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Case Study

Quirky + GE: The ultimate disruption in the consumer gadget space?

By Howard H. Yu

10 pages

December 2013

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Reference: IMD-7-1522

New York based Quirky leverages the power of the crowd, donated patents, and rapid prototyping to create niche products on demand. GE has become a strategic investor in Quirky and providing the firm access to its patent library. Is it the future of consumer product manufacturing? The case is written to illustrate the circumstances where crowdsourcing and open innovation are particularly powerful to business development.

Learning Objective

To discern the circumstances when crowd sourcing and open innovation are applicable to a business opportunity and how to set up the right system to mobilize a community of users.

Keywords

Open Innovation, Crowdfunding, Disruptive Technology, Platform, Crowdsourcing

Settings

Northern America, United States of America
2013

Type

Published Sources

Available Languages

English

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