Co-creating a Better Public Value Through Open Innovation: A Bibliometric and Interpretive Review

Abstract

The evolving institutional, technological, and social contingencies faced by public sector entities make open innovation to be a candidate for being the new normality of public sector management. However, there is little agreement on the distinguishing traits of open innovation in the public realm. The article systematizes the multiplicity of insights delivered by the extant scientific literature, providing a thick and comprehensive account of open innovation in the public sector. A dual approach was taken to conduct this literature review. A bibliographic analysis was implemented to shed light on main research streams driving recent advancements in the management discourse about open innovation in the public sector. Next, an interpretive account of research streams was rendered, highlighting the core arguments addressed by extant scholarly literature. The SPAR-4-SLR protocol was used to collect, assess, and analyze scientific items, enabling us to ensure the study replicability and reliability. Altogether, 108 items were clustered in 5 research streams, accounting for an evolutionary view of open innovation in the public sector. Public sector entities play different roles to foster open innovation. They conventionally act as “senior partners” of private companies, providing funding (Yellow cluster) and data (Purple cluster) to sustain open innovation ecosystems. An alternative perspective understands open innovation as an innovative public management model, which is purposefully enacted by public sector entities to generate public value (Red cluster). Fitting architectures (Green cluster) and mechanisms (Blue cluster) should be designed to propel open innovation in the public sector. Alongside unveiling compelling avenues for further developments, the paper points out insights for scholars and practitioners, emphasizing the need for reconceptualizing the role of public sector organizations in the open innovation context. Tailored management and organizational interventions are needed to overcome the obstacles and the barriers which prevent the exploitation of open innovation as a new public value creation model