Developing a Learning Method in an Open Innovation Project Through Action Research

Abstract

Based on an action research process, this paper explores how a specific method supporting action learning was implemented in an open innovation project, and mitigated some of the inherent challenges of multi-actor collaboration. Using empirical findings from a collaborative project implementing a collaborative innovation process, in the field of vehicle and traffic safety, and drawing on theories on action learning, a learning method in open innovation, moving from a transactional way of interacting to a transformational way of acting, is outlined. The paper provides rich illustrations of how this learning method enabled a shift from a strategic to a transformational collaboration, as the participants moved from a space of territorial protection to a space for collaborative exploration. Such a learning focus explores what happens at the interface of inter-organizational collaboration. The paper makes a theoretical and a practical contribution by adding to the understanding of learning in networks and how ...