Riassunto analitico
Much of the research into motorsport has concentrated on the technology and science of creating the competition vehicles themselves and relatively little has been undertaken on the business element. This is an oversight as lead users can arise new needs for the general users and how these lead users can become successful entrepreneurs. This study aims to fill that omission by reporting the case study of a fast growing and successful helmet company: Stilo S.r.l.
The main goal of this thesis is to outiline how the lead user innovation can be the starting point to run a business in a fast-changing and highly-technological business such as motorsport, and particularly motorsport technical gear industry.
In the first part of this text we will approach the world of motorsport with an eye on its business side, determining rules and roles that directly influence manufacturing firms and users. We will go through a theoretical part that explains how does user innovation work and what are its best practices and uses. In the last and third part, we will look more finely to the case history of Stilo S.r.l., an helmet manufacturer firm that started from rallies to approach touring car and formula competitions.
The case history shows and confirms how lead users are crucial to highly-technological firms which operate in fast-changing environments such as motorsport, because they give the possibility to anticipate future trends of the market, giving firms the possibility to be constantly at the forefront. Moreover this study outlines that motorsport is a really specific sector with its own dynamics and it gives some important suggestions on the role of lead user and on the evolution of user entrepreneurship that can be the starting point for further studies.
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Abstract
Much of the research into motorsport has concentrated on the technology and science of creating the competition vehicles themselves and relatively little has been undertaken on the business element. This is an oversight as lead users can arise new needs for the general users and how these lead users can become successful entrepreneurs. This study aims to fill that omission by reporting the case study of a fast growing and successful helmet company: Stilo S.r.l.
The main goal of this thesis is to outiline how the lead user innovation can be the starting point to run a business in a fast-changing and highly-technological business such as motorsport, and particularly motorsport technical gear industry.
In the first part of this text we will approach the world of motorsport with an eye on its business side, determining rules and roles that directly influence manufacturing firms and users. We will go through a theoretical part that explains how does user innovation work and what are its best practices and uses. In the last and third part, we will look more finely to the case history of Stilo S.r.l., an helmet manufacturer firm that started from rallies to approach touring car and formula competitions.
The case history shows and confirms how lead users are crucial to highly-technological firms which operate in fast-changing environments such as motorsport, because they give the possibility to anticipate future trends of the market, giving firms the possibility to be constantly at the forefront. Moreover this study outlines that motorsport is a really specific sector with its own dynamics and it gives some important suggestions on the role of lead user and on the evolution of user entrepreneurship that can be the starting point for further studies.
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