Volume 81, Issue 1, October 2025, Pages 20–27
Rasha El Gendi1
1 Coventry School of Business, The Knowledge Hub Universities, Cairo, Egypt
Original language: English
Copyright © 2025 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This research paper presents a qualitative case study exploring the relationship between open innovation and customer experience within a global telecom operator in Egypt. Using in-depth interviews with 35 employees across various departments and extensive secondary data, the study investigates how service innovations are created to address local market needs and enhance customer experience. Findings reveal that the telecom operator leverages customer-centric open innovation to introduce both incremental and radical service innovations, such as interactive voice responses tailored to high illiteracy rates, micro-recharge cards, and mobile transfer applications. These innovations provide value-for-money, convenience, and differentiated services, significantly improving customer experience and loyalty in the emerging market context. The study underscores the importance of integrating external and internal knowledge and agile innovation processes to sustain competitive advantage in the dynamic telecommunications sector in Egypt.
Author Keywords: open innovation, service innovation, customer experience, emerging markets.
Rasha El Gendi1
1 Coventry School of Business, The Knowledge Hub Universities, Cairo, Egypt
Original language: English
Copyright © 2025 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
This research paper presents a qualitative case study exploring the relationship between open innovation and customer experience within a global telecom operator in Egypt. Using in-depth interviews with 35 employees across various departments and extensive secondary data, the study investigates how service innovations are created to address local market needs and enhance customer experience. Findings reveal that the telecom operator leverages customer-centric open innovation to introduce both incremental and radical service innovations, such as interactive voice responses tailored to high illiteracy rates, micro-recharge cards, and mobile transfer applications. These innovations provide value-for-money, convenience, and differentiated services, significantly improving customer experience and loyalty in the emerging market context. The study underscores the importance of integrating external and internal knowledge and agile innovation processes to sustain competitive advantage in the dynamic telecommunications sector in Egypt.
Author Keywords: open innovation, service innovation, customer experience, emerging markets.
How to Cite this Article
Rasha El Gendi, “The Role of Open Innovation to Improve Customer Experience in Emerging Market Telecoms,” International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, vol. 81, no. 1, pp. 20–27, October 2025.
