Accelerating chemical start-ups in ecosystems: the need for biotopes

Open innovation (OI) involves the deliberate use of external and internal knowledge flows by organisations in order to accelerate their innovations and expand the markets for the external use of innovations. Despite the relevance of OI for firms’ competitiveness, firms’ abilities to leverage and combine internal and external knowledge flows cannot be taken for granted. In this context, innovation policies can play a crucial role in stimulating firms’ OI strategies. The objective of this research is to examine the degree to which existing public innovation policies promote open innovation by companies. In doing so, we review the set of innovation policy instruments developed by governments within the Spanish national and regional innovation systems and examine the extent to which they support open innovation by companies, either by facilitating firms’ open innovation practices or by acting on the external factors that influence them. Our results show that innovation policies in Spanish national and regional settings partially promote firms’ open innovation, since governments base their actions on the interaction between science, industry and government, sometimes with intermediaries that promote it. We propose the development of instruments to encourage firms to implement open innovation practices in such a way that they complement the existing ones and can fully achieve the benefits associated with open innovation.

At present, open innovation (OI) practices have gained traction in all industries, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, only a few Malaysian SMEs practice OI and there is limited literature available on OI practices in Malaysian SMEs. To address this issue, the main objective of the current study is to reveal the challenges of OI and the role of financial constraints in Malaysian SMEs. To achieve this objective, this study implemented the quantitative approach and adopted the cross-sectional research design. Questionnaires were used to collect data from three hundred (300) data managerial staff of Malaysian SMEs. Cluster sampling was used to collect the data. It was found that Malaysian SMEs faced various challenges during the implementation of the OI system. These challenges included motivating spillovers, maximizing internal innovation, and incorporation of external knowledge and intellectual property (IP) management. Moreover, it was found that sufficient finance is needed to resolve these challenges. Hence, this study contributes in the body of knowledge by developing a framework for SMEs to facilitate OI and by identifying the constraints in this framework. Therefore, the current study can be used for Malaysian SMEs to improve their OI system.

Open innovation has an essential impact on innovation activities and the competitiveness of MSMEs. Apart from that, it is an exciting topic for academics and practitioners. Open innovation practices and human capital are more frequently discussed in large companies from a developed country perspective and are associated with higher business performance. However, the influence of the open innovation paradigm on human capital and its consequences on business performance in the context of developing countries have yet to be thoroughly explored. This research aims to analyze the influence of human capital and innovation culture in supporting open innovation practices on business performance. This research was conducted on MSMEs in Padang City, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Using quantitative methods, samples were taken using purposive sampling of as many as 200 MSME actors in Padang City. The findings in this research are that there is a positive and significant influence of human capital on open innovation, innovation culture on open innovation, and open innovation on business performance. Open innovation has also successfully mediated the relationship between human capital and business performance and innovation culture with business performance. The results of this research have important theoretical and practical implications for policymakers and MSME actors. These findings underscore the importance of human capital and innovation culture on business performance through open innovation. To improve MSMEs' performance, managers/owners must simultaneously strive to increase human capital and innovation culture through open innovation practices.

PurposeThis paper aims to study the results of open innovation initiatives in Spain under the lockdown during the first stages of the COVID-19 crisis. Based on the most recent literature on open innovation in the public sector, this paper explores the following research questions, namely, what are the key features of collaborative governance processes that guided open innovation initiatives in the Spanish public sector during the COVID-19 crises? How open public innovation cases generated public value to the society during the COVID-19 crises in Spain?Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on two in-depth case studies of open innovation in the public sector: the collaborative platform Frena la Curva and the hackathon Vence al Virus, both launched during the first moments of the COVID-19 crisis. The methodology is based on 13 semi-structured interviews, content observation and documentary analysis. The data were interpreted according to the dimensions described in the analytical framework: descriptive dimensions of both initiatives but also their degree of elaboration, incentives and objectives, characteristics of governance and collaboration between actors and challenges for the accountability processes; and finally, their procedural legitimacy, considering the COVID-19 crisis context.FindingsThe results of the study show that citizens have played a key role during the hardest stage of the crisis, collaborating with governments and advancing their innovative capabilities, mostly in the digital sphere. The analysis also identified different outcomes, including the improvement of citizen’s involvement, deliberation practices or network building. Besides, this paper has identified some limitations and barriers to open innovation and collaborative governance processes in terms of accountability and legitimacy of these initiatives. Here, their contribution was constrained by the emerging stage of implementation and by the unique circumstances of the lockdown under the COVID-19 crisis.Research limitations/implicationsFuture advancements of open innovation initiatives to consolidate collaborative governance processes will need further exploration. Although this paper diversified the contacts and the data collection in the fieldwork to avoid social biases, the results of the interviews might reflect very positive outcomes. Despite the case studies that took place during the COVID-19 crisis and their planned actions to maintain their existence, the post-crisis analysis will be needed to assess the impact of these open innovation cases in collaborative governance structures.Practical implicationsOpen innovation is an emerging narrative and practice in the public sector requiring time and energy from public officials and managers. The study also highlighted the problem of how to legitimate open innovation cases in the public sector and the implications for their institutionalization. Public managers involved in these types of initiatives need to keep the momentum both inside and outside their organizations. Regarding the utilization of information and communications technologies (ICTs), open innovation processes do not need technology to develop their full potential, whereas the COVID-19 crisis and the ongoing digitalization of work settings, accessibility, etc., could transform ICTs into a critical tool for public managers leading innovation initiatives within their organizations.Social implicationsThe social implications of this paper are manifold. This study provides evidence of one of the future avenues of public management: open innovation. New avenues for the involvement and collaboration of citizens with public authorities are another social implication pinpointed by this paper. Democratic legitimacy and procedural accountability are assessed using the open innovation case studies during the COVID-19 crisis. Finally, transforming governments using collaborative platforms deserves social oversight understanding if they really contribute to build trust in political institutions.Originality/valueDespite their differences, both Frena la Curva and Vence al Virus demonstrated the potential and limitations of public innovation and collaborative governance to cope with an unprecedented crisis such as the COVID-19. The special features of this emergency, including the long period of confinement, posed challenges and also opportunities to develop these initiatives: as several interviewees stated, these projects helped to channel the civic energy to co-produce solutions in collaboration with a wide range of actors. Data allow us to identify the key features of collaborative governance that guided open innovation initiatives in the Spanish public sector during the COVID-19 crisis.

Research on open innovation in firms has grown significantly over the last decade. While scholars have started to address the knowledge gaps around open innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), there is still much to be done to develop more systematic evidence on the open innovation practices of SMEs. Given this, and in order to develop a greater understanding of open innovation practices at the SME level, this chapter develops a methodology for capturing, measuring, and benchmarking open innovation practices of SMEs. The theoretical framework proposes and develops six composite indicators to measure the different elements of open innovation within SMEs. These six pillars of open innovation practices are knowledge and technology sourcing activities; innovation expenditure; sources of knowledge; human capital; innovation networks; and intellectual property protection. They allow the examination of this phenomenon across spatial, temporal, and firm-level dimensions. The theoretical framework proposed herein has the potential to provide useful insights on the open innovation activity of SMEs across different size, sectoral, and spatial measures. This has value for policymakers, practitioners, and academic scholars seeking to better understand the differences in open innovation activity at these levels. This can be achieved by utilizing data from Community Innovation Surveys as the main data source for measuring innovation in Europe. The harmonized nature of these surveys provides a unique opportunity for benchmarking and comparative analysis on open innovation activities of different sectors and regions utilizing the proposed framework of open innovation practices. A further impact of the methodology that we propose in this chapter is its potential integration with the annual European Innovation Scoreboard and Regional Innovation Scoreboards. Currently, such an approach is lacking from both these EU-level scoreboards.

PurposeThe authors aim to investigate the concept of open innovation, identify different open innovation practices which help describe the continuum between closed and open innovation, and propose a framework that suggests an association between innovation contexts and practices.Design/methodology/approachThe authors first identify the variables to describe innovation contexts and practices. Such variables are developed based on the literature and on a previous paper by the same authors in 2011. Then, they establish an association between contexts and practices, and test it through cases drawn from the existing literature.FindingsThe paper proposes a detailed assessment of open innovation practices and suggests the association between each of them and diverse innovation contexts. A few case examples drawn from the literature prove coherent with the theoretical framework underlying the proposed association.Practical implicationsThe authors' results (and specifically the framework) enhance the organizations' awareness of the open innovation concept and the possible practices to implement it, as well as supporting managers to better select open innovation practices in different contexts.Originality/valueThis paper discusses the concept of open innovation practices to enhance the comprehension of the open innovation concept. Also, to the authors' knowledge, the proposed association between context and practices is original in that there are no similar theoretical frameworks that help organizations selecting innovation practices.

This research examines the correlation between Triple Helix and Open Innovation. The study aims to determine: (1) the development of the number of international publications related to Triple Helix and Open Innovation from 2003 to 2023; (2) the mapping of topics related to Triple Helix and Open Innovation based on co-word analysis; (3) the collaboration among authors or researchers related to Triple Helix and Open Innovation. Data collection was done by retrieving publication data from Google Scholar using the "publish or perish" approach with the keywords Triple Helix and Open Innovation within the period of 2003-2023. The data were in RIS/Refman format and analyzed using VosViewer software. The results show that the highest growth of publications related to Triple Helix and Open Innovation from 2003 to 2023 occurred in 2018, with 93 publications or 9.31%. The research findings indicate that the topics related to Triple Helix and Open Innovation from 2003 to 2023 can be divided into six clusters. Based on co-occurrence analysis through network visualization and density visualization, it can be concluded that Triple Helix and Open Innovation are interconnected and have been extensively published. For future research, the authors suggest conducting bibliometric analysis on reputable journal databases or those indexed in Scopus that explore the correlation between Triple Helix and Open Innovation. Additionally, it is necessary to conduct practical approaches such as case studies on the correlation between Triple Helix and Open Innovation within the innovation ecosystem in Indonesia

We pursue what it means to be an 'open innovator' and what conditions this choice. Using the UK Innovation Survey Database 2005, we test different measures of 'openness' across a large data set and find that open innovation practices vary across firms and sectors, giving support to the view that openness is not strictly a choice for the firm but an outcome of capabilities, industrial organisation and wider innovation systems. Within the firm, design is revealed as a core capability that shapes open innovation practice, reflecting its role in innovation task partitioning. We confirm this in our robust findings that design is accorded higher importance by firms which have open innovation practices.

Due to the economic globalization and open innovation trends to construct open regional innovation systems are significant and practical for Yunnan Province to develop regional economy and implement “Bridgehead” Strategy. Based on the Open Innovation Theory, the aim of this paper is to have a preliminary analysis of the overall framework and operation mechanism of Yunnan regional innovation system, and to propose effective ideas and countermeasures to construct characterized regional innovation system in Yunnan.

Open Innovation remains the process of enabling inflow and outflow of knowledge, ideas, design, plus technologies throughout the organization during the various stages of the innovation process. This Innovation consists of inbound and outbound open innovations, whereby inbound open Innovation is the influx of knowledge, while outbound open innovation remains the outward flow of knowledge. Previously, studies related to open innovation have only focused specifically on the business world, the industrial sector while less focused on strategy and its implementation in the education sector. This study aims to fill this gap by studying open innovation in ordinary day secondary schools due to their significant contribution to development Malaysian education. Based on an open innovation model and a theory of views based on resources, this study will analyse the role of open and innovative innovation activities government support in determining the innovative capabilities of secondary schools. In this conceptual paper, the author develops the conceptual model that will be used in further research activities in education sector and will contribute to a better understanding of open innovation activities and their practices in secondary schools in Malaysia.

Despite there is more than ten years since the Open Innovation concept was presented for the first time, companies still demonstrate some difficulties in its implementation. The main challenge refers to the change process from closed to open model. Understanding how these companies adopt the open innovation in practice, which involves identifying the organizational adjustments necessary for such, is the aim of this project. This goal was achieved with a case study at Butantan Institute, a centenary public institution, one of the leading producers of immunobiological products in Brazil. The organizational adaptations were discussed in four managerial levels (networks, organizational structures, assessment process and knowledge management systems) at different stages of the change process (unfreezing, moving and institutionalization), and in three levels of the Open Innovation - OI (inside-out, outside-in and coupled). In the Open Innovation implementation, the management foundations that were taken into account revealed different speed of development and the institutionalization was started through the establishment of a dedicated organizational structure, the Technology Transfer Office [TTO]. Having a structure dedicated to innovation management has also enabled to advance subsequently in the coupled innovation. Changes in others managerial levels were also identified and discussed at length.

Societal concerns on the environmental impact of manufacturing activities in developing economies have intensified over the past decade. Open innovation (OI) has emerged as a promising approach to mitigate these adverse effects without compromising sustainable performance (SP). This primary aim of this study is to examine and evaluate the current state of research on OI and SP practices for further empirical studies in developing economies. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses framework, we systematically reviewed and analysed 108 articles from Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect databases related to OI and SP practices. Our study highlights significant knowledge gaps in the relationship between OI and SP in manufacturing, noting a predominant focus on developed countries. This research contributes to the existing literature by identifying critical contextual and theoretical gaps, providing valuable insights and theoretical implications for future OI and SP research agendas in developing countries.

The objective of this study is to examine the role of open innovation practices to promote globalization. For this purpose, this study considered two open innovation practices: external knowledge and supplier involvement. A survey was carried out to collect primary data from the respondents. This study preferred Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to examine the role of open innovation in globalization. Data were collected from the employees of SMEs in China. By employing Structural Equation Modeling, this study addressed the important insights for academicians and practitioners. It is concluded that; open innovation practices have key role to promote globalization. The promotion of open innovation practices among the Chinese SMEs can increase the globalization potential. The strategies of open innovation led to increase in business collaboration across the border business organizations. The business collaboration between the SMEs of various countries is the best way to enhance globalization by increasing the level of social capital. Therefore, those institutions who want to promote globalization should promote open innovation practices among the business organizations.

Corporate accelerators have emerged in recent years as an innovation mechanism that builds bridges between corporations and startups. Through inbound Open Innovation (OI) activities, established firms open their innovation processes to startups to acquire their knowledge. Previous research has focused either on independent accelerators or on corporate accelerator programs that an established firm operates internally. The literature on how accelerators orchestrate different OI practices is sparse, yet large corporations are forging ahead with corporate accelerators. Furthermore, new corporate accelerator models have emerged, rendering the corporate accelerator phenomenon more heterogenous. In this paper, adopting an OI lens, we explore the White Label Accelerator (WLA), a recent model in which an independent accelerator manages the program on behalf of a single corporate organization. Through an in‐depth case study of Technogym Wellness Accelerator, a pioneer and most important WLA in Italy set up by H‐Farm on behalf of Technogym, a large fitness and wellness company, we investigate how such accelerators function as an OI tool. We found four key dimensions that enable successful outcomes. In particular, the importance of entrepreneurial alertness as a key driver for the effective exploitation of intellectual property represents a significant finding. Our research contributes to OI and entrepreneurial finance literature and provides insightful managerial implications to corporate accelerator stakeholders and startups' managers.

Open innovation and open business models have received a lot of attention during the last decade both from practitioners and academia since Henry Chesbrough launched the two concepts respectively in 2003 and 2006 (Chesbrough, 2003a and 2006a). Careful observation of publications about these two concepts reveals that most researchers as well as practitioners do not make a proper distinction between them. In this chapter, we intend to clarify the distinction between the two concepts and, more importantly, to extend the range of potential innovation strategies by combining open innovation and open business models in different ways. This should lead to a comprehensive classification of possible innovation strategies in which open/closed innovations are combined with open/closed business models. The classification starts with simple combinations of open or closed innovations and traditional vs. open business models in their new product development. Combinations of open innovation and open business models generate interesting models to create and capture value, which to our knowledge are not specified before in the open innovation literature. The classification will also illustrate that (open) innovation targeting new product or new business development is just one possible strategy how firms can create a competitive advantage. Product innovation may not be an option for companies producing commodities (e.g. crude oil) but the competitive drivers in these industries (e.g. finding the best oil wells) may be affected by the product innovations of their (technology) partners (e.g. new technologies to explore oil wells more effectively). Reframing open innovation in this way allows us to shed light on innovation networks in which the instigators of the network are not the innovators themselves, but they nevertheless form the hubs in a broader innovation ecosystem in which they benefit from the innovations of their technology partners. OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FIRSTPROOFS, Fri May 3