KANDE KAZADI
Dr. Kande Kazadi is a researcher at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, working under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Annouk Lievens and Dr. Dominik Mahr (Maastricht University). His research focuses on the simultaneous involvement of multiple stakeholders in a firm’s innovation process.
Research and practice have investigated firms’ benefits of co-creation with external stakeholders, such as more creative ideas, reduced development costs, and improved product quality. However, little is known about how consumers perceive products and their firms that communicate about such co-creation activities. Using two experimental studies, we investigated how consumers’ knowledge about the involvement of different types of stakeholders during the innovation process changes the adoption of new products.
Nowadays, firms simultaneously include a higher variety of different stakeholders than ever before in their innovation process. Such a diverse collective brings in different perspectives and competences, yet, also poses new challenges for firms. This article presents insight into the capabilities required for a leading firm in a stakeholder co-creation project, acting as a conductor of an orchestra of stakeholders.
