Open innovation management through strategic implementation

MacKinven, Stuart and MacBryde, Jillian and Wagner, Beverly (2014) Open innovation management through strategic implementation. In: The R&D Management Conference 2014, 2014-06-03 - 2014-06-06.

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Abstract

There is wide agreement about the activities that encompass open innovation. However, little attention has been given towards the extent to which firms have strategically adopted open innovation within their organisation. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of corporate strategy on this emergent paradigm. This paper therefore analyses two distinct cases of open innovation in practice from the oil and gas industry. Empirical data suggests that it is possible to provide countless examples of observed open innovation activity. However, these are not necessarily a direct cause of strategic intent towards implementing open innovation. Findings also show that if open innovation is to become a professionally managed activity, research needs to be aligned towards strategy of the firm. Open innovation is a change process that requires attention and commitment levels much like Lean and Six Sigma initiatives. This paper provides empirical evidence to show that open innovation should be concerned with the strategic transformation of an organisation through a shift in organisational culture that requires a managed process.