TY - JOUR A1 - Brem, Alexander A1 - Bilgram, Volker A1 - Marchuk, Anna T1 - How crowdfunding platforms change the nature of user innovation – from problem solving to entrepreneurship JF - Technological Forecasting and Social Change N2 - Crowdfunding has become a key research trend in recent years providing a new form of acquiring funding for innovation projects from users prior to the realization of the product in a ‘market before the market’. In this paper, we link the concept of crowdfunding with the user innovation phenomenon and show how user innovators harness crowdfunding to complement their innovative behavior and obtain funding to build firms and produce products in a more professional way. Conducting three case studies ranging from low- to high-tech crowdfunding campaigns, we investigate how crowdfunding impacts constituent dimensions of user innovation theory such as user motivation, user role, user community, collaboration between users and user investments. In particular, we argue that crowdfunding platforms (CFPs) may give rise to a more widespread occurrence of user entrepreneurs, who found a firm to commercialize their product or service in a marketplace they have created for their own need. Hence, we show the development from traditional user innovation to crowdfunding-enabled user innovation, which democratizes not only the creation but also the more large-scale commercialization of new products and services. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2017.11.020 SN - 0040-1625 VL - 144 SP - 348 EP - 360 PB - Elsevier BV ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Wöhrl, Andrea A1 - Korte, Sophia A1 - Bartl, Michael A1 - Bilgram, Volker A1 - Brem, Alexander ED - Bstieler, Ludwig ED - Noble, Charles T1 - HOW TO LEVERAGE THE RIGHT USERS AT THE RIGHT TIME WITHIN USER-CENTRIC INNOVATION PROCESSES T2 - The PDMA Handbook of Innovation and New Product Development Y1 - 2023 SN - 978-1-119-89021-8 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ET - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rogers, Helen A1 - Brem, Alexander T1 - Tariff Uncertainty and the Engineering Manager’s Dilemma JF - IEEE Engineering Management Review N2 - For engineering managers working in global organisations, tariffs have become an unpredictable force shaping all aspects of project delivery, sourcing, and design. Once treated as an issue reserved for finance or executive teams, trade-related taxes now directly influence engineering decisions on a daily basis. The challenge is not just that tariffs are higher but that they are volatile, shifting with political agendas that are difficult to predict. Y1 - 2025 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/EMR.2025.3609416 SN - 1937-4178 VL - 53 IS - 4 PB - IEEE ER -