Open innovation, gender and the infiltration of masculine discourses

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to illustrate how open innovation is implemented in practice in a large multinational corporation and to discuss how masculine discourses of rational control and competition are reinforced during such a process. Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory single case study approach has been employed. Qualitative empirical data (interviews and documents) are derived from a four year longitudinal research project on open and distributed innovation processes in the automotive industry. Findings – Masculinity enters the discourse of open innovation through prescribed classical management ideals in line with auditing and bureaucratisation. The paper illustrates how these masculine discourses are reproduced rather than challenged by open innovation. It also highlights how the preoccupation with control and conquest tends to silence alternative (feminine) discourses which could otherwise enrich the radical and creative features of the open innovation paradigm. Research limitations/impl...