From CAP 1 to CAP 2: User‐Initiated Innovation from the User's Point of View

User‐initiated innovation is a significant source of new industrial products in certain industries. Recent investigations have been concerned primarily with the identification of user‐innovators and their usefulness to the manufacturers who eventually make and/or market the new product or process generally. The extension of thought to include the activities of customers in the initiation of the industrial innovative process has been based upon the assumption that the firm which initiates the user‐based innovation will play no more than a small role in its commercial exploitation. This article presents a case study of a company, British Aerospace, which has deliberately attempted to exploit commercially some of the innovations developed internally for its own use. The article goes on to suggest an extension to the “customer‐active paradigm” of innovation research to include such pro‐active behaviour.