Japanese Open Innovation in Silicon Valley: Innovation Outposts as Effective Ways of Absorbing Innovation into Corporate Ecosystems

Abstract

We define open innovation as a business management model for innovation that promotes collaboration with people and organisations outside the company. This research illustrates how Japanese companies focus on collaboration, ecosystem development, and user integration to initiate social innovation opportunities. The authors worked with investors, key executives, and business architects from NTT Docomo Ventures, Inc. to underpin the main characteristics of their social innovation strategy and to determine how their organisations draw from experience in user engagement and their corporate philosophy to create sustainable business models and to develop a unique and long-lasting value proposition.