Rvolta, a Case for Open Innovation

Author(s):  
Margarida Cardoso ◽  
Isabel Ramos

Rvolta has been working in waste management industry for 16 years now. This SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) from Portugal is taken as a focus point for the case study addressing a network of partners working in various activities which became related, so as to disclose the underlying innovative spirit, strategy, and partnership structure. Objectives of the present chapter are to portray and analyze a SME success case in open innovation (through various innovation practices), and clarify how knowledge creation and collaboration amongst different players in a network takes place. An exemplary collaboration episode is told. Framing issues are addressed so as to understand how they affect open innovation in SMEs. The study finds interactions, networking, and partnership connections, are important issues and indeed make a difference, thus enabling SMEs to innovate. This case evolved from an exploratory phase of an Information Systems PhD qualitative research, addressing open and crowdsourcing innovation.

2013 ◽  
pp. 1562-1579
Author(s):  
Margarida Cardoso ◽  
Isabel Ramos

Rvolta has been working in waste management industry for 16 years now. This SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) from Portugal is taken as a focus point for the case study addressing a network of partners working in various activities which became related, so as to disclose the underlying innovative spirit, strategy, and partnership structure. Objectives of the present chapter are to portray and analyze a SME success case in open innovation (through various innovation practices), and clarify how knowledge creation and collaboration amongst different players in a network takes place. An exemplary collaboration episode is told. Framing issues are addressed so as to understand how they affect open innovation in SMEs. The study finds interactions, networking, and partnership connections, are important issues and indeed make a difference, thus enabling SMEs to innovate. This case evolved from an exploratory phase of an Information Systems PhD qualitative research, addressing open and crowdsourcing innovation.


Author(s):  
Martin W. Wallin ◽  
Georg von Krogh ◽  
Jan Henrik Sieg

Crowdsourcing in the form of innovation contests stimulates knowledge creation external to the firm by distributing technical, innovation-related problems to external solvers and by proposing a fixed monetary reward for solutions. While prior work demonstrates that innovation contests can generate solutions of value to the firm, little is known about how problems are formulated for such contests. We investigate problem formulation in a multiple exploratory case study of seven firms and inductively develop a theoretical framework that explains the mechanisms of formulating sharable problems for innovation contests. The chapter contributes to the literatures on crowdsourcing and open innovation by providing a rare account of the intra-organizational implications of engaging in innovation contests and by providing initial clues to problem formulation—a critical antecedent to firms’ ability to leverage external sources of innovation.


Author(s):  
M. Gordon Hunter

The purpose of this chapter is to provide the researcher, who already is inclined to apply qualitative research, with an overview of methods. A representative sample of qualitative research methods is presented, which may be employed when conducting information systems research. These methods include Action Research, Case Study, Ethnography, Grounded Theory, and Narrative Inquiry. Examples of these research methods are also included, which provide a description of the method and references to more detailed presentations. Researchers should thoroughly explore these methods and become fully cognizant of when to appropriately apply each method. It is important to ensure that the chosen method addresses the research questions and supports the research objectives.


2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maarten J.G.M. van Gils ◽  
Floris P.J.T. Rutjes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between start-ups and an innovation ecosystem. Start-ups need resources available in the ecosystem to grow, but experience organizational capacity limitations during their open innovation practices. This study frames the “open innovation” interface and discloses ways to accelerate the process of connecting start-ups’ demands to ecosystem’s supplies. Design/methodology/approach A case study was used to describe the development of a conceptual ecosystem model to frame the “open innovation” interface and its subsequent implementation at nine start-up hotspots in the Dutch chemical industry. To develop the ecosystem model, the system of innovation concept was enriched with the perspective of a chemical start-up to pinpoint critical resources for growth. Findings It is suggested that the most relevant “open innovation” interface for start-ups looking to grow is an innovation biotope: a well-defined, business-oriented cross-section of an ecosystem. All stakeholders in a biotope are carefully selected based on the entrepreneurial issue at stake: they can only enter the secured marketplace if they are able to provide dedicated solutions to start-ups. The biotope enables “open innovation in a closed system” which results in acceleration of the innovation process. Originality/value This is the first study to report on the definition and implementation of an innovation biotope as the “open innovation” interface between an ecosystem and start-ups. In addition, it provides a powerful tool, the ecosystem canvas, that can help both regional and national innovation systems to visualize their ecosystem and identify blind spots.


Author(s):  
Han van Kleef ◽  
Donald Ropes

The purpose of this research was to explore possibilities for waste management firms (WMFs) to act as lead firms in industrial symbiosis (IS) processes with small and medium enterprise (SME) clients in order to promote circular business models. We were curious to see how willing, and able four local WMFs were regarding the adoption of a firm lead role and under what conditions. We used a case study design because of the lack of research on the topic and the explorative nature of the research itself. First, we interviewed nine representatives from four WMFs using a semi-structured interview protocol. We then presented our results to the representatives as a basis for further discussion. We found that WMFs are open to adopting the various roles associated with a lead firm position in industrial symbiosis but need various kinds of support in order to so, for example, in coordinating the IS – network and for financing the activities. Our research is original in the sense that we look at the concept of IS from the specific context of a WMF-SME symbiotic relationship. We also contribute to both the IS literature as well as that of new business model development. Management implications include understanding why firms are willing to explore new business models with their client partners.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rokhima Rostiani ◽  
Widya Paramita ◽  
Handini Audita ◽  
Risa Virgosita ◽  
Teguh Budiarto ◽  
...  

Entrepreneurship has been one of the biggest growth topics in the past decades. Someentrepreneurs engage in socially active activities that are strongly embedded in their entrepreneurialactivities and are known as social entrepreneurship. This research maps the presence ofsocial enterprises in Indonesia by investigating the personal and organizational contexts of thesocial entrepreneurs. Qualitative research was conducted by engaging in in-depth interviewswith 8 social enterprises in Indonesia. The findings of this research result in a unique andinteresting map of the presence of the social entrepreneurs that contributes significantly to theextant literatures of social entrepreneurship.* We would like to thank the anonymous reviewer andparticipants in the APCBSS 2014 Conference for theinsightful discussions, comments and advice for thispaper.Keywords: Social entrepreneurship, small and medium enterprise, entrepreneurship, strategy


Author(s):  
Diana Benito Osorio ◽  
Montserrat Jiménez Partearroyo ◽  
Luis Miguel Arroyo Gutiérrez

Since its conception Open Innovation has become what can be called the reference mark for business innovation management. The aim of this chapter is threefold; first the authors explain the trends that have emerged from the use of web based open innovation by firms. Secondly, they will establish a relationship between these trends and the phases of the New Product Development (NPD) process. Thirdly, they will carry out a concrete qualitative analysis based on active intermediaries firms. The authors compare different case study of companies that offer themselves as intermediaries in the web for open innovation practices oriented to the product.


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