Open-Innovation Practices: Diversity in Portuguese SMEs

Fernando Almeida

doi:10.3390/joitmc7030169

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the diversity of open-innovation practices that are adopted in Portuguese SMEs considering the outside-in, inside-out, and coupled paradigms. A quantitative study was carried out considering a sample of 187 Portuguese SMEs. The findings revealed that these organizations favored the adoption of the outside-in paradigm. The inside-out model was the least relevant, especially for smaller companies (i.e., small and micro-companies). The most adopted outside-in practices were the integration of external knowledge from suppliers and clients; in the inside-out model, licensing processes were more important; while in the coupled model, joint ventures and network consortiums stood out. The increase in the innovation capacity of these organizations was highlighted as the most relevant benefit, while the lack of resources and difficulties in integrating knowledge emerged as challenges. This study is especially relevant for the establishment of public-support policies that promote the involvement of Portuguese SMEs in open-innovation processes.

Highlights

In a dynamic economy, influenced by profound social changes and technological evolutions, innovation assumes a decisive relevance in economic growth, the creation of competitive advantages, and the sustainability of organizations [1,2,3,4]
The coupled model was more relevant than the inside-out model, which revealed that organizations felt more committed to participating in collaborative modes in which inside-out practices were complemented outside-in
The inside-out model was not very appealing to Portuguese sized companies (SMEs), there was a greater dispersion of answers in this component

Summary

Introduction

In a dynamic economy, influenced by profound social changes and technological evolutions, innovation assumes a decisive relevance in economic growth, the creation of competitive advantages, and the sustainability of organizations [1,2,3,4]. In the closed-innovation paradigm, the projects begin based on in-house knowledge and technologies, followed by a development phase in which some projects are progressively eliminated for not revealing a high potential for the company, with a smaller number of projects that will reach the market as new products or services resulting from this process [16]. It is considered a closed process because, since its conception, the process control is performed only by the company, and the projects have only one way to enter and leave the process. In the open-innovation paradigm, intellectual property is an important asset for the company because it constitutes an additional source of revenue and fosters the business model itself [19,20]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion