Abstract
ABSTRACT Purpose: To analyze how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) coordinate collaborative research and development (R&D) projects through an open innovation strategy. Originality/value: This research was motivated by a theoretical gap in the management of collaborative R&D projects in open innovation strategies. The originality of the paper is to advance the understanding of coordination mechanisms that SMEs can use to manage open innovation and obtain more effective results. Design/methodology/approach: The research followed a qualitative approach, through three case studies of collaborative projects. Data were collected by means of in-depth interviews with eleven managers directly involved in collaborative R&D projects. Findings: Results demonstrate that the use of coordination mechanisms depends on the applicability of each project’s results, i.e., the higher the chances of a certain R&D project becoming a real product, the higher the importance given to the coordination mechanisms. On the cases observed, the coordination mechanisms were defined by the enterprise, not by external partners. In addition, it was observed that open innovation projects that the enterprise seeks for external knowledge to complement internal resources (outside-in) were considered more important than transferring internal knowledge to external partners (inside-out). The paper contributes to organizational theory by highlighting the relation between the characteristics of collaborative R&D projects and the coordination mechanisms used. Regarding the managerial contribution, results serve as a guide for entrepreneurs and managers of SMEs interested in coordinating collaborative projects based on open innovation processes.
Highlights
In the last decades a consensus on the importance of innovation for business competitiveness and survival has been developed (Rasera & Balbinot, 2010)
Based on the ten coordination mechanisms of interorganizational activities proposed by Grandori and Soda (1995), and in open innovation processes (Chesbrough, 2012), this paper proposes to identify how the coordination of collaborative research and development (R&D) practices in the open innovation model (OI) process of SMEs occurs
The first case study covers the category of OI practices from outside the enterprise
Summary
In the last decades a consensus on the importance of innovation for business competitiveness and survival has been developed (Rasera & Balbinot, 2010). Researchers sought knowledge from external sources, the risk of developing new technologies with partners led enterprises to focus their innovation activities internally on a model characterized as closed innovation (Chesbrough, 2012). For small enterprises, this was a difficult-to-compete scenario, given their limitations for investing in laboratories and R&D projects. The need to complement internal resources and share the risks of technological development has led the innovation activity to a new level – from a closed model to the open innovation model (OI). With the OI model, SMEs may seek cooperation with other agents (mainly clients and suppliers, and universities and applied research centers), boosting technological development and offering new products and services (Brunswicker & Vanhaverbeke, 2015)
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