; Bogers et al., 2010). A key element of this journey is amplifying user voices, ensuring they are not only heard but actively incorporated into these conversations, making them integral to the development process. By amplifying these voices, users’ insights can play a pivotal role in shaping the innovation more effectively.

A key aspect of harnessing the potential of users lies in acting on their insights and involving them as collaborative partners in the innovation journey. However, these skills—along with approaches such as co-evolution and co-creation—are often unfamiliar to users. Central to this process is the concept of an emerging ‘boundary object,’ which acts as a shared focal point to facilitate learning and meaningful dialogue (Bessant et al., 2024). This enables both users and developers to engage in a productive exchange that drives innovation forward. Importantly, it underscores the need to transition from simply hearing the user's ‘voice’ to empowering their active participation in the continuous innovation process.

Exercising the principles of Responsible Innovation (RI) and embedding user voices into the core of business practices is a complex challenge. This Special Issue seeks to expand the knowledge base needed to address this challenge. We invite contributions that critically examine entrepreneurial and innovation practices in the context of user involvement. The goal is to advance the discourse beyond existing literature by exploring how organizations identify, amplify, and act upon user voices. Specifically, we aim to investigate how the inclusion of users in innovation and entrepreneurial processes enables firms to anticipate and mitigate social, environmental, and economic risks. Furthermore, we encourage research on how organizations pivot and reflect on the insights gathered from users, and whether such inclusion contributes meaningfully to the achievement of organizational goals.

We encourage submissions that offer innovative insights, theoretical advancements, and empirical investigations that critically reflect on the unique aspects of user inclusion in shaping firms' strategies, operations, and broader societal impacts.

In summary, this issue invites contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following queries:

• The role of user participation in various innovation forms and the orchestration of such participation.
• Effective user engagement methods or tools in firm practices.
• Comparisons between traditional and digital user involvement methods.
• Developing responsible business models that incorporate stakeholder feedback and reflection throughout the innovation process.
• Strategies for ensuring responsible outcomes in firms’ entrepreneurial and innovation processes.
• Exploring the co-creation and user inclusion in living labs and other experimental spaces.
• The firm capabilities that enable firms to integrate user feedback into responsible innovation practices.
• Drivers and barriers to user engagement in startups and innovative firms.

References

Bacq, S., & Aguilera, R. V. (2022). Stakeholder governance for responsible innovation: A theory of value creation, appropriation, and distribution. Journal of Management Studies, 59(1), 29–60.

Baldwin, C., & Von Hippel, E. (2011). Modeling a paradigm shift: From producer innovation to user and open collaborative innovation. Organization Science, 22(6), 1399–1417.

Bessant, J., Iakovleva, T., & Oftedal, E. M. (2019). The future of responsible innovation. In Responsible Innovation in Digital Health. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Bessant, J., Oftedal, E., & Iakovleva, T. (2024). Meeting the inclusion challenge in innovation. In T. Iakovleva, E. Oftedal, & J. Bessant (Eds.), Meeting the inclusion challenge in innovation: Giving voice to users (Vol. 8, pp. 1–2). De Gruyter.

Blok, V., & Lemmens, P. (2015). The emerging concept of responsible innovation: Three reasons why it is questionable and calls for a radical transformation of the concept of innovation. In Responsible Innovation 2: Concepts, approaches, and applications (pp. 19–35). https://doi.org/10.xxxx

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Iakovleva, T., Bessant, J., Oftedal, E., & da Silva, L. M. (2021a). Innovating responsibly—Challenges and future research agendas. Sustainability, 13(6), 3215.

Iakovleva, T., Oftedal, E., & Bessant, J. (2021b). Changing role of users—Innovating responsibly in digital health. Sustainability, 13(4), 1616.

Iakovleva, T., Oftedal, E., & Bessant, J. (2024). Meeting the inclusion challenge in innovation. De Gruyter.

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Huang, J. H., Iakovleva, T. A., & Bessant, J. (2024). Fostering user involvement in collaborative innovation spaces: Insights from living labs. International Journal of Innovation Management.

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Thapa, R. K., & Iakovleva, T. (2023). Responsible innovation in venture creation and firm development: The case of digital innovation in healthcare and welfare services. Journal of Responsible Innovation, 1–27.

Thapa, R. K., & Iakovleva, T. (2025). Governing digital innovations for responsible outcomes: The case of digital healthcare and welfare services. Journal of Responsible Innovation. (Forthcoming).

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