Fiat Mio - Open Innovation, Crowdsourcing and creative commons in the Automotive Industry - Case Study Example

Fiat Mio Case study Author’s name Institutional affiliation Background Fiat Cars and Fiat group was founded in eighteen ninety nine and emphases on automotive sector globally. Its nerve center is at Turin in Italy (Saldanha & Pozzebon, 2015). It exits in two parts: Fiat Group Automobiles which specializes on cars production such as Ferrari and Fiat Industrial firm which majors in manufacturing f trucks and tractors. It is believed to be currently operating in sixty countries worldwide and makes a total of approximately two million vehicles annually. The company has made Brazil to move to top five in the automotive industry over the past few years. Open innovation and crowdsourcing In the current world, development has exhausted the creativity of the people in various industries. This has led people to try and encourage others to contribute ideas on their industries. It is a collective and inclusively participatory approach as seen in Fiat Mio project. Due to the rampant and massive use of internet worldwide, an open discussion about various topics can generate a handful of ideas. Outsourcing has proved to be an expensive technique to apply in many developing companies (Saldanha & Pozzebon, 2015). Therefore, many opt for crowdsourcing which is more affordable and takes a short span of time. Fiat Mio project key points analysis In the year two thousand and six, after Fiat Mio’s thirty year existence celebration, Peter Fassbender website was created with the main intention of doing a marketing survey which comprised of general topics like culture, communication, technology and mobility. However, it turned to be a marketing campaign and motivated by an article he had read in the internet as he sought for inspiration to create the third prototype (Saldanha & Pozzebon, 2015). Of significance is the integrated approach which made use of all available human resources which were at his disposal. The projection of ideas to be generated was five hundred but turned out to be seven thousand and seventy eight which proved how rich the public is with brilliant ideas. Surprisingly, he opened the ideas generated to the public and other automobile companies which could utilize the information to better their products. However, the ideas were not to be commercialized since they were freely generated from the public. Key participants in the Fiat Mio project The project had a broad spectrum of players since it was open. The pioneer was Peter Fassbender the Brazilian Fiat center leader who came conceptualized the idea of crowdsourcing after reading a Germany article which had condemned Automobile companies for not involving the public in raising their preferred interests yet they were majorly the end users. Ciao, who is well educated in multidisciplinary sectors played a key role in the advertisement sector and his zeal and dedication to the Fiat Mio project was commendable. The chief listening officer played a key role in transforming the suggestions on the Web into useful ideas (Saldanha & Pozzebon, 2015). The project could not have a success without the Spicy Media Team who played a key role in coordination of “the car of the future and the future of cars” research. The web designer team together with the seventeen thousand internet participants played a key role in brainstorming on the best logo for the prototype. Benefits that Fiat Group got from the innovation process The Fiat Mio innovation process enhanced collaboration between departments in the Fiat Group. These entail the design marketing, engineering, human resources, and development, communications and management departments. This is because the whole process required unity among the members of the group for the public to gain trust and collaborate too. There was an amplified quality of decisions in the company because of the inclusive decision making process which sought for approval from all concerned individuals. There was provision of relevant information with regard to broad spectrum of ideas which was utilized by the experts to produce an excellent prototype and for future innovations in not only motor cars but other products which may emerge. As stated by one Fiat executive, “When we have simplistic and naive points of view about something that has become deeply technical and complex for us, we have undergone a kind of disconnection; and I think this is a good thing.” Saldanha & Pozzebon (2015). The company gained new angles on problems in their target market which definitely motivated them to generate solutions. A sustainable and effective communication platform was created which ensures enhanced client versus provider relationship. The concerns of the public can be easily conveyed and given required feedback on time. This in return leads to realization of increased sales for the company. The company improved its connection with other automotive companies by allowing them to freely access the generated ideas and also produce products which matched Fiat Mio prototype exactly. Benefits of the innovation process to the participant The process had many participants as addressed in the key participant sub title above. The individuals of the company departments gained a collaborative spirit which is essential for their own success in career and professional development. The pioneer of the project, Peter Fassbender gained satisfaction at the sight of a successful idea. The lay persons or rather internet users cultivated one of their main aim of using the internet which is networking. The platform had thousands of individuals participating and enhanced their social interactions (Saldanha & Pozzebon, 2015). The fact that ideas were sought from them, it confirmed their sense of worth not only to the company but society at large. It made them feel as though they were part of the company team an element which enhances ownership of products by the public or target market. The real innovation In case Fiat Mio was merely a prototype which would never be produced or marketed there has to be an innovation gained form the entire project. The entire process used in the project was the innovation. It was one of a kind crowdsourcing technique which entailed thousands of people and generated thousands of ideas. The Website as generated by Peter with the aim of gaining ideas motivated him more to encourage communication throughout the project phases (Saldanha & Pozzebon, 2015). The great communication process realized was more than the prototype produced. This is because the benefits were far much reaching and useful in the current and future world not only by Fiat group but also other companies and members in the platform who may conceptualize companies in future. It was also essential in that it contributed to crowdsourcing literature which was otherwise minimal. Reference Saldanha, F. P. & Pozzebon, Prof. M. (2015). Fiat Mio: The project that embraced Open innovation, Crowdsourcing and creative commons in the Automotive Industry. International Journal of Case Studies in management, 13(1), 1-19. Read More