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The present research examines how to improve the effectiveness of markets for university inventions from a demand side perspective. Specifically, it is examined whether and how the likelihood that university patents are purchased by companies is dependent upon the characteristics of patents' underlying knowledge. Two knowledge characteristics are analysed, i.e., knowledge breadth and knowledge maturity. Furthermore, the moderating effect of the level of scientific knowledge is further considered. On the basis of a sample of 1,222 university patents related to the biotechnology sector and registered at the US Patent and Trademark Office, this study outlines that knowledge breadth is curvilinearly related (inverted U-shaped) to the likelihood that academic patents are bought by firms, whereas knowledge maturity has a negative effect. Moreover, the level of scientific knowledge positively moderates the influence of knowledge breadth when it is at a low/moderate level, while it exerts a negative moderating effect when knowledge breadth is at a high level. Instead, the effect of knowledge maturity becomes stronger when university patents are based upon scientific knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University-firm links have stimulated a lot of attention. In fact, with the increasing knowledge and technologies created within university laboratories, firms have identified business opportunities by accessing the knowledge developed by external actors and commercialising universities' inventions. In this case, they adopt a knowledge acquisition strategy to foster innovation, reducing risk and exploiting new technological opportunities. This underlines a shift in the role of universities from education providers to scientific knowledge and technologies producers in the current knowledge-driven economy. In this context, the main goal of this paper is to assess the impact of knowledge acquisition on firms' innovation commercialisation, with a specific focus on knowledge developed by university scientific research. By applying hierarchical regressions on a sample of 185 Italian knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs), the findings indicate that firms benefit from research partnerships with and services from universities, when they also seek knowledge from other counterparts and when they possess higher levels of internal absorptive capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaboration between firms and universities, two main actors in the national system of innovation, brings the needs of the business world to the attention of the scientific community and allow scientific progress to be diffused more quickly in the real world. The aim of the paper is to compare the determinants of university-industry cooperation across countries and to identify differences between firms that cooperate with domestic and those that cooperate with foreign universities. We use data from 14 European countries taken from the 2008 community innovation survey. The degree of internationalisation is the main determinant of cooperation. Exporting or foreign-owned firms are more likely to cooperate with foreign universities. Differences in cooperation determinants also appear between the four country groupings that we extract by a cluster analysis on variables describing their institutional settings and national innovation systems. Notably different is the group of countries with a weak national innovation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate how a set of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can engage in business model development within a regional innovation ecosystem. Based on a case of Danish manufacturing SMEs that developed their local ecosystem in an innovative automation project, we find key drivers and challenges that these companies encountered while creating and capturing value both for them and the ecosystem at large. While the value creation process is enabled by common goals and financial support, companies need to balance their core activities with their commitment to the joint initiative. Moreover, ecosystem development is centrally dependent on the value-capture process, which also takes place at the inter-organisational level. Such open innovation process implies a purposive management of knowledge flows at the level of the innovation ecosystem that fits a multi-layered structure of the business model. Our findings also highlight the underlying connection between the business model and ecosystem concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The open innovation paradigm has created opportunities for the emergence of new actors to provide support for open innovation. It is acknowledged that knowledge creation is pivotal to innovation, but this has yet to be discussed in the context of open innovation intermediation. This paper based on a longitudinal study of SAFER, a traffic and vehicle safety research centre in Sweden, explores the role of an actor whose objective is to support joint knowledge creation in open innovation. Theoretical models of knowledge creation are used in the analysis and the identified activities go beyond intermediation, and include peer collaboration and mobilisation of a collective strategic body. These activities are fundamental to an open innovation arena - here introduced as a new type of actor. The paper challenges the established focal firm perspective in open innovation and introduces the open innovation arena to underline knowledge creation among peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can small firms manage and benefit from open innovation? We study three Taiwan's biotechnology firms leveraging open innovation in developing new drugs. At the phase of the new drug discovery, two companies acquired technology from external sources. CSRC Synpac Company acquired technology from Professor Yuan-Tsong Chen at Duke University (USA) in 1991. GlycoNex Company acquired technology from Professor Sen-itiroh Hakomori at University of Washington (USA) in 2001. AbGenomics Company developed its own technology at Professor Rong-Hwa Lin's team at National Taiwan University (Taiwan) in 2000. Through technology transfer, CSRC Synpac Company licensed out the new drug Myozyme to Genzyme Corporation (USA) in 2000. AbGenomics Company licensed out the new drug AbGn-168H to Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical (Germany) in 2005. GlycoNex Company licensed out the new drug GNX-8 to Otsuka Pharmaceutical (Japan) in 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the tense appropriability-openness relationship, defined by some as paradox. Based on an international survey of 415 manufacturing firms, we investigate how the use of different kinds of intellectual property protection mechanisms (IPPMs) affects interfirm R&D collaboration while considering partner location in the analysis as well. Our results show that the use of formal, semi-formal or informal IPPMs has different effects on openness in terms of partner variety and depth of collaboration with academic partners, value chain partners and competitors. Moreover, when considering location we uncover previously hidden appropriability-openness liaisons showing that semi-formal or informal IPPMs are mainly valid in relation to national partners, whereas formal appropriability explains international collaborations. One implication of the study is that to better understand the appropriability-openness relationship it is imperative to differentiate between national and international settings. We further suggest that the potential paradox delineating this relationship has a geographical dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research on open innovation primarily focused on theoretical perceptions about the transaction of technologies in information technology, pharmaceutical and electronics industry. Research about open innovation in the automotive industry has hardly received attention. However, the automotive industry has long been cooperating with external partners and nowadays acquires about three quarters of the value created from their suppliers. Based on theoretical findings of other industries, we examine the role of technology transactions and external partnerships in fostering firm capabilities. Survey responses from the German automotive industry let us empirically test seven hypotheses with a multiple regression model. Based on a firm's individual resource configuration and capability level, results show that some firms clearly profit more from openness than others. With this study, we extend research about open innovation in an industry where it has not been done before and empirically test the concept to overcome the prescriptive character of recent research on open innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web 2.0 has considerably increased the possibilities of user involvement in the production process and, thereby, has given rise to new forms of co-creation (open innovation with customers). Because the roles of consumers, now 'prosumers', have radically changed, specific challenges have emerged. The aim of this article is to provide possible routes to address such challenges. To do so, an input-output typology of co-creation is created. This typology is then used to discuss the main challenges of co-creation: incentives, risks and costs, IPRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Companies have traditionally considered innovation an internal process, and accordingly, they have relied on their internal intellectual capital. However, this closed innovation strategy has, in recent years, been superseded by an open innovation strategy. The existing measurement model of intellectual capital, which is concerned mainly with an internal dimension, is no longer appropriate for open innovation practice. To address this challenge, this paper reconstructs the measurement model of intellectual capital, expanding the concept to include both internal and external dimensions, both of which have the same three elements: human, structural, and relationship capital. To test the reliability and validity of this new model, we explore the impact of each element on innovation performance through an empirical study of 149 companies in China, and we find that all elements of internal and external intellectual capital have a significantly positive impact on innovation performance. This implies that our new measurement is appropriate for firms with an increasing degree of openness for innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers open innovation strategies in the food and drink industry and seeks to examine the determinants of openness and the impact of open behaviours by companies on innovation performance. The study clusters food and drink companies in terms of their degree of openness measured across two dimensions, namely, collaboration breadth (broad to narrow collaboration ecosystem) and collaboration depth (deeper to surface collaboration). Findings show that food and drink companies can be clustered into three open innovation modes in terms of their search strategy for external knowledge ranging from limited collaboration with traditional partners to a broad and deep openness approach with a wide spectrum of external sources. Technology pressures emerge as a key driver for greater openness. Significantly, greater openness leads to enhanced innovation performance; however, it requires a dedicated architecture for collaboration to access and leverage external knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a large and growing number of companies have attempted to develop core technologies for their products by conducting joint research with a company in a different industry. However, the mechanisms by which technologies are acquired and assimilated through cross-industry research remains unclear. In response to this ambiguity, we developed a theoretical framework for this mechanism, proposed hypotheses, and empirically examined data from a joint research project conducted by Toyota Motor Corporation and Panasonic Corporation to develop the nickel-hydrogen storage cell. Specifically, we analysed networks of inventors who filed patent applications through the joint research. The results indicate that there are 'boundary mediators' who facilitated the exchange of technologies between the two companies. On the basis of their wide range of technical knowledge, we found there to be two types of boundary mediators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the corporate landscape, some firms benefit from open innovation whereas others gain more advantage from a closed innovation model. Why do some firms benefit more than others from openness? A firm's strategy, which includes market and innovation orientation as well as internal structures and processes, is likely to be indicative of an adequate degree of firm openness and a well-considered selection of open innovation approaches. By analysing 25 firms according to three proactive strategy archetypes of innovation management, we identified distinctive behaviours regarding open and closed innovation activities. The three archetypes present an adequate degree of openness, adjusted to each archetype's strategic characteristics. Innovation managers can learn from this study how to skilfully link innovation models with each other as well as which degree of firm openness may be beneficial in order to reach a desired level of innovation performance. Furthermore, they can understand which open innovation activities are characteristic of a specific proactive strategy archetype of innovation management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking a knowledge-based approach to innovation, we distinguish between four different innovation strategies that vary in how knowledge is sourced and exploited: open innovation (OI), closed innovation, outbound OI, and inbound OI. We build an agent-based simulation model to explore the competitive performance profiles and innovation creation potential of these different strategies. Our simulation research allows for modelling the micro-foundations of open innovation and for studying innovation strategies in different market conditions. We find that the relative financial payoffs associated with the different innovation strategies vary over time: some strategies win out in the short-term, others in the long-term. Our results also suggest that a focused closed innovation strategy can lead to higher financial performance when all the resources are concentrated on internal R&D and commercialisation. Open innovation, and in particular the inbound side of it, is a beneficial long-term strategy, whereas closed innovation may be more profitable in the short run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a new product development (NPD) model that aims to improve the effectiveness of innovative NPD in the medical devices. By adopting open innovation theory and applying an in-depth investigation methodology, this paper proposes a knowledge cluster that improves the integration of interdisciplinary human resources and enhances the acquirement of innovative technologies. A knowledge cluster approach helps gather, organise, synthesise, and accumulate knowledge in order to become the impetus for innovation. Although enterprises are no longer the principals of research and development, they should still be capable of integrating professional physicians, external groups, and individuals through the knowledge cluster platform. However, in order to support an effective NPD model, enterprises should provide adequate incentives and trust to external individuals or groups willing to contribute their expertise and knowledge to this knowledge cluster platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the argument regarding the effect of firm size on the effectiveness of innovation continues, the particularities of open innovation from the perspective of emerging market small and medium enterprises (EM SMEs) must be addressed. We propose a network framework by bridging the resource-based view and the social network perspective with their respective emphases on the importance of EM SME innovation capacity. Specifically, we address this gap by exploring the incidence of and trends toward open innovation, using a survey data of 420 innovative SMEs of China. Our study supports open innovation from the social network perspective and shows the open innovation of considering important choices for SMEs in the emerging market setting. Our analyses of Chinese SMEs data largely support our theoretical framework and demonstrate the importance of factors across firm characteristics (innovation capacity and innovation barriers), network openness, and network information in understanding open innovation in EM SMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at firm-level differences in R&D intensity and sales from product innovations. R&D intensity and innovative sales are explained by a model using harmonised firm-level data from the Third Community Innovation Survey for three European countries: Belgium, Germany and Spain. For each country, the average estimates suggest that incoming knowledge spillovers, research cooperation, appropriability and human capital all exercise a positive influence on R&D intensity and, through this, on innovative sales. Quantile regressions indicate that, although there are differences between countries, the joint relative impact of incoming knowledge spillovers and research cooperation tends to increase quantile-wise in relation to that of appropriability. This suggests that strong innovators have a more open innovation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theory and practice both have recognised the importance of external knowledge to enhance organisations' innovation performance. Due to organisations' growing interest in effectively collaborating with external knowledge sources, research has investigated the importance of firm-external stakeholder interaction in open innovation. Despite valuable insights into the importance of the variety of external knowledge sources to enhance (open) innovation, research has overlooked so far that managers' characteristics and practices are relevant for the absorption of external knowledge in open innovation. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore how organisations' absorptive capacity - exploration, transformation, and exploitation - becomes manifested in managers' characteristics and practices in open innovation. This article reports on the findings obtained from four case studies of manufacturing and service organisations. Our findings show that the exploration, transformation, and exploitation of external knowledge are associated with a distinct set of managers' characteristics and practices that capture the dominant pattern of processing external knowledge in open innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on open innovation portrays open business models as a contemporary and extremely useful tool, which can be used by companies to create and capture value in collaboration with external partners. This paper takes the discussion a step further by examining the effect of opening business models in the newspaper industry. Based on interviews with key informants from the two largest media groups in Denmark, together with archival data from 2002 to 2011, we show how the internet and related technology developments have disrupted the long-standing successful business model of the industry. Our findings suggest that a more nuanced view and balanced understanding of the term 'openness' as regards business models is needed, since open business models may have other manifestations and implications for business model viability than have been reported in the literature so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

External sourcing is increasingly seen as important for obtaining new and valuable knowledge and resources for new product development. However, when it comes to the specifics of choosing between sources and types of relationships, little is known on the NPD project level. This paper strengthens and expands existing research by investigating how the mix of external partner types as well as the relationship strength is related to performance at the project level. The empirical background is a survey conducted among Danish SMEs in 2010. Ordinary least square regressions reveal that firms should not only consider the potential benefits of collaboration with external sources but also the downsides, including higher cost and lengthier projects. Firms should look for opportunities in the combination of sources if they are to gain advantages of collaboration, as our analyses show that a mix of market and science sources is related to decreased costs. Additionally, if firms are looking for increased market performance, they should aim at collaborating with suppliers that have a similar knowledge base, whereas if the aim is lower project costs, collaboration with a customer with a similar knowledge base is beneficial. However, the degree of novelty in the new product is lower when companies are very closely embedded with suppliers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China became the second-largest economy behind the USA in 2010. While there is quite some macroeconomic research documenting the technological catching-up of China as a nation, there is only little research studying how individual Chinese firms are catching up. This paper draws on the open innovation perspective to explore how Chinese firms improve their innovative performance. Our empirical analysis is based on a sample of 91 native Chinese firms in high-tech industries. The results indicate that Chinese firms widely implement an open innovation approach to strengthen their innovative performance. These firms use: 1) technology in-licensing agreements to obtain access to technologies; 2) long-term alliances with foreign partners to access state-of-the-art technologies; 3) collaboration with local universities and R&D institutes to broaden their technological strengths; 4) collaboration with the local industrial community to deepen their technological skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outsourcing of research and development (R&D) activities has grown rapidly in recent years. Outsourcing has major implications for how knowledge and R&D activities are organised and coordinated in a wider open innovation environment and creates major challenges for firms and their managers. This paper explores the implications of outsourcing and the increasingly distributed nature of research and innovative activities using primary survey data collected from the UK pharmaceutical industry. These issues are uniquely examined at both firm and activity level. This paper then seeks to set the findings of the study within the context of the wider debate and conceptual frameworks surrounding R&D outsourcing and offshoring in terms of the increasingly open and distributed nature of research operations. This paper concludes by exploring the implications for this for firm strategy and the open innovation agenda and for future research in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and installation of new process equipment in production plants typically requires strong collaboration among a process firm and various equipment suppliers. While incentives to collaborate often are strong, close collaboration also poses significant problems, throughout the lifecycle of process equipment. The purpose of this article is to explore the problems and opportunities faced by process firms and their equipment suppliers throughout the lifecycle stages of collaborative development projects. This paper combines literature on open innovation, collaborative development and buyer-supplier relationships. Empirically, we draw on a large number of interviews in a dual case study of two process firms. Our results show that strong collaboration is neither positive nor negative in general. Rather, opportunities, problems, and collaboration intensity are strongly contingent on the specific stage in the lifecycle of process equipment. Our findings underscore the managerial and theoretical importance of a lifecycle perspective on the development of process equipment, since significant overlaps and interconnections exist across different stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Users can be a prolific source of innovation. Nonetheless, many firms remain reluctant to integrate users into new product development. This is partly attributable to an insufficient understanding of ways in which firms can influence user activity to reap its benefits while reducing potentially adverse side-effects. This paper investigates by which instruments firms can affect the cost and benefit expectations that users attach to innovation activities and thereby influence user activity in terms of its level and focus. The analysis relies on prior empirical findings on purposive user guidance by manufacturers. We conclude that companies can indeed affect user activity and advance propositions on optimal strategies. Our findings can inform scholarly debate on the contingency factors of user innovation activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SME innovation strategy and motivation has become one of the most challenging subjects of innovation policy. New innovation models proposed recently have captured the attention of policy makers. However, these models seem for the most part to be applicable to medium-sized or large enterprises. The objective of this paper is to analyse the open innovation model in the case of outsourced cooperative R&D in SMEs. Although the driving forces for outsourcing innovation in SMEs are in some respects similar to those for large firms, others are linked to lack of resources, but both have in common the pursuit of efficiency in R&D and technology transfer. This paper is based on an empirical study of open innovation in SMEs and proposes a model for analysing the critical elements which influence performance and strategic alignment between R&D performers and their partners (in most cases, SMEs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accounts of open source software (OSS) development projects frequently stress their democratic, sometimes even anarchic nature, in contrast to for-profit organisations. Given this observation, our research evaluates qualitative data from Wikipedia, a free online encyclopaedia whose development mechanism allegedly resembles that of OSS projects. Our research offers contributions to the field of open innovation research with three major findings. First, we shed light on Wikipedia as a phenomenon that has received scant attention from management scholars to date. Second, we show that OSS-related motivational mechanisms partially apply to Wikipedia participants. Third, our exploration of Wikipedia also reveals that its organisational mechanisms are often perceived as bureaucratic by contributors. This finding was unexpected since this type of problem is often associated with for-profit organisations. Such a situation risks attenuating the motivation of contributors and sheds a critical light on the nature of Wikipedia as a role model for open innovation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When individuals act in open innovation networks, their attributes are specifically crucial in respect of their success or failure to profit from the network. The empirical background of this research was a 16-month investigation of EURADOS, the successful European network for research on radiation dosimetry. EURADOS presently consists of almost 200 members from 52 European institutions in 31 countries. Not all EURADOS members profit equally from its open innovation network. Structural equation modelling provided an answer regarding the personal and organisational attributes that are required to profit from the network in terms of an increase in innovativeness, a reduction in costs and a better fulfilment of tasks in the home organisation. The attributes openness and the possibility to contribute influence the value that individuals derive from open innovation networks equally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open source software (OSS) has come of age, and a number of maturing business models allow OSS companies to make a profit even when their product is distributed for free. This article considers the dynamics of value creation fuelling the proliferation of OSS and examines the business model factors that enable value capture. After interviewing leaders from over 20 OSS firms and organisations through early 2006, we found that three factors were consistently important in defining a vendor's adoption of a given business model: software licence choice, which takes into account intellectual property ownership; management of developer communities; and the unique features of the markets and product categories in which the vendor participates. Considering these factors, we characterise seven business models. One striking finding is that it is rare to find business-model purity. The majority of firms in our sample are pursuing either blended business models or multiple models simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although strategies, processes, or the role of business models have been addressed in the open innovation literature, the people side of the equation - i.e., the underlying innovation culture - has been neglected so far. Whereas cultural requirements of open innovation have been mentioned, such as the need to overcome the not-invented-here (NIH) syndrome, there exists, to the best of our knowledge, no study that empirically examines open innovation cultures. We attempt to fill this research gap by focusing on innovation cultures within three business units (two follow a closed and one follows an open innovation approach) of a leading multinational company within the specialty chemicals industry. Employing an overall sample of 109 respondents, we focus on the cultural dimensions of NIH syndrome, risk-taking, and management support of innovative behaviour and provide first evidence of cultural differences between Open and Closed Innovation units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The open innovation paradigm emphasises the importance of alliances for improving the innovation performance of firms. However, existing empirical research on innovation performance implications of alliances is dominated by cross-sectional studies. As a result, we do not know how the time frame of alliances might influence innovation performance. In this study, we therefore examine the impact of different time frames of alliance strategies on innovation performance. In order to do so, we collected panel data on 217 Flemish startup firms. The results show a positive association between 'discontinuous alliance strategies' with suppliers, customers and competitors and 'incremental' innovation performance. In addition, we find a positive impact of 'continuous alliance strategies' with suppliers, competitors and universities and other research institutes on 'radical' innovation performance. These findings encourage startup firms to balance their alliance portfolio not only in terms of different kinds of partners but also in terms of different kinds of time frames. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent growth in inward and outward technology transfer, e.g., by means of technology licensing, reflects the new paradigm of open innovation. By actively acquiring and commercialising intellectual property in the technology markets, these open innovation processes contrast traditional closed innovation processes. Prior open innovation research has largely been limited to case studies and theoretical contributions, and other lines of research have focused either on inward or outward technology transfer without taking an integrative perspective. Therefore, I simultaneously consider inward and outward technology transfer as the two main directions of open innovation. On this basis, data from a survey of 154 industrial firms are used to test four hypotheses relating the size and quality of the corporate patent portfolio to a firm's extent of external technology acquisition and external technology commercialisation. The results show that the corporate intellectual property portfolio constitutes a major determinant of opening up the innovation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open innovation is increasingly being adopted in business and describes a situation in which firms exchange ideas and knowledge with external participants, such as customers, suppliers, partner firms, and universities. This article extends the concept of open innovation with a push model of open innovation: knowledge is voluntarily created outside a firm by individuals and organisations who proceed to push knowledge into a firm's open innovation project. For empirical analysis, we examine source code and newsgroup data on the Eclipse Development Platform. We find that outsiders invest as much in the firm's project as the founding firm itself. Based on the insights from Eclipse, we develop four propositions: 'preemptive generosity' of a firm, 'continuous commitment', 'adaptive governance structure', and 'low entry barrier' are contexts that enable the push model of open innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the technological evolution of three microprocessor firms between 1976 and 2004. We trace how two initially small entrants (Intel and AMD) competed against a larger and more established incumbent (IBM). We show that changes in interfirm relationships (as reflected by competitive and cooperative events) affect patenting strategies. Periods of increased competition correspond to greater patenting within patent classes in which the firms compete head-on. Periods of cooperation are surprisingly not always accompanied by increased patenting in complementary upstream and downstream areas. Despite changes in competitive regime, Intel and AMD exhibit a persistent dependence upon IBM for technology. Our study shows that small firms can compete against a large incumbent in the product market while being dependent upon external sources for knowledge. We also suggest ways in which incumbent firms operating in such environments (e.g., IBM) might engage with these entrants through co-opetition and open innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates open innovation for the development of complex products. In this context, systems integrators are firms that integrate component innovations into existing product systems and that design entirely new product architectures. To successfully execute these systems integration tasks, these firms need to monitor and absorb the rapid and diverse technological developments that surround them. Systems integration therefore explains why firms know more than they make. Open innovation, on its part, provides the mechanisms that indicate how firms can expand their knowledge boundary. Open innovation and systems integration are strong complements therefore. More specifically, a contingent and a balanced approach to open innovation is suggested: open as far as abundant component knowledge is concerned, and closed with respect to the generation and exploitation of scarce, internally developed architectural knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this first paper of the special issue, we identify some trends in open innovation research by analysing how the literature on this topics has evolved since the introduction of the concept in 2003. Research on open innovation has been mushrooming ever since and the scope has been broadened in different directions. Researchers also started to analyse open innovation at different level of analysis from the individual actors in organisations to ecosystems and national innovation systems. Despite the vast growth in research on open innovation, we identified several directions for further research: open innovation research should be linked to other management areas such as marketing, HRM, change management, etc. In addition, our understanding of open innovation could be improved if the recently developed insights could be related to the existing management theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most previous successful open innovation cases originated from large enterprises that have the ability to invest heavily in research and development (R&D) and to generate many new ventures. Conversely, we find only very few successful case studies of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The difference in the number of cases makes us doubt the appropriateness of open innovation strategy for SMEs. In order to show the relevance of open innovation for SMEs, the current study analyses the impact of external activities related to open innovation on innovation output by means of a logistic regression and compares the results with those of large enterprises. Further investigation was done to assess the relative impact of the external activities by means of a Bayesian network method. In conclusion, the empirical analysis shows that not all open innovation activities of SMEs have a positive effect on their innovation output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has drawn attention to problems with innovation management under conditions of discontinuity. For example, at certain times, the close interaction with players within the value network may act as a filter which blocks firms seeing the salience of new signals about emerging, but very different potential, technical or market trajectories. There is also the well-known issue of 'not invented here' suggesting that under conditions in which significant shifts occur in the technological trajectory existing incumbents often fail to capitalise or even to adopt. The problem is not simply one of missing important signals about emerging shifts in innovation trajectories in the environment. In a number of cases the information was available to the enterprise but its decision making and resource allocation processes failed to deal adequately with the new information. These and other experiences suggest that whilst firms can learn capabilities around what might be termed 'steady state' innovation conditions they need to extend these capabilities to deal with the uncertainties arising from discontinuous shifts in their technological, market or regulatory environments. This paper discusses some of the challenges around building such capability and presents some case study-based illustrations of experiments in progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "China's catch-up and innovation model in IT industry," by Xielin Liu is presented.

The front-end phase of the innovation process constitutes up to two-thirds of the total cost of new product development (NPD). In response to the new open innovation paradigm, new ways to integrate customers' knowledge into the innovation front-end must be explored. In an attempt to learn from analogous situations in which the interface between developers and customers has been managed successfully, this article analyses the Extreme Programming (XP) approach of software engineering. Through its iterative but disciplined probe-and-learn cycles, the approach helps companies effectively develop advanced products with the help of their customers. Using case studies from interviews with R&D directors of 20 technology-intensive companies, the applicability of successful practices from XP to traditional NPD is analysed. The authors identify four determinants for front-end management that reside between creativity and resource efficiency. These determinants dictate the potential for front-end effectiveness improvement and enable the maximum amount of knowledge generation and absorption from the customer [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]