Open Innovation and Team Leaders’ Innovation Traits

Abstract

Open innovation has transformed internal novel resource allocation and facilitated diverse interorganizational cooperation models. Previous studies have investigated open innovation archetypes and their formation. However, most researchers have neglected the crucial role that team leaders play in integrating internal and external resources and connecting creative ideas in open innovation. This study investigated the influence of open innovation archetypes and team leaders’ innovation traits on team performance. On the basis of the literature review, the analytical hierarchy process was applied to construct a framework for assessing and selecting team leaders in open innovation. The analysis was completed based on samples from 45 valid respondents (88% return rate) in Taiwan’s high-tech industry. The study results suggested that innovation knowledge is the most crucial innovation criterion for a leader, particularly core knowledge and advanced knowledge. Among the various sub-criteria, extrinsic motivation was the second most important sub-criterion. Leaders with strong innovation motivations are suitable to lead inbound open innovation projects.