Managing a strategic source of innovation: Online users

• The study provides insights of complementarities between external sourcing of knowledge and necessary internal competences.
• Three types of online innovation tools are identified.
• Disclosure competence, appropriation competence, and integration competence effectively implement online innovation tools.
• A framework and a case study aligns online innovation tools with the three management competences and relevant practices.

The purpose of the paper is to develop a framework of management competences related to the effective management of three types of online innovation tools. The framework highlights the development of three types of management competences and related practices: (a) disclosure competence in order to find, direct and motivate users to contribute, (b) appropriation competence in order to appropriate users’ contributions, and (c) integration competence in order to direct, transfer and integrate user contributions to the relevant parts of the organization. The study provides a managerially relevant view of the complementarities between external sourcing of knowledge and necessary internal competences to reap the benefits of involving users through an online innovation tool.