Open Innovation Activities Research Articles

A Taxonomy of Factors Influencing Drop-Out Behaviour in Living Lab Field Tests

The concept of a “living lab” is a relatively new research area and phenomenon that facilitates user engagement in open innovation activities. Studies on living labs show that the users’ motivation ...

Open innovation of small and medium-sized enterprises and innovation efficiency

ABSTRACTAlthough open innovation approaches were introduced because of firms’ decreased innovation efficiency in a rapidly changing environment, few studies shed light on the effects of open innovation on innovation efficiency. Additionally, previous studies shed minimal light on open innovation practices in the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) context. This study attempts to remedy these research gaps using a unique dataset of Korean SMEs in manufacturing industries. I examined the effects of SMEs’ two inbound open innovation activities, external search and collaboration activities, on innovation efficiency. To measure SMEs’ innovation efficiency scores, I used the data envelopment analysis method, which calculates the relative innovation efficiency scores among them. The results revealed external search activities of SMEs improve their innovation efficiency, whereas their collaboration activities decrease their innovation efficiency. I also found the positive effect of SMEs’ external search activities on innovation efficiency is weakened by their internal R&D capacity. Nevertheless, with higher levels of internal R&D capacity, SMEs can improve their innovation efficiency through collaboration activities. Furthermore, the results showed the effects of these two inbound open innovation activities alter through the SMEs’ growth phases and the effects of collaboration activities on SMEs’ innovation efficiency and innovative performance are different.

Examining the linkage among open innovation, customer knowledge management and radical innovation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a research model exploring the link between open innovation, customer knowledge management and radical innovation. It seeks to answer these research questions: is there any difference among the effects of different types of open innovation activities on radical innovation? How does the organizational learning ability influence the impact of customer knowledge management on radical innovation?Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on the data collected from a sample of 165 modern service enterprises located in the Yangtze River Delta region. The authors conducted a structural equation modeling analysis using SPSS and MPLUS to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe results showed that different kinds of open innovation activities had different impacts on the path to radical innovation. Inbound open innovation activities directly influenced radical innovation while the effect of outbound open innovation activities on radical innovation combined with the organizational exploitative learning ability is indirect. Similarly, the empirical results also proved that customer knowledge management had an indirect effect on radical innovation through the organizational learning ability, and the influence of the exploratory learning ability was more prominent.Originality/valueUnder the background of the national innovation driven by the development strategy, this paper studies the impact mechanism of radical innovation from the perspectives of open innovation and customer knowledge management. Therefore, it is suggested that the enterprise should adopt open innovation activities to foster innovation performance, formulate a customer-oriented innovation strategy and invest information and communication technologies to enhance the organizational learning ability of the enterprise.

Knowledge-oriented leadership and open innovation: Role of knowledge management capability in France-based multinationals

This paper discusses the links between knowledge-oriented leadership, open innovation and knowledge management in the international business context. Open innovation has become crucial for an increasing number of multinational enterprises (MNEs) to gain and maintain competitive advantage and become a market leader. Despite the recent proliferation of papers dealing with open innovation practices of MNEs, there is limited work investigating the role of knowledge management (KM) capability on the relationship between knowledge-oriented leadership and open innovation. Given MNEs’ growing interest in open innovation, the lack of research on knowledge-oriented leadership and KM capability in the open innovation context is a significant research gap in our knowledge. In response, we conducted a study on the mediating role of KM capability in the linkage between knowledge-oriented leadership and open innovation (inbound and outbound), using data collected from 172 subsidiaries of MNEs based in France. A structural equation modelling approach is employed to study the impact of the latent variables associated with knowledge-oriented leadership and KM capability on open innovation. The results indicate that higher levels of knowledge-oriented leadership can lead to enhanced KM capability and improved open innovation outcomes. That is, knowledge-oriented leadership has a direct, positive impact on KM capability and open innovation. Also, KM capability is found to mediate the linkage between knowledge-oriented leadership and open innovation. This study provides useful insights for managers who wish to enhance open innovation activities in MNEs, and offers useful guidance to international business scholars, encouraging further research in this area.

Analysis of Open Innovation Practices in Malaysian SMEs

Open Innovation is a phenomenon that has become increasingly important due to found shorter innovation cycles, industrial R&D escalating costs as well as in the dearth of resources. Researchers have suggested various kinds of practices and ways to categorized them. However, most of prior studies only used some of the practices to measured open innovation, but the measurements were very generic as some practices are broadly defined, and the list of open innovation activities not included new activities and completed list of practices. Hence, it is crucial to identify a new list of open innovation practices and study on similar practices in developing countries to help their companies understand open innovation and its practices as well. This study reviewing prior studies on open innovation adoption published between 2003 and March 2014 and identified 36 different practices. Therefore, we created a new list of open innovation practices that cover most of strategies and practices mentioned in prior studies. This study used quantitative methodology, 400 high rank executives manager of Malaysia SMEs participated and completed the survey and further analyzed using the appropriate statistical procedures. The results indicated that Malaysian SMEs use three core processes of open innovation including coupled, outside-in, and inside-out practices in their open innovation processes, respectively.

A facilitated expert‐based approach to architecting “openable” complex systems

AbstractOpen innovation methods, which broadly include: prize competitions, grand challenges, and collaborative communities, are increasingly being applied to complex systems problems. While external solvers (i.e., the crowd) have historically contributed some important innovations, there appears to be a limit to the kind of systems where open innovation can be successful. We contend that open innovation activities can be more broadly effective if seekers (i.e., problem owners) formulated their system architectures with “openability” in mind. In this paper, we build on existing theory to categorize the kinds of problems that are most amenable to crowd contributions, based on the mechanisms of solving. We call these “openable” problems. We then develop and demonstrate an architecting process that uses a facilitated expert workshop to elicit “openable” subproblems within a given systems‐level problem. It treats the need for some openable subproblems as a constraint on the architecture. While not all systems should be designed with “openability” in mind, many organizations have faced political‐level pressure to better leverage the crowd. In that context, we provide guidance on how to do so effectively. We demonstrate the potential value of our approach through application to the NASA Asteroid Grand Challenge—a highly complex system. The paper concludes by reflecting on the implications of this exercise for open innovation and system decomposition in general.

Integrating the management of socio-ethical factors into industry innovation: towards a concept of Open Innovation 2.0

To create a sustainable future, innovations are needed that integrate socio-ethical issues. Responsible innovation provides a method for managing these issues, and tries to ensure that innovation is conducted for and with society. The application of responsible innovation in industry contexts, where many of these innovations are developed, is limited by challenges related to dominant business logics, stakeholder management problems and resource constraints. Open innovation is an approach more commonly employed within industry contexts, which involves activities that overlap with responsible innovation dimensions and practices. This means that open innovation could represent a way to integrate the management of socio-ethical factors into industry contexts in a less disruptive and costly way. This paper explores the extent to which open innovation and responsible innovation overlap and could be compatible. Both open innovation and responsible innovation are reviewed theoretically before an empirical enquiry is launched through semi-structured interviews (n=11) with entrepreneurs developing innovations in the context of climate-smart agriculture in Europe. We find evidence for compatibility between exploratory open innovation activities and dimensions of responsible innovation. Results indicate that the management of socio-ethical issues through open innovation requires sensitivity to ethical issues and a motivation to include ethical considerations strategically in innovation processes. These findings are incorporated into a provisional extended open innovation model for the management of socio-ethical in industry contexts – an Open Innovation 2.0.

How to Integrate Suppliers into the Innovation Process? An Explorative Case of Champion Formalization in the Purchasing Department in Times of Open Innovation

Literature on the champion theory proposes the informal character of the champion’s role and also notes difficulties in institutionalizing it. Nevertheless, formally institutionalized roles that seem to fit the description of a champion can be recognized in organizations, especially as enablers of open innovation activities. However, research cannot answer how this institutionalization occurs and which factors influence it. To answer these questions, we investigate a unique single case in which a champion role was institutionalized in the purchasing department of a multinational company. The new role’s task is to identify, select, and integrate supplier innovations. Our results indicate that the informal role of the champion can be successfully institutionalized when certain success factors are considered, which are management commitment, use of success stories, and matching of champions with research and development teams. We contribute to innovation management literature by using the well-established champion theory to explain how and why large multinational companies formally establish the role of the innovation champion. Our research offers pathways for further research about both, the antecedents and the consequences of role formalization. Practitioners can build on the success factors derived in this study when formally implementing innovation champions as enablers of open innovation activities.

Exploring open innovation in entrepreneurial private family firms in low- and medium-technology industries

resources to cope with issues that arise in the various stages of the innovation process. These are often lacking in private family small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Such firms usually do not possess the required diversity of in-house resources and expertise, which makes it extremely difficult for them to rely solely on in-house innovation activities. Opening their boundaries and collaborating are, therefore, essential for innovation success. Open innovation (OI) – strategic collaboration with external partners to develop new technological innovations through sharing, using, and integrating knowledge – involves loosening control and allowing for a high degree of interdependence among the partners in the innovation process. However, engaging in OI poses major challenges to family firms. Their willingness to engage in OI activities might be seriously hampered by a fear of control loss and/or by multiple and potentially conflicting goals within the family firm and family system. Some family firms successfully meet these challenges, others do not. Therefore, our main objective is to explore a diversity of OI processes in private family SMEs and to examine the ways in which family firms can rise to the challenges and succeed in innovating openly. In this respect, we recognize that OI processes are a specific type of strategic change that may involve various iterative cycles of internal change in which the firm may never reach a final state. The state of openness and the supporting internal characteristics need to be constantly scrutinized and maintained.

Assumptions of Customer Knowledge Enablement in the Open Innovation Process

Abstract In the scientific literature, open innovation is one of the most effective means to innovate and gain a competitive advantage. In practice, there is a variety of open innovation activities, but, nevertheless, customers stand as the cornerstone in this area, since the customers’ knowledge is one of the most important sources of new knowledge and ideas. Evaluating the context where are the interactions of open innovation and customer knowledge enablement, it is necessary to take into account the importance of customer knowledge management. Increasingly it is highlighted that customers’ knowledge management facilitates the creation of innovations. However, it should be an examination of other factors that influence the open innovation, and, at the same time, customers’ knowledge management. This article presents a theoretical model, which reveals the assumptions of open innovation process and the impact on the firm’s performance.

Towards a theory regarding open innovation and entrepreneurship: a meta-synthesis from qualitative studies in small and medium enterprises and start-ups

Open innovation is still after a decade an emergent topic in literature and, because of this, there are few gaps to be explored. Two of these gaps are the relationship between open innovation and entrepreneurship and open innovation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), because most studies focus on large enterprises. Our research question in this study is: what do case studies report in terms of open innovation in start-ups or SMEs that would be related to entrepreneurial orientation? Our study is a meta-synthesis of qualitative case studies following the stages presented by Hoon (2013). A theory was developed and presented considering the entrepreneurial orientation dimensions and open innovation activities. In the concluding section, limitations and suggestions in terms of future works were presented.

Towards a theory regarding open innovation and entrepreneurship: a meta-synthesis from qualitative studies in small and medium enterprises and start-ups

<p>Open innovation is still after a decade an emergent topic in literature and, because of this, there are few gaps to be explored. Two of these gaps are the relationship between open innovation and entrepreneurship and open innovation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), because most studies focus on large enterprises. Our research question in this study is: what do case studies report in terms of open innovation in start-ups or SMEs that would be related to entrepreneurial orientation? Our study is a meta-synthesis of qualitative case studies following the stages presented by Hoon (2013). A theory was developed and presented considering the entrepreneurial orientation dimensions and open innovation activities. In the concluding section, limitations and suggestions in terms of future works were presented.</p>

Where lies the difference between open innovation adopters and non-adopters?

Based on a survey of 454 Europe-based companies, we explore the differences in implementation of open innovation activities and organizational level capabilities of companies representing five stages of self-assessed adoption of OI including non-adopters. Our results indicate that difference between the intensity of adoption of OI activities can be clearly recognized in case of extreme groups comparison (e.g. experienced adopters vs. non adopters) only. Moreover, our results show that the true difference between companies lie in establishment of particular organizational practices and supporting mechanisms to foster knowledge inflows and outflows, discovering external and unlocking internal paths to markets. Thus, this study contributes to the ongoing research on the process of open innovation implementation and its supporting mechanisms.

Open innovation and intellectual property: a knowledge-based approach

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a patent-based framework for investigating the effect of previous and current open innovation (OI) adoption on firms’ knowledge management strategies and type of innovation output.Design/methodology/approachPatent data are employed for gauging innovation practices, exploitation vs exploration strategies, specialization vs diversification choices and type of innovation. The study is performed on a sample of 1,280 patents granted to 66 top R&D spending bio-pharmaceutical companies. The year of analysis is 2010.FindingsThe previous recourse to specific innovation practices influences the current practice selection. R&D collaboration, outsourcing and mergers and acquisitions are employed to pursue exploration. Past purchase of patents increases the likelihood to achieve architectural and radical innovation in current activities.Research limitations/implicationsThe work recommends the use of patent data to gauge many key elements for knowledge and innovation management. Results exhort scholars to investigate innovation practices at the knowledge domain level in order to detect specific behaviors.Practical implicationsThe study provides a methodology for supporting decision-makers in assessing firms’ OI adoption, also performing the benchmark with competitors and R&D partners. Given the high computational effort required for applying the methodology, the authors are planning to give access to the software specifically developed for this study.Originality/valueThe work contributes to the current debate considering the effect of a combination of innovation practices on knowledge management strategies and type of innovation output, with a particular focus on OI activities. Moreover, the separation between the impact of previous and current innovation practices provides useful insights.

Leveraging Big Data for Sustaining Open Innovation

The concepts of open innovation and big data have been largely explored, but little research focused on the use of big data for open innovation activities. We explore how big data obtained by socia...

Leveraging Big Data for Sustaining Open Innovation: The Case of Social TV

ABSTRACTThe concepts of open innovation and big data have been largely explored, but little research focused on the use of big data for open innovation activities. We explore how big data obtained by social media can be useful for open innovation activities in Television (TV) domain. Results demonstrate that the analysis of open data coming from social media data allows TV managers to identify the specific TV contents and Twitter elements, which are able to increase the social media traffic related to the show and gain insights for innovating the design of the TV show’s episodes or seasons.

The impact of open innovation activities on performance of Korean IT SMEs·Venture: Technology Transfer Experiences and Technological Collaboration

우리나라의 중소기업은 전체 사업체 수의 99.8%, 종사자 비중의 87.9%, 전체 생산액의 48.3%를 차지하는 등 국가경제의 근간을 형성하고 있으며, 기술혁신, 고용창출, 산업의 다양성, 지역균형개발 등 여러 측면에서 국민경제 발전에 있어서 실질적인 원동력이 되고 있다. 이로 인해 중소기업은 기술혁신을 통해서 기술역량...

How start-ups successfully organize and manage open innovation with large companies

PurposeOpen innovation in start-ups is a relatively unexplored field and studies focusing on collaborative innovation between start-ups with large companies seen from the former’s point of view are virtually inexistent. The authors address this gap in an exploratory study built on in-depth case studies. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how start-ups successfully organize and manage open innovation with large companies. The paper highlights common challenges and barriers faced by start-ups in adopting open innovation practices along with its benefits for them.Design/methodology/approachThis is an exploratory study based on two case studies. The cases are diligently selected to examine two key forms of open innovation – inbound and outbound open innovation – in start-ups.FindingsThe paper provides an insight on how start-ups organize and manage open innovation activities with large companies and how it benefits them in overcoming liability of newness and smallness. The practices significantly differ from those followed in large companies. The paper highlights the advantages and challenges of inbound and outbound open innovation for start-ups. This paper also ascertains the crucial role of start-up manager for successful implementation of open innovation and shows how start-up’s managers with prior experience of working in/with a large company can proficiently deal with the larger counterpart in the innovation network.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is based on exploratory case studies so the conclusions drawn from these two cases may be hard to generalize. The findings of the study could be used for further development of the theoretical framework. Future research, including quantitative studies, will be helpful in examining the conclusions and providing more in-depth understanding of open innovation in start-ups.Practical implicationsThe paper includes several practical implications for the managers including the role start-up managers play in organizing and managing open innovation activities. Furthermore, this paper suggests how start-ups could orchestrate open innovation ecosystem.Originality/valueThe paper is a step forward in filling the literature gap about open innovation and start-ups with some definite implications for start-up managers. A lot is written about the collaboration between large firms and start-ups from a former’s point of view but the start-up’s perspective has been left unexplored.

Proclivity for open innovation in the case of agricultural and food companies in Serbia

The approach to open innovation presents one of the major trends in terms of constant change and accelerating technological innovation. The given construct proclivity for open innovation involves measuring technology exploration and technology exploitation involving different inside-out and outside-in open innovation activities. In this paper, we are researching the tendency for open innovation on a sample of 102 companies in the agriculture and food sectors in Serbia. The research has shown that companies in the agro-food sector are inclined to open innovation, not just those in high-tech industries that are often the subject of innovation literature. The food sector shows greater proclivity for open innovation in comparison with agriculture in all elements apart from the question of willingness to sell intellectual property. The study was limited to Serbia and cross-countries research would allow establishing the specificities and differences of the proclivity for open innovation in the agro-food sector by regions.

DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPEN INNOVATION MODEL FOR R&D COLLABORATION BETWEEN LARGE FIRMS AND SMALL-MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SMES) IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

Mutual growth in the relation between large firms and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) has been an important issue that can be overcome with the concept of open innovation, which is the most continuous research topic in technology innovation. However, most previous studies on open innovation barely analyse both firm types, focusing only on one party. The aim of this study is to develop open innovation models for complementary cooperation between both types of firms in manufacturing industry. Based on a basic understanding of open innovation in each firm type, this study suggests open innovation typology with two main concepts of open innovation: knowledge interaction and technology innovation. Finally, open innovation models are developed, considering the cooperative participants, their relationships in open innovation processes, and open innovation activities illustrated through case studies. The results contribute to manage strategic open innovation between large firms and SMEs through various approaches of cooperation.