Exploring the Role of Open Innovation Intermediaries

Crowdsourcing ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 632-648
Author(s):  
Pierre-Jean Barlatier ◽  
Eleni Giannopoulou ◽  
Julien Pénin

In the era of open innovation, companies that want to innovate can no more remain isolated, they have to interact and collaborate with diverse actors of the innovation process. The rise of open innovation practices resulted in an increase of intermediaries for innovation. This chapter aims to better understand why innovative companies use the services of such intermediaries. Two distinct types of open innovation intermediaries have been identified, whose roles are significantly different; while the first type help companies to reduce transaction costs related to open innovation, the second type may be implicated directly in the creation, transfer and diffusion of knowledge. This chapter illustrates both roles in the case of public research valorization and distinguish clearly “Technology Transfer Organizations” (TTOs), whose role is to reduce transaction costs related to technology transfer from “Research and Technology Organizations” (RTOs) that are actively involved in knowledge creation and transfer processes.

2020 ◽  
pp. 1386-1402
Author(s):  
Pierre-Jean Barlatier ◽  
Eleni Giannopoulou ◽  
Julien Pénin

In the era of open innovation, companies that want to innovate can no more remain isolated, they have to interact and collaborate with diverse actors of the innovation process. The rise of open innovation practices resulted in an increase of intermediaries for innovation. This chapter aims to better understand why innovative companies use the services of such intermediaries. Two distinct types of open innovation intermediaries have been identified, whose roles are significantly different; while the first type help companies to reduce transaction costs related to open innovation, the second type may be implicated directly in the creation, transfer and diffusion of knowledge. This chapter illustrates both roles in the case of public research valorization and distinguish clearly “Technology Transfer Organizations” (TTOs), whose role is to reduce transaction costs related to technology transfer from “Research and Technology Organizations” (RTOs) that are actively involved in knowledge creation and transfer processes.


Author(s):  
Pierre-Jean Barlatier ◽  
Eleni Giannopoulou ◽  
Julien Pénin

In the era of open innovation, companies that want to innovate can no more remain isolated, they have to interact and collaborate with diverse actors of the innovation process. The rise of open innovation practices resulted in an increase of intermediaries for innovation. This chapter aims to better understand why innovative companies use the services of such intermediaries. Two distinct types of open innovation intermediaries have been identified, whose roles are significantly different; while the first type help companies to reduce transaction costs related to open innovation, the second type may be implicated directly in the creation, transfer and diffusion of knowledge. This chapter illustrates both roles in the case of public research valorization and distinguish clearly “Technology Transfer Organizations” (TTOs), whose role is to reduce transaction costs related to technology transfer from “Research and Technology Organizations” (RTOs) that are actively involved in knowledge creation and transfer processes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (02) ◽  
pp. 1740013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calvin S. Weng

Technological alliances play an important role in generating innovations but face the challenge of effective matchmaking when finding suitable partners in “open innovation” among networks of innovating firms. Intermediaries refer to those external mechanisms/institutions that can appropriately support companies in their innovation-related activities. They are frequently used to build a bridge between different competency constraints among companies. The purpose of this paper was to try to understand the role of a firm’s alliances within the context of open innovation. What do innovation intermediaries of collaborative partners contribute? Using the “Strategic Alliance Database” established by the National Science Council (NSC) in Taiwan as a basis, this study empirically explored the brokerage roles in the alliance that intermediaries take on to facilitate technological innovation and an innovation process. By using the technique of two-mode network analysis for social network analysis, this research focused on the question of how a technological alliance creates a platform for firms to execute matchmaking for new and/or relevant partners. The results presented here reveal that brokerage roles can be used to develop collaborations. The strategic position of the intermediary can activate different resources from the ones embedded in an alliance network.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 13456
Author(s):  
Anja Eisenreich ◽  
Johann Füller ◽  
Martin Stuchtey

A transition toward the circular economy (CE) will be key to addressing future environmental and economic challenges, such as environmental pollution and resource scarcity. However, when introducing circular solutions, companies often face complex and disruptive changes that affect many stakeholders and require new innovation practices. This study investigates open circular innovation by analyzing the status quo of circular innovation, discussing the relevance and role of different stakeholders, and examining approaches for open circular innovation processes. The study employs a qualitative research design, including 14 in-depth interviews with CE and innovation experts. The findings indicate that companies currently focus on closed innovation approaches or collaborate with only one stakeholder at a time when developing circular innovations. Stakeholder groups, such as customers, suppliers, and academia, play a crucial role in the innovation process, whereas direct collaborations with governments and competitors are seen controversially. An open innovation network approach combined with crowdsourcing is regarded as the most promising for developing circular solutions. This study contributes to connecting open innovation with CE research and provides new knowledge at this interface. Additionally, this research gives managers guidance on how to approach open circular innovation and thus supports companies on their way toward a CE.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10520
Author(s):  
Anna Maria Lis ◽  
Marita McPhillips ◽  
Adrian Lis

The purpose of the paper is to identify the most important open innovation practices used by cluster organizations (COs). To reflect these practices, the paper uses the concept of the trajectory of relationship development in COs, applied in the Interizon cluster organization. Additionally, this paper introduces the potential sustainability-related implications of open innovation adoption in cluster organizations. An in-depth direct interview and secondary data analysis were the basic techniques used for data collection. The study demonstrates that cluster organizations can play the role of open innovation intermediaries, implementing a set of different open innovation practices, depending on the level of advancement of cluster cooperation. The use of these practices leads to the development of ever stronger relationships between cluster members, thus conditioning access to the increasingly valuable resources of information and knowledge which are most relevant for the future sustainability-pursuing context. The good effects of multidimensional cooperation in the studied cluster organization prompted the authors to formulate a recommendation for sustainable diversity in the CO. The research goes beyond the state-of-the-art knowledge in the concept of industrial clusters by exposing a broader view on cooperation developed within cluster organizations. The study links the issue of clustering with the concept of open innovation, shedding new light on the processes of supporting knowledge and information flows in COs. Additionally, it contributes to developing a broader comprehension of the context dependencies of open innovation for potential sustainable innovation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wil Janssen ◽  
Harry Bouwman ◽  
René van Buuren ◽  
Timber Haaker

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the role of intermediaries in open innovation networks in achieving ICT-enabled innovations. The ultimate goal of open innovation networks is to create value for endusers and providers, and to share the risks and rewards. The aim of this paper is to analyse the competences that intermediaries in open innovation networks need to master and exploit during the exploration and exploitation phases of an innovation process. Design/methodology/approach – Based on 14 cases, all of which are examples of collaborative multi-party projects with a focus on ICT-enabled innovations, the paper inductively develops a competence model for intermediaries that can be applied at different stages in the innovation. Findings – The research shows that intermediaries can play an effective role in open innovation, provided they have the right set of competences. It can be concluded that the role of innovation intermediary is most relevant in the creation and development phases. Research limitations/implications – This study certainly has its limitations. The researchers were involved in several cases, which may have biased their views, even though an external expert who was familiar with the case and the work of the intermediary was involved to minimize the risk. Most importantly, the cases all involved of a single intermediary, albeit with many different private and public partners. The cases were primarily located in the Netherlands. It would be interesting to complement this study with results from other innovation intermediaries. Practical implications – The paper identified which competences of organizations in innovation are required, and how to balance the competences between the different partners, including the innovation intermediary. The study allows to link the type of goal of the collaboration to a number of best practices, including the competences and roles that are required at different stages. Originality/value – The paper combines the core innovation competences with the innovation value chain concept developed, and evaluate the resulting model in 14 different cases. The model is new and relevant in practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 68-75
Author(s):  
Elissa Dwi Lestari

Startups, as they are bounded to their liabilities of newness and smallness, need to collaborate extensively with their external partners through the open innovation process. This study aims to depict Co-working space's pivotal role in building up a working innovation ecosystem that facilitates open innovation for startups. To get a more deep understanding of the phenomena, this study used an exploratory study based on three case studies of Co-working spaces operated in the Jakarta region. The study shows that the open innovation process among startups is not naturally existed, but instead, it is purposefully designed by the role of a community manager who acts as the ecosystem catalyst. The community manager becomes the ecosystem enablers that facilitate the networking process by connecting members. As a result, these activities will help the emerging of mutual connection and collaboration processes among members that empower open innovation among startups members. The multiple-case design makes the study conclusions might be difficult to generalize. Future research, including quantitative studies, will help the conclusions examination and the knowledge enrichment of start-ups' open innovation process. This paper will enrich the knowledge concerning how Co-working spaces member seizing opportunities that lead to the open innovation process.


2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (06) ◽  
pp. 1340016 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUSTYNA DĄBROWSKA ◽  
IRINA FIEGENBAUM ◽  
ANTERO KUTVONEN

Open innovation holds great potential for improving the efficiency of companies' innovation processes, but also presents substantial risks. A key issue in innovation management is finding the right balance of openness, i.e., determining how open companies should be in their innovation activities. However, academics and business practitioners hold conflicting notions of what constitutes open innovation practice and of how "open innovation companies" are defined. In this paper, we present three in-depth case studies of global R&D-intensive companies, where we find that the firms' perception of their openness differs from their actual situation (as determined by the innovation practices that they apply), and that each company has a different view as to what constitutes open innovation. We claim that resolving conceptual ambiguity and differentiating between openness (as a philosophical aspect) and open innovation (as a way of structuring the innovation process) in research is critical in order to clarify the current state of open innovation research and enable the communication of results to practitioners.


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