Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'SME Open Innovation'

Open innovation opens up organizational boundaries so that a company can use and combine internal and external knowledge to develop and commercialize its own innovations, and can take its internal knowledge to market through external channels to generate additional value. There are many studies on large companies that use open innovation in order to develop their products, and keep up with rapid economic changes which affect their businesses. However there are not many studies on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in terms of open innovation. SMEs are crucially important in global economy and innovation. They account for a large proportion in the global economy and create a large number of employment opportunities. They are more innovative than larger companies due to their flexibility and ability to quickly and efficiently integrate inventions created by their development activities. Nonetheless they lack of resources and appropriate structures. Accordingly innovation processes and strategies used for product development by large companies may not be appropriate for them. This study examines if SMEs should adopt open innovation activities for their product development and suggests that SMEs should adopt open innovation activities as complementary approaches to their internal R&D for their product development.

Current SME performance models suffer from a number of disadvantages. The models use intensively a business ratio approach, they look at SMEs as a homogenous group, they consider firms to be closed systems, they do not directly incorporate the impact of an enterprise’s innovation activities, and finally they are complex and rely on sophisticated statistical refining methods making them unpractical to use by SME managers. There are four major challenges when one tries to build SME performance models that lack these deficiencies. The first challenge is that the desired performance evaluation model must optimally incorporate both quantitative and qualitative input. The second challenge is that the model must incorporate non-financial input parameters, such as firm size and age (among others), in the performance evaluation models. The third is that the model must consider the variety of SMEs as concerns their business sectors, nationalities, sizes, and ages. The final challenge is that the model must be able to utilize existing limited information available from the SMEs bookkeeping practices in an optimal way. The thesis addresses three questions related to constructing a better SMEperformance model, namely (1) What are the advantages and disadvantages of the existing models used in evaluating SME performance? (2) What characterizes a comprehensive model for measuring SME performance with acknowledgement of the firm’s innovation activities? (3) How can a firm’s innovation activities be enhanced in relation to the firm’s external environment? To construct a model that copes with these challenges, I used a literature-based selection of parameters as well as a theory-based selection. I used both a conceptual approach and an empirical approach to discuss and propose a model, the Survival Index Value (or SIV) model, as an alternative to the existing performance models for SMEs. The major contributions of this thesis to the field of SME performance can be summarized in three outcomes: the SIV model as a new model of SME performance evaluation, the ASPEM as a new tool for strategic utilization of SME performance models, and a new approach to account for innovation in relation to the external environment of the firm using the IBAM tool. The work adds to the theory of the firm, as it presents a new way of evaluating firm performance. It also contributes to bridging the theory of the firm to organizational theory, by elevating the significance of networking and its impact on SME efficiency.

Introduction: The introduction aims to provide a background to the case company, what Open Innovation (OI) is and how the concept is used in producing companies that are large and SME, as well as a brief description of what a fixture can look like. Purpose and issues: The purpose and goal of this study is to develop a permanent fixture for milling machines that will cut different articles into different lengths to save time and money. Since the case company uses this study as an OI strategy, the purpose is also to investigate why producing companies use OI in the development of products and what risks it may entail.Based on the purpose of the study, two questions were formulated: RQ1: What are the main reasons that producing companies use OI in their product development process and what risks may occur using OI? RQ2: Can a generic product development process, if possible, be applied when developing a fixture for milling machines through OI? In such case, what steps are applicable in this study? Approach and method: A case study was performed at a company and data was collected through literature studies, observations, and semi- and unstructured interviews. The literature study was collected to link the collected theoretical data with the results and was taken from books and scientific articles. The product development process was performed by following the theoretical frame of reference. Results: The respondents use OI for external input to develop the technology and utilize external knowledge. The concept is used to make the innovation process progress. The respondents have experienced positive results from using OI, but it has also entailed certain risks. Students are often used as an OI strategy to carry out student thesis and projects at companies.A fixture was developed following a generic product development process and a 3D CAD model of the product solution was developed. The phases product planning, concept development, development at system level and detailed development were completed to develop a solution to the problem that the case company experienced. Conclusions: The conclusions that can be drawn in this study are that OI is recommended to be used in producing companies to continue to develop even though it may involve risks.A fixture was created based on the requirements and goal specifications that the case company had, with a solution to the problem that existed. The fixture that was developed can be manufactured economically and practically and can save the fall company time and money. Keywords: Open Innovation, Open Innovation risks, reasons for Open Innovation, SME Open Innovation, large companies Open Innovation, product development, concept development, product design, concept design, fixture design, product development process.
Introduktion: Introduktionen syftar till att ge en bakgrund till fallföretaget, vad Open Innovation (OI) är och hur konceptet används i producerande företag som är stora och SME, samt en kort beskrivning av hur en fixtur kan se ut. Syfte och frågeställningar: Syftet och målet med denna studie är att utveckla en permanent fixtur till fräsmaskiner som ska skära olika artiklar i olika längder för att spara tid och pengar. Eftersom fallföretaget använder denna studie som en OI-strategi är syftet även att undersöka varför producerande företag använder OI vid utvecklingsarbeten och vilka risker det kan medföra. Utifrån studiens syfte formulerades två frågeställningar: FF1: Vilka är de främsta orsakerna till att producerande företag använder OI i deras produktutvecklingsprocess och vilka risker kan förekomma genom användning av OI? FF2: Kan en generisk produktutvecklingsprocess om möjligt tillämpas vid framtagning av en fixtur till fräsmaskinergenom OI? Vilka steg är i sådana fall tillämpbara i denna studie? Ansats och metod: En fallstudie utfördes på ett företag och data samlades in genom litteraturstudier, observationer, samt semi-och ostrukturerade intervjuer. Litteraturstudien samlades in för att kunna koppla den insamlade teoretiska data med resultatet, och hämtades från böcker och vetenskapliga artiklar. Produktutvecklingsprocessen utfördes genom att följa den teoretiska referensramen. Resultat: Respondenterna använder OI för extern input för att utveckla tekniken och utnyttja extern kunskap. Konceptet används för att få innovationsprocessen att fortskrida. Respondenterna har upplevt positiva resultat av att använda OI, men det har även medfört vissa risker. Studenter används ofta som en OI-strategi för att utföra studentarbeten och projekt hos företag. En fixtur utvecklades genom att följa en generisk produktutvecklingsprocess och en 3D CAD-modell av produktlösningen utvecklades. Faserna produktplanering, konceptutveckling, utveckling på systemnivå och detaljutveckling fullföljdes för att ta fram en lösning till problemet som fallföretaget upplevde. Slutsatser: Slutsatserna som kan dras i denna studie äratt OI rekommenderas att användas i producerandeföretag för att fortsätta utvecklas även fast det kan medföra risker. En fixtur skapades utifrån de krav-och målspecifikationerna som fallföretaget hade, med en lösning till problemet som fanns. Fixturen som utvecklades kan tillverkas ekonomiskt och praktiskt och kan bespara fallföretaget tid och pengar.

Background: Open innovation is a recently discussed concept, which contrasts the traditional way of innovating. After several large companies have already adopted this approach successfully, the academic debate continues about possible application of this concept for SMEs. Moreover, current literature highlights the importance of intermediated networks to support open innovation among these SMEs. Purpose: This study determines in what way intermediaries act as facilitators for open innovation in SME networks. The literature suggests several different functions that intermediaries execute, without being clear about the connection to open innovation. Therefore, we critically examined Science Park Jönköping as a potential facilitator for open innovation. Method: We conducted a single-case study on Science Park Jönköping’s SME network and collected qualitative data through in-depth interviews. The analysis of the data includes interpretations of the codes of the interviews as well as aggregations of these codes in an inductive way. Conclusion: Our study differentiates between two service levels Science Park Jönköping provides. Regarding the in-house environment, we conclude that intermediaries facilitate open innovation among SMEs through providing a supportive environment based on geographical proximity. As far as the networking projects are concerned, we conclude that regional intermediaries might be hindered to facilitate open innovation among SMEs due to the characteristic of their networks.

Vorliegender Leitfaden ist eines der Ergebnisse des Forschungsprojekts „Open Innovation in Life Sciences“ (OIL), das von Mai 2008 bis April 2011 an der Universität Potsdam durchgeführt wurde. Er nimmt für sich in Anspruch, gerade Innovationsmanager in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen (KMU) der Pharmaindustrie bei der Einführung des Open Innovation Managements zu unterstützen. Zielsetzung des Forschungsprojekts war es, (1) die Chancen und Risiken von Open Innovation unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Anforderungen von Pharma-KMU zu analysieren und (2) daraus abgeleitet ein Konzept zur Implementierung von Open Innovation bei Pharma-KMU zu entwickeln. Der Ausgangspunkt des Projektes war die Erkenntnis, dass die Life Sciences-Branche im Allgemeinen und die Pharmaindustrie im Besonderen durch eine steigende Komplexität der Innovationsprozesse und eine zunehmende Tendenz zu Kooperationen gekennzeichnet ist. Vor diesem Hintergrund eröffnet gerade der Open Innovation-Ansatz für die Pharmabranche neue Gestaltungs- und damit Wachstumsmöglichkeiten. Open Innovation – definiert als die planvolle Öffnung der Innovationsprozesse und die strategische Einbindung des Unternehmensumfelds – wird dabei als zentraler Erfolgsfaktor für die Innovationsfähigkeit beschrieben.
The job title of innovation manager is a comparatively new phenomenon in innovation management. The field of responsibility spans the entire innovation process, from fundamental research, development and production, until the market launch. The competencies include technology, product, service and market orientation, and an innovation manager should have skills in both the strategic as well as the operational sphere. They direct the innovation process, cultivate both internal and external contacts and organise the communication of all persons involved. It is self-evident that these tasks – particularly in the pharmaceutical industry with its complex and long-term processes – present a considerable challenge for every innovation manager. With this in view, the following guidelines are directed primarily at innovation managers in medium sized pharmaceutical companies. The guidelines convey the knowledge and tools that enable the development of market and customer oriented products and services in the pharmaceutical industry from the very start. By means of images and descriptions it demonstrates which steps should be followed from idea generation, to project realization, until the market launch. The centerpiece is formed by the division of the innovation process into manageable, clearly defined phases, specifically tailored for the pharmaceutical industry. The guidelines particularly focus on the question of how customers, suppliers, competitors, etc. can be integrated into this process. This approach – termed open innovation in innovation management – when applied as a deliberate strategy, has the potential to reduce the costs of development and to raise the speed of passage of projects.

Background: To stay competitive and efficient on a global market, firms have to generate new products and service ideas using closed or open innovation processes. Open innovation activities emerge from both internal and external innovative resources and while SMEs could and do adopt a variation of innovation models, they tend to adopt open innovation activities. Collaboration is one of the most important factors of open innovation and SMEs collaborate to enhance their internal innovation activities and outcomes, as it provides them access to complementary assets and technologically knowledge. However, the literature is not clear as to how SME decide on prospect partners." Purpose:The overall purpose of this thesis is to map the structure of the decision-making process of SMEs regarding partner selection at the early stage of technology exploration (R&D stage) within open innovation and new product development. Method:The approach of this study is a qualitative research method with an abductive inspired research approach. The data are collected through interview study. A Theory Driven Thematic Analysis technique is used to analyse the data. The respondents are found by nonprobability sampling in form of purposive sampling. Findings:Our findings show that SMEs managers, R&D managers, and CEOs who participated within this research consider many practical factors that drive their decision making process regarding partner selection. The main goal they try to achieve when choosing partners is to build collaborations with: the highest quality of outcomes, most cost-effective activities, and most time-effective processes. Conclusion:SMEs, within our sample, do not follow a specific or pre-written strategies when choosing partners. Moreover, SMEs managers prefer to innovate internally without collaborations if they had the needed resources. If SMEs manager had to collaborate, they search for existing partners. However, if they had no existing partners to fulfil the needed resources, they search for new partners

L’objectif de cette recherche est d’expliquer l'adoption des pratiques d'innovation ouverte par les PME en explorant les caractéristiques stratégiques, organisationnelles et environnementales des PME. Nous posons tout d’abords les fondements théoriques nécessaires à la compréhension du concept d’innovation ouverte et fournissons une meilleure compréhension de sa spécificité dans le contexte de la PME. Nous utilisons ensuite un processus d'analyse documentaire pour identifier vingt-deux déterminants, trois stratégiques d’innovation et onze pratiques d'innovation ouverte et proposer un modèle intégratif pour l'adoption de l'innovation ouverte dans les PME qui lie les caractéristiques stratégiques, organisationnelles et environnementales aux pratiques d’innovation ouverte. Après avoir justifié nos choix épistémologiques et méthodologiques, à savoir le choix d’une démarche hypothético-déductive ancrée dans un positionnement réaliste critique et une méthodologie quantitative nous vérifions l’existence d’un lien statistiquement significatif entre les caractéristiques organisationnelles, stratégiques et environnementales des PME Normandes et l’adoption des pratiques d’innovation ouverte. Nos résultats montrent que l’exploitation n’est pas corrélée aux pratiques d’innovation ouverte et que l’ambidextrie est positivement corrélée aux pratiques d’innovation ouverte. Cependant, l’exploration n’est pas corrélée aux pratiques d’innovation ouverte puisque seule la co-conception est négativement corrélée à la stratégie d’exploitation et seul le capital venture est négativement corrélé à la stratégie d’exploitation et positivement corrélé à l’ambidextrie. D’autres régressions logistiques simples et multiples ont ensuite permis d’identifier les principales variables organisationnelles et environnementales expliquant le recours aux différentes pratiques d’innovation ouverte. Les résultats révèlent que les déterminants structurels et extra-organisationnels sont liés aux trois logique d’innovation ouverte, que les déterminants inter-organisationnels sont significativement corrélés aux pratiques d’outside-in et de coupled process mais d’inside-out. Les déterminants environnementaux sont significativement corrélés aux pratiques de coupled process et d’inside-out, mais pas d’outside-in. Les résultats montrent que les caractéristiques organisationnelles et environnementales sont significativement corrélées aux pratiques d’innovation ouverte adoptées par les PME. Pour finir nous avons réalisé une classification qui a fait apparaître trois groupes de PME : un groupe de PME dites innovatrices fermées, qui pratiquent peu l’innovation ouverte, un groupe de PME dites innovatrices d’acquisition qui cherchent à enrichir leur processus de R&D par l’achat de ressources externes, et le groupe des PME innovatrices interactives qui favorisent la collaboration entre différents acteurs pour aboutir à une innovation conjointe. Finalement, d’un point de vue théorique, ce travail doctoral nous a permis de synthétiser les connaissances portant sur l’innovation ouverte dans les PME, de construire un modèle intégrant à la fois les pratiques d’innovation ouverte et les caractéristiques stratégiques, organisationnelles et environnementales des PME et d’identifier trois groupes de PME ayant des profils distincts en terme d’adoption de pratiques d’innovation ouverte. D’un point de vue managérial, nos travaux permettent de sensibiliser les décideurs sur les différentes combinaisons favorisant ou freinant l’adoption de l’innovation ouverte et donnent la possibilité aux dirigeants de choisir les éléments les plus appropriés pour leur PME en termes de pratiques d’innovation ouverte en fonction de la combinaison de leurs caractéristiques stratégiques, caractéristiques organisationnelles et caractéristiques environnementales
The objective of this research is to explain the adoption of open innovation practices by SMEs by exploring the strategic, organisational and environmental characteristics of SMEs. We first of all lay the theoretical foundations for understanding the concept of open innovation and provide a better understanding of its specificity in the SME context. We then use a literature review process to identify twenty-two determinants, three innovation strategies and eleven open innovation practices and propose an integrative model for the adoption of open innovation in SMEs that links strategic, organisational and environmental characteristics to open innovation practices. After having justified our epistemological and methodological choices, namely the choice of a hypothetico-deductive approach anchored in a critical realistic positioning and a quantitative methodology, we verify the existence of a statistically significant link between the organisational, strategic and environmental characteristics of Norman SMEs and the adoption of open innovation practices. Our results show that exploitation is not correlated with open innovation practices and that ambidextrousness is positively correlated with open innovation practices. However, exploration is not correlated with open innovation practices since only co-design is negatively correlated with exploitation strategy and only venture capital is negatively correlated with exploitation strategy and positively correlated with ambidextrous. Other simple and multiple logistic regressions then identified the main organisational and environmental variables explaining the use of different open innovation practices. The results reveal that the structural and extra-organisational determinants are linked to the three open innovation logics, and that the inter-organisational determinants are significantly correlated to outside-in and coupled process but inside-out practices. The environmental determinants are significantly correlated to the practices of coupled process and inside-out, but not outside-in. The results show that organisational and environmental characteristics are significantly correlated with the open innovation practices adopted by SMEs. Finally, a classification was carried out which revealed three groups of SMEs: a group of so-called closed innovative SMEs, which do not practise open innovation much, a group of so-called acquisition innovative SMEs, which seek to enrich their R&D process by purchasing external resources, and the group of interactive innovative SMEs, which promote collaboration between different actors to achieve joint innovation. Finally, from a theoretical point of view, this doctoral work has enabled us to synthesise knowledge on open innovation in SMEs, to build a model integrating both open innovation practices and the strategic, organisational and environmental characteristics of SMEs and to identify three groups of SMEs with distinct profiles in terms of the adoption of open innovation practices. From a managerial point of view, our work raises awareness among decision-makers on the different combinations favouring or hindering the adoption of open innovation and gives managers the possibility to choose the most appropriate elements for their SME in terms of open innovation practices according to the combination of their strategic characteristics, organisational characteristics and environmental characteristics

This thesis focuses on the use of open innovation in SMEs. Open innovation helps to explain how small firms with fewer resources are able to successfully compete against larger firms. This work begins with a literature review, which analyses a decade of research into the topic, and provides a framework to categorise the barriers to open innovation in SMEs. The most frequent barriers found originate within the firm, at an organisational and cultural level. Following this is a quantitative study into the use of IPR, namely patents, industrial designs, trademarks and copyrights, in SMEs. A key result is that SMEs do not benefit from IP in the same way as large firms, and that they profit from IPR in different ways, depending on the size and corresponding IPR. The final part of this thesis comprises a qualitative study of the combined use of social media and open innovation in SMEs.
Aquesta tesi se centra en l'ús de la innovació oberta a les PIME. La innovació oberta explica com petites empreses amb menys recursos poden competir amb èxit contra empreses més grans. Aquest treball comença amb una revisió de la literatura, que analitza una dècada d'investigació sobre el tema, i proporciona un marc per categoritzar les barreres a la innovació oberta ens les PIME. Les barreres més freqüents s’originen dins l'empresa, a nivell organitzatiu i cultural. La següent part és un estudi quantitatiu sobre l'ús de la propietat intel·lectual, és a dir, patents, dissenys industrials, marques registrades i drets d'autor, a les PIME. Un resultat clau és que les pimes no es beneficien de la PI de la mateixa manera que les empreses grans, i que es beneficien dels drets de PI de diferents maneres, depenent de la mida i els drets de PI corresponents. La part final d'aquesta tesi comprèn un estudi qualitatiu de l'ús combinat dels mitjans de comunicació social i la innovació oberta a les PIME.

It is these days very consistent for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to participate in open innovation activities to battle the internal and external difficulties they are confronting, for example, less resources for R&D, constrained financial resources and specialized abilities, fewer production facilities and distribution channels and so on. Studies demonstrate that open innovation encountered a quick increase in recent years. As of late researchers have additionally indicated distinct interest in research on SMEs whereas in past research large companies were the focus. The focus of the thesis is to highlight how SMEs solve their shortage of scare resources by engaging into open innovation activities.  Two SMEs from various regions, to be specific Pakistan and the United Kingdom, were chosen as research cases for the thesis. Interviews have been utilized as a primary method for data collection. Despite of certain limitations, the research was successfully concluded with imperative findings with the suggestions and practices of open innovation utilized by SMEs. Finding from the thesis demonstrate that entrepreneurs in view of their individual attributes perceived the value of the opportunity and well-spoken the thought into a successful product. Their most vital entrepreneurial qualities are quick basic leadership, risk taking capacity and innovativeness in discovering answers for issues. Both entrepreneurs were effective in sorting out and managing the open innovation process and overwhelm the liabilities of being small. In both cases, entrepreneurs must have utilized external resources to satisfy the absence of their internal resources such as technology exploration innovation strategy and through building and dealing with their innovation network. The result of the research demonstrates that the achievement of the entrepreneurs of how an entrepreneur deals with the business is not simply based on his aptitudes and abilities, however it additionally relies upon the type of innovation procedure which entrepreneurs incorporates within the organization. While organizing and managing the open innovation process there were many difficulties that both entrepreneurs needed to face to make their SMEs successful. Although few differences emerge when the both CEO’s adopted open innovation activities.

Background: 20% of the world's population is responsible for about 80% of the life-cycle impacts of consumption and the per-capita footprint of developed countries is at least double than that of developing countries. This is why there is an urgent need for companies in industrialized countries to find more sustainable production methods and encourage sustainable consumption. Global sustainability trends drive innovation, which is why it is important to study how companies use, and can use, innovation to be more sustainable. Despite the will to work sustainably innovative, many SMEs today face resource constraints that hinder them from doing so - a problem that in part can be mitigated by open innovation. In Sweden today, however, open innovation is not widely used, especially not amongst SMEs. Purpose: This study aims at mapping how Swedish SMEs currently work with open innovation in order to promote innovative sustainability initiatives, and how they could do it. Methodology: This is a qualitative multiple case study in which seven cases have been studied and compared. The study is based on the hermeneutic philosophical standpoint, with an abductive approach. The empirical data consists of seven semi-structured interviews with representatives from seven different Swedish SMEs, from different industrial sectors. Conclusion: This study concludes that Swedish SMEs mainly work with inbound open innovation in the form of sourcing information from customers and/or suppliers. It is also found that outbound open innovation is used to a lesser extent among the studied SMEs. The study proposes that more cross-sectoral collaboration can be beneficial. Furthermore, it is established that clearer methods for, and more knowledge about, open innovation could increase the use of it, and thus the benefits of it.

Open innovation has been widely debated in management literature. However, little attention has been given to how small and medium sized enterprises manage to open up their innovation process. Consequently, various questions remain unanswered. In particular, we want to shed light on the following issue: how small and medium-sized enterprises manage organizational changes in their journey from closed to open innovation. A literature review examines how small and medium-sized enterprises open up their innovation process based on nine perspectives. Then, the reference framework addresses the organizational changes embedded in evolving from closed to open innovation. In this sense, we use acknowledged concepts on organizational change research to carry out an in depth-case study on a small and medium-sized enterprise evolving in the sports equipment industry. The results demonstrate that, in its journey from closed to open innovation, the small and medium-sized enterprise has had to stimulate and to manage changes to four company’s dimensions i.e. corporate culture, networking, organizational structure, and knowledge management systems. The paper concludes by highlighting the diverse organizational changes undertaken by the company on these four dimensions. Based on this paper’s conclusion, managerial implications and discussion for future research are drawn.

In today's networked world, and with ubiquitous access to the internet, knowledge is fast becoming. This phenomenon has resulted in a globalised economy, highly mobile workforce and more informed customers. Furthermore, this trend has necessitated that businesses adapt the ways in which they innovate, moving from closed to collaborative, open innovation practices. A firm's business model is central to its open innovation practices. SMEs, which are characterised by constrained resources, can benefit significantly from leveraging knowledge and ideas from external value networks. To increase the sustainability of SMEs, the business model also needs to be leveraged, especially in a turbulent environment where SMEs need to make the most of their resources. A review of the extant literature reveals that the role of the business model in the use of open innovation is unclear. An understanding of how its building blocks relate to the adaptability of the existing business model to make use of open innovation was also found to require exploration. This qualitative research study, by way of semi-structured interviews, explored the concept of open innovation with 17 SMEs in the ICT sector in order to provide insight into the role of the business model in the use of inbound open innovation. Further, the adaptability of the SME business model in the adoption of inbound open innovation was also investigated by analysing the business model at a building block level. The results of this study show that the existing business model of an SME positively influences the use of inbound open innovation, acting as an enabler. Secondly, it revealed that the maturity of the business plays a role in determining the SMEs openness and adaptability to inbound open innovation. Lastly, cost drivers, key partners, revenue streams and value propositions were ranked most adaptable when taking advantage of inbound open innovation; while key resources, customer relationships and customer segments were ranked least adaptable. This finding was applicable across all business model maturity stages in SMEs. The study concludes by proposing a new model designed to assist SMEs with their decision making process around the use of inbound open innovations, the Open Innovation Business Model (OI-BM) Flexibility Framework.
Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
sn2017
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
MBA
Unrestricted

Entrepreneurship, innovation and internationalization are topics of great interest for the scientific community, companies and for all major governments worldwide. In literature there are many studies that are interested and look for the relationship between entrepreneurship and performances. Based on the literature on entrepreneurship, open innovation (OI), green innovation performance (GIP) and export performance (EP), we extend the model by hypothesizing and studying to what extent the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is influenced and mediated by a construct that has become a hot topic among the scientific community in the last decade, as is open innovation; impacting and facilitating the processes of green innovation and the internationalization of the companies. All this is done in an empirical study in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), where resources are scarce and strategies, linked to green production and export plays a fundamental role for their performance. Taking, as a sample Spanish companies in the footwear industry and companies related to science parks, the analyses are carried out to test these relationships through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). It is expected to find a positive relationship in the object of study.

Uganda’s economy is agro-based; although the country is land locked it has great potential for industrial development. It is well endowed with natural resources and salubrious climate, but with little success in transforming its agricultural and mineral wealth into processed commodities for local, regional and international markets. The Uganda’s National Development Plan 2010- 2014 and Uganda Vision 2040 call for a transformed Ugandan society from a peasant to a modern and prosperous country within 30 years. To achieve this goal, Ugandan economy needs to be industrialized. This need is one of the identified strategic bottlenecks. Various strategies and action plans have been developed to steer the country’s economy towards sustainable development and increased competitiveness but with little success. It has been recognized globally that economic development depends heavily on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are the prime source of new jobs and play a crucial role in income generation as well as in industrialization processes. However, most small businesses fail within their early stages of operation mainly due to under-capitalization and / or lack of proper management and business skills. Globally, through business incubators, start-ups and SMEs have been significantly enhanced to overcome their initial and critical stages of development. Business incubators have been tried in Uganda but not in a successful way. An Open Innovation Business Incubator is a physical or virtual environment that combines the attributes of open innovation and business incubation concepts in creating and supporting new start-ups. This research aimed at understanding more of the situation in Uganda, how the innovation systems and incubators are managed in other countries and to design a model for how to create better conditions for incubators in Uganda and similar low-income countries and stimulate industrial development. The proposed model has adopted an open innovation approach and a list of suggestions and recommendations has been made. Different methodological tools and participatory approaches were utilized in the process of undertaking the study to achieve the objectives. Data were collected through literature review, analysis of relevant theories such as industrialization, entrepreneurship, science, technology and innovation, business incubation, triple helix and clusters theory, open innovation, and public private partnerships. Review of Government reports and policy documents, discussions with industrial and incubation experts, surveys, focus group discussions and case studies were done. Useful ideas were obtained from seminars and conferences. Research findings indicated that: • There are hardly any graduate incubatees in Uganda, thus there is a need to foster partnerships and synergies between government, private sector/non-government organizations and academia for open incubation, • All incubators in Uganda focus on incubatees developing technologies and products but not on business models , • Open innovation incubators combined with entrepreneurial oriented strategies can effectively support start-ups and SMEs but requires strong mutual trust amongst actors, • Through public-private partnerships and open innovation incubators, industrial transformation can be stimulated.

Since the concept of open innovation was put forward by Chesbrough (2003), many researchers focus on open innovation in large enterprises. There is a research gap in how open innovation is implemented in SMEs, specially in Chinese companies. The purpose of this thesis is to identify the motives and challenges of manufacturing SMEs in China to implement onpen innovation. The study is based on analysis of scientific literature and four case studies of manufacturing SMEs. The empirical data were collected by semi-structure interviews and a survey. Overall, collsboration with external partners was found to be good for improving innovation performances in the studies companies. And also, four motives were found, which were forming innovation networks, cooperating with external innovation sources, importing advanced technologies, and driving and motivating innvation processes. Meanwhile, four main challenges were found lack of trust in collaboration, disability for transforming external knowledge to internal knowledge, low support from government, and barriers to overcom intellectual property disputes. At last, the authors suggest that manufacturing SMEs in China could collaborate with each other more, and improve the knowledge of intellectual property as well.

Bakgrund: Vikten av att öppna upp sin innovationsprocess, både internt inom organisationen och externt utanför organisationen, är av stor betydelse för företag i dagens samhälle. Studier på specifikt inifrån-ut processen av öppen innovation är ett underrepresenterat område inom forskningen på öppen innovation. Genom en litteraturgenomgång belyses tre områden inom inifrån-ut processen som är i behov av vidare forskning: för- och nackdelar, framgångsfaktorer samt ett beaktande av dessa aspekter från perspektivet av SMEs. Enligt Europeiska kommissionen (2018) utgör ca 99.8% av företagen inom EU av SMEs, således föreligger det av intresse att belysa inifrån-ut processen av ÖI, i form av för- och nackdelar samt framgångsfaktorer, utifrån ett SME-perspektiv. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att bidra till ökad förståelse om hur svenska SMEs utövar inifrån-ut processen av ÖI. Detta genom att belysa huvudsakliga för- och nackdelar med processen samt identifiera framgångsfaktorer och hur dessa förhåller sig till de funna huvudsakliga för- och nackdelarna. Metod: Detta är en kvalitativ flerfallsstudie, varav fem olika fallföretag har studerats. Studien antar ett realistiskt perspektiv med en abduktiv ansats, för att möjliggöra teori- prövning såväl som -generering. Studiens empiriska data utgörs av fem semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter från fem olika svenska SMEs inom life science-branschen. Slutsats: Studien belyser två respektive fyra stycken huvudsakliga fördelar med den säljande respektive avslöjande formen av inifrån-ut processen av ÖI. Gällande de huvudsakliga nackdelarna, presenteras två stycken för respektive form av inifrån-ut processen. Vidare identifierar studien sju framgångsfaktorer, varav fem stycken är kritiska och två stycken är möjliggörande, som anses viktiga för svenska SMEs som utövar inifrån-ut processen av ÖI. Dessa framgångsfaktorer bidrar, i stor mån, till att uppnå de huvudsakliga fördelarna, medan ett minimerande av de huvudsakliga nackdelarna har fastställs i mindre utsträckning. Slutligen dras slutsatsen att den avslöjande formen används i syfte att möjliggöra den säljande formen, vilket skiljer sig från tidigare forskning där de två formerna presenterats utövas separat. Således utgör detta ett av studiens teoretiska såväl som empiriska bidrag gällande inifrån-ut processen av ÖI.
Background: Opening up a firm's innovation process, both within the organization and outside its boundaries, is of high importance in today’s society. Within the open innovation literature (OI), studies on outbound OI marks a relatively unexplored area. By conducting a literature review we identified three areas within the outbound OI literature, that are in need of further research: advantages and disadvantages, success factors and viewing these aspects from an SME-perspective. According to the European Commission (2018) 99.8% of the companies within the EU are SMEs, hence making the perspective of SMEs an interesting base for researching advantages, disadvantages and success factors within outbound OI. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to contribute to an increased understanding of how Swedish SMEs practice outbound OI. This is achieved by looking at the main advantages and disadvantages with the process, as well as identifying success factors and how these relate to the main advantages and disadvantages. Method: This is a qualitative multiple case study, in which five cases have been studied. The study is based on the philosophical standpoint of realism, with an abductive approach, in order to enable testing as well as the creation of theory. The empirical data consists of five semi-structured interviews with representatives from five different Swedish SMEs within the life-science industry. Conclusions: The study identifies two, respectively four, main advantages of the selling and revealing form of outbound open innovation. Regarding the main disadvantages, two disadvantages is presented for each form of outbound OI. Furthermore, the study identifies seven success factors, of which five are critical and two are enablers, which are considered important for Swedish SMEs who practice outbound OI. These success factors contribute in achieving the main advantages, while their effect on minimizing the main disadvantages has been identified to a lesser extent. Lastly, it is concluded that the revealing form is used in order to enable the selling form of outbound OI. This differs from how previous research has presented the two forms, as being performed separately. Hence, this is one of the study’s theoretical, as well as empirical, contributions to the research field of outbound OI.

Introduktion: Studien behandlar små och medelstora företag (SMFs) inom fordonsindustrin. Kontexten berörs med hänsyn till att forskningsfronten saknar empiriska exempel avseende relationen mellan olika inbound open innovation aktiviteter och företagens innovationsprestation. Fenomenet inbound open innovation innebär att företag genom olika samverkansaktiviteter utnyttjar externa flöden av kunskap och teknologi, för att främja framkomsten av nya produkter och processer. Följaktligen utreder studien relationen mellan företagens innovationsprestation och aktiviteterna; (1) teknologisk rekognosering, (2) vertikal teknologisk kollaboration, (3) horisontell teknologisk kollaboration, (4) teknologisk anskaffning.   Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka relationen mellan fyra former av inbound open innovation aktiviteter och innovationsprestation i små och medelstora företag, inom fordonsindustrin. Insikterna från studien ämnar stärka de små och medelstora företagens konkurrenskraft på en globaliserad marknad. Studien ämnar även främja helhetsbilden av vilken effekt olika inbound open innovation aktiviteter har i praktiken.     Teori: Studien baseras på tidigare forskning och teorier avseende inbound open innovation i små och medelstora företag (SMFs).      Metod: Studien bedrivs via en kvantitativ metodansats. Ett själv-administrerat frågeformulär har distribuerats ut via mail till 370 stycken VD:s. Insamlad data har bearbetats i SPSS genom flertalet statistiska tester, vilket utmynnade i att studiens fyra hypoteser testades och utreddes.   Slutsats: Studiens resultat påvisar att SMFs inom fordonsindustrin kan förbättra sin innovationsprestation genom att bedriva aktiviteterna teknologisk rekognosering, vertikal teknologisk kollaboration samt horisontell teknologisk kollaboration. Aktiviteten teknologisk anskaffning befanns inte ha någon signifikant inverkan på innovationsprestationen. Studiens insikter kan stärka de små och medelstora företagens konkurrenskraft på en globaliserad marknad. Insikterna främjar även helhetsbilden avseende vilken effekt olika inbound open innovation aktiviteter har i praktiken.
Introduction: The study concerns small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the automotive industry. The context is touched because the research front lacks empirical examples of the relationship between different inbound open innovation activities and innovation performance. The phenomenon of inbound open innovation means that companies, through different collaborative activities, exploit external flows of knowledge and technology to promote the emergence of new products and processes. Consequently the study investigates the relationship between innovation performance and the activities; (1) technological scouting, (2) vertical technological collaboration, (3) horizontal technological collaboration, (4) technological acquisition.   Purpose: The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between four forms of inbound open innovation activities and innovation performance in small and medium-sized enterprises, in the automotive industry. The insights from the study aims to strengthen the competitiveness of SMEs in a globalized market. The study also aims to promote the overall picture of the impact of different inbound open innovation activities in practice.   Theory: The study is based on previous research and theories regarding inbound open innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).   Method: The study is conducted through a quantitative methodology. A self-administered questionnaire has been distributed by mail to 370 CEOs. The collected data has been processed in SPSS through different statistical tests, which resulted in the study's four hypotheses being tested and investigated.   Conclusion: The studies result shows that SMEs in the automotive industry can improve their innovation performance by conducting the activities of technological scouting, vertical technological collaboration and horizontal technological collaboration. Technological acquisition was found to have no significant impact on innovation performance. The findings can promote the competitiveness of SMEs in a globalized market. The insights also promote the overall picture of the impact of different inbound open innovation activities in practice.

Ever since Henry Chesbrough coined the term in 2003, the number of studies exploring the new paradigm of open innovation (OI) has grown exponentially, with researchers investigating and exploring the application of open principles in an array of industrial and geographical contexts. Despite this growing interest from the scientific community as well as practitioners, our understanding of the implementation of open principles from an SME perspective remains, to a large extent, underdeveloped. In particular, uncovering how the SME can best exploit and manage their external network to facilitate both exploration and exploitation activities has, thus far, been largely neglected. Therefore, an exploration of the implementation and successful management of OI projects in smaller firms from a network perspective, through a systematic review and assimilation of the current body of extant studies seems a timely and necessary step, in order to form a roadmap for a future research agenda. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to shed light on the antecedents and outcomes of successful OI network management in small firms. Systematic analysis of 51 extant studies reveals that many barriers associated with implementing OI in SMEs often referred to as liability of smallness, can be overcome by the effective network management, coupled with the implementation of an open culture. Openness can also be seen to be positively related to business model flexibility and adaptability. Results though, remain unclear on the exact role of the intermediary and whether entrepreneurial capacity, trust, increased social interaction and goal alignment among the SME and their network partners, as well as network unity and conflict mitigation/resolution can be described as a driver for, or an outcome of successful open projects. Therefore, these potential relationships between openness and managerial capacity are proposed for further empirical testing and analysis. The paper concludes by presenting a map for future research, incorporating a series of propositions suggested during the analysis and consolidating these issues into a framework of suggestions for future research.
Series: Working Papers / Institut für KMU-Management

Background:  The concept of open innovation has surfaced for over a decade now and organizations have started to realize its importance and contribution. It has been also a topic of discussion during the last years but it still paves the way for future research. However, majority of the studies made so far were focused on its origins meaning high-tech companies situated in developed and large countries. Little, has been contributed to a context of low-tech SMEs in developing and developing countries.   Purpose:  The purpose of this study is to explore the concept of open innovation in a context of low-tech SMEs in small and developing countries but as well as exploring the knowledge perspective in relation to innovation process.   Method: The methodology used for this study is qualitative with an inductive approach. The empirical data were gathered through an appropriate inductive approach by using semi-structure interviews. With the help of frame of reference, we structured our topic guide for our data collection method. The gathered empirical data are then analysed using the inductively based analytical procedure of template analysis. Lastly, as the template analysis procedures suggest, coding was carried out in order to see emerging patterns and relationships between our empirical data, which later they were interpreted as our results.   Conclusion: The empirical results show some patterns between elements of the concept of open innovation. Concluding, the low-tech companies in small and developing countries are not fully aware of the concept of open innovation. However, they are exploiting several of the elements that surround open innovation. Regarding knowledge in their innovation process, we conclude that managerial levels play a crucial role. Since they do not have a systematic innovation process and instead are more opportunistic towards innovation, all the efforts for any knowledge identification and exploitation reside usually to the hands of one individual.

The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate how and why Norwegian small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), compared to large Norwegian companies, implement Open Innovation strategies. The emphasis is on the companies? approach to Open Innovation, the Open Innovation processes they carry out and the advantages they can obtain trough Open Innovation. Few researchers have focused on Open Innovation in a SMEs context and even fewer have addressed similarities and differences between SMEs and large firms that implement the strategy. In addition there is almost no research conducted about how and why Norwegian companies implement Open Innovation. As 99% of the companies in Norway are SMEs, it is interesting to investigate how and why these companies adapt the strategy and what they gain from the Open Innovation processes.Organizations need to handle an accelerating pace of change, turbulent economic times and greater competition. The Internet makes it easier to share knowledge and ideas hence opportunities are increasing. However, the new knowledge landscape also represents new challenges for companies. To achieve competitive advantage companies must revolutionize their innovation business models in order to stay ahead of competitors. Henry Chesbrough introduced the term Open Innovation in 2003, focusing on how companies should open up their business models to cope with the changing business environment. He emphasized how firms can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas and paths to market when developing their technologies. Open Innovation is divided into three main processes; outside-in, inside-out and coupled processes, the latter being a combination of outside-in and inside-out. The processes represent different flows of information and knowledge across the firm´s boundaries. The literature presents several advantages that companies may gain through Open Innovation processes. The advantages are presented through nine different processes; employee involvement, customer and user involvement, external networking, external participation, outsourcing R&D, venturing, inward IP-licensing and coupled processes. The literature shows that most advantages are gained through outside-in processes and focus most on customer and user involvement, in addition to employee involvement. To investigate the theoretical findings in a Norwegian context in order to answer the research questions, four Norwegian companies were selected for a multiple case study. Two large Norwegian firms; Statoil ASA and FINN.no AS and two Norwegian SMEs; Rocketfarm AS and Vom og Hundemat AS, represent the four case firms. Empirical evidence has been collected and analyzed in order to investigate both differences and similarities in how Norwegian SMEs and large firms implement Open Innovation processes and which advantages they can gain from these processes. The main empirical findings of how Norwegian SMEs perform Open Innovation compared to large Norwegian companies are connected to the companies´ need for innovation departments and tools, and the companies´ strategic orientations. SMEs do not need innovation departments or tools to manage Open Innovation processes. However, the large companies need this because of their hierarchical structure. The study also shows that the SMEs and large companies have different strategic orientation. SMEs have a defender orientation, while the large companies have an analyzer orientation. The similarities are that both SMEs and large companies perform Open Innovation most frequently through outside-in processes and both need to have an Open Innovation approach including an open culture to succeed. The main empirical findings connected to why Norwegian SMEs perform Open Innovation compared to large companies show that SMEs and large companies gain some different advantages. Large companies gain nine advantages that SMEs do not gain. This is because of the firms large bases of internal resources, which able the firms to interact in several collaborations with various partners in the industry. SMEs gain three advantages that the large companies do not gain. This is because of the companies? closeness to the market, in addition to their less complex processes internally compared to larger companies. However, 26 advantages are gained by both the SMEs and the large companies investigated. The study shows that most advantages are gained through the outside-in processes; employee involvement, customer and user involvement, and external participation. The study implies that both Norwegian SMEs and large companies should use Open Innovation strategies in order to obtain and maintain competitive advantages, and continues growth. As the investigation is limited to four case companies, the results from this study are not generalizable for other than the case firms investigated. However, the study might indicate how other SMEs and large companies perform Open Innovation, and should be further researched.

The entrepreneurs behind newly formed companies in Sweden as well as small medium-sized enterprises and start-ups are increasingly getting involved in open innovation or exploring its practices. They do this in order to develop innovative products and services. SMEs and start-ups are collaborating with external stakeholders, such as enterprise service providers, industrial suppliers, research institutions or universities, to either bring their innovative products and solutions to the market faster or to stay ahead of the game of competitions. By engaging in open innovation practices, the different stakeholders involved are able to combine human capital, in addition with a collection of available resources. By reading further into this thesis research, a typical exploration of resources can be noticed spanning from hardware to software and from soft skills to hard skills, thus resulting to innovative outcomes (product and services). This thesis research will investigate the benefits Swedish start-ups and small-medium-sized enterprises can gain from open innovation. There are several studies on large companies that use open innovation to generate additional values. Accordingly, external learning is very important in small and medium-size enterprises for growth. However, there are fewer studies on startups and SMEs, in terms of open innovation; therefore, this research study aims to address this gap. SMEs and open innovation are becoming very important in the local Swedish and global knowledge-based economy. In the past Sweden’s economy, SME played an important role and in the future SMEs are estimated to be more important, due to the rapid technology development and fast-growing services sector. An important contributing fact to the local economy is that 9 out 10 new jobs during the last twenty years were created within the SME sector in Sweden. Accordingly, this study has highlighted the importance of external learning and its contribution towards improving the innovative performance of small and medium-size enterprises. The findings from all interviews and case study revealed different impact about the importance of open innovation. All companies had their respective motivating reasons to explore external resources, while some could attest the resources helped to verify their assumption. Other SME and companies were collaborating with research institutes, academia in order to complement their innovation process, which ended up being a benefit to all parties involved in open innovation.
Entreprenörerna bakom nybildade företag i Sverige samt små medelstora företag och nystartade företag blir alltmer involverade i öppen innovation eller utforskande av sina metoder. De gör det för att utveckla innovativa produkter och tjänster. Små och medelstora företag och nystartade företag samarbetar med externa intressenter, såsom företagstjänstleverantörer, industrileverantörer, forskningsinstitutioner eller universitet, för att antingen föra sina innovativa produkter och lösningar på marknaden snabbare eller för att ligga före tävlingsspelet. Genom att engagera sig i öppen innovationspraxis kan de olika berörda parterna kombinera humankapitalet, dessutom med en samling tillgängliga resurser. Genom att läsa vidare i denna avhandling kan en typisk prospektering av resurser märkas från maskinvara till programvara och från mjuka färdigheter till svåra färdigheter, vilket resulterar i innovativa resultat (produkt och tjänster). Denna avhandling kommer att undersöka fördelarna svenska nybörjare och små och medelstora företag kan dra nytta av öppen innovation. Det finns flera studier på stora företag som använder öppen innovation för att skapa ytterligare värden. Externt lärande är därför mycket viktigt i små och medelstora företag för tillväxt. Det finns dock färre studier om nystart och små och medelstora företag, när det gäller öppen innovation. Därför syftar denna forskningsstudie till att hantera denna klyfta.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the influence of open innovation practices in the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Increasingly, SMEs have a more relevant role in the economy. Not surprisingly, both academics and policymakers are devoting time and resources to their study, promoting them as key drivers for economic growth and the consolidation of local and regional economies (Ayandibu & Houghton 2017; Zafar & Mustafa 2017; Ormazabal et al. 2018; Yun et al. 2019; Yun & Liu, 2019). This thesis contributes to this stream of the literature with new evidence by means of three independent, yet interconnected studies. In a globalised and dynamic world, SMEs strive to survive. They do not only have to compete for a market share with large corporations, but also have to ensure they generate revenues, being financially sustainable (Oke et al., 2007; Bayarçelik et al., 2014). To achive this goal, innovation becomes a must-do strategy. The marketplace is characterized by an offer that is larger than the demand, where the consumer has the final say. Within this context, companies need to focus all their efforts very well and anticipate to customer’s needs, offering products and/or services that meet their expectations. Although investments in R&D are typically linked to substantial economic efforts (Battaglia et al. 2018; Booltink y SakaHelmhout 2018; Colclough et al., 2019), in recent years, the paradigm of open innovation has appeared as an alternative and a more attractive solution. Open innovation combines the internal knowledge of a company with ideas and opportunities from the outside. The introduction of open innovation practices in a company requires changes in the business model, ensuring a proper alignment at the strategic, operational and organizational levels. Likewise, an active network with other agents of the ecosystem (e.g., other companies, suppliers, research institution, universities, public adminsitration) are necessary in order to exchange information, so that the final result is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Although the literature on open innovation is extensive, its specific application in SMEs is limited. In fact, most of the principles of open innovation have been studied in large corporations. SMEs have a more flexible structure and their decision-making processes are shorter (Lee et al., 2010), henceforth, it should be easier for them to adapt and incorporate new practices. Research in this direction is still scarce with existing studies providing inconclusive results (Hossain and Anees-ur-Rehman, 2016; Wikhamn et al., 2016). Accordingly, new studies are necessary to shed new light on how this type of businesses are adopting the principles of open innovation, the benefits it brings to the firms, the impact in their performance and the challenges ahead. This dissertation addresses the above issues by means of three independent that are highly related but delve into this topic from different perspectives. The first study (article 1) scrutinizes the existing literature on open innovation in SMEs, offering a complete and updated picture of the main contributions of the academic world on this subject. The second study (article 2) builds upon the first article, and investigates how the business model is modified as a result of the introduction of open innovation practices in the company as well as the impact on the performance. A multiple case study is conducted to answer these questions. Finally, the third study (article 3), complements the previous by adopting a causal complexity approach. Specifically, this article examines the combined effect of open innovation practices, the own characteristics of the company and its innovation strategy. The ultimate goal is to unveil the underlying patterns that SMEs can follow to remain competitive in the marketplace. The thesis ends with the discussion of the main conclusions and implications, which are expected to help SMEs to make better strategic decisions that minimize their potential risks and maximize the use of their resources. Indications for future research avenues are outlined at the end of this dissertation
Esta tesis tiene por objetivo investigar cómo las prácticas de innovación abierta en las pequeñas y medianas empresas (pymes) influyen su rendimiento. Cada vez más, dichas empresas tienen un papel más relevante en la economía. No es de extrañar que tanto académicos como los organismos encargados de definir políticas legales y económicas dediquen recursos y programas a su estudio e impulso para asegurar su presencia y consolidación en el tejido productivo del territorio (Ayandibu y Houghton 2017; Zafar y Mustafa 2017; Ormazabal et al. 2018; Yun et al. 2019; Yun y Liu, 2019). Esta tesis aporta nuevas evidencias a esta realidad a través de tres estudios. En un contexto cada vez más global y dinámico, las pymes deben también competir para posicionarse en el mercado, pero al mismo tiempo luchar para ser financieramente rentables (Oke et al., 2007; Bayarçelik et al., 2014). En este punto, innovar se convierte en una obligación más que en una opción. Los mercados se caracterizan por una oferta muy amplia, donde el consumidor tiene la última palabra. Por ello, las empresas deben focalizar muy bien sus esfuerzos y poder anticiparse a las necesidades de los clientes, ofreciéndoles productos/servicios que cubran sus expectativas. Si bien la inversión en I+D+i acostumbra a venir acompañada de importantes esfuerzos económicos (Battaglia et al. 2018; Booltink y Saka-Helmhout 2018; Colclough et al., 2019), en los últimos años, la innovación abierta se presenta como una solución más atractiva, que combina el conocimiento interno de la propia empresa con ideas y oportunidades del exterior. Introducir prácticas de innovación abierta requiere de cambios en el modelo de negocio de una empresa, asegurando así un correcto alineamiento a nivel estratégico, operativo y organizativo. Así mismo, se necesita de una red activa con los demás agentes del ecosistema (e.g., otras empresas, proveedores, centros de investigación, universidades, administración pública, etc.) para interaccionar y compartir información, de manera que el resultado final sea mayor que la suma individual de las partes. Si bien la literatura sobre innovación abierta es extensa, su aplicación concreta en las pymes es limitada. De hecho, la mayoría de los principios de innovación abierta se han estudiado en las grandes empresas. Sin embargo, las pymes tienen una estructura interna más flexible y los procesos de decisión son más cortos (Lee et al., 2010), por lo que teóricamente deberían estar más bien equipadas para adaptarse e incorporar nuevas prácticas. A parte de incipiente, la literatura no es concluyente en este aspecto (Hossain y Anees-ur-Rehman, 2016; Wikhamn et al., 2016), siendo necesarios nuevos estudios sobre cómo esta tipología de empresas está adoptando los principios de la innovación abierta, los beneficios que les aporta, los retos que les supone y su impacto en el desempeño global de la empresa. Esta tesis aborda las cuestiones anteriores a través de tres estudios independientes, pero a su vez, altamente relacionadas que ahondan en esta temática desde distintas perspectivas. En un primer estudio (artículo 1), se analiza la literatura existente sobre innovación abierta en pymes, ofreciendo una fotografía completa y actualizada sobre las principales aportaciones del mundo académico sobre esta temática. El segundo estudio (artículo 2), partiendo de la revisión anterior e incidiendo en unas de las líneas de investigación detectadas, se investiga cómo se modifica el modelo de negocio al introducir prácticas de innovación abierta, y su impacto en el desempeño de la empresa. Para ello se realiza un estudio de casos. Por último, el tercer estudio (artículo 3), complementa los dos anteriores, ofreciendo un nuevo punto de vista: el efecto combinado entre las prácticas de innovación abierta, las características de la propia empresa y su estrategia de innovación. El objetivo último es el de determinar distintos patrones que pueden seguir las pymes para mantener un buen desempeño empresarial según sus características. La tesis finaliza con la discusión de las principales conclusiones e implicaciones, las cuales se espera que ayuden a las pymes a tomar mejores decisiones estratégicas que minimicen sus posibles riesgos y optimicen la utilización de sus recursos. Se añaden al final indicaciones para futuras líneas de investigación en este campo.

As depicted in Chapter I, 2-oxoglutarate- (2OG) dependent oxygenases are ubiquitous in living systems and display a wide range of cellular functions, spanning metabolism, transcription, and translation. Although functionally diverse, the 2OG oxygenases share a high degree of structural similarities between their catalytic sites. From a medicinal chemistry point of view, the combination of biological diversity and structural similarity presents a rather challenging task for the development of selective small molecules for functional studies in vivo. The non-selective metal chelator 8-hydroxyquinoline (8HQ) was used as a template for the generation of tool compound I for the KDM4 subfamily of histone demethylases via application of the Betti reaction. Structural analogue II was used as the corresponding negative control (Figure A). These compounds were characterised in vitro against a range of 2OG oxygenases and subsequently used for studies in cells. I displays selectivity for KDM4 and increases the level of the H3K9me3 histone mark in cells. It has an effect on the post-translational modification pattern of histone H3, but not other histones, and reduces the viability of lung cancer cells, but not normal lung cells, derived from the same patient. I also stabilises hypoxia-inducable factor HIF in cells via a mechanism which seems to be independent from prolyl hydroxylase inhibition. This work is described in Chapters II and III. The chemical biology research in epigenetics is complemented by qualitative analysis conducted in the social sciences at Said Business School. With a global view on how innovation occurs and may actively be fostered, Chapter IV focuses on the potential of epigenetics in drug discovery and how this process may actively be promoted within the framework of open innovation. Areas of focus include considerations of incremental and disruptive technology; how to claim, demarcate, and control the market; how knowledge brokering occurs; and insights about process, management, organisation, and culture of open innovation. In contrast to the open-skies approach adopted for the development of a tool compound in Chapters II and III, a focused-library approach was taken for the generation of a tool compound for the OGFOD1 ribosomal prolyl hydroxylase. The development of a suitable in vitro activity assay for OGFOD1 in Chapter V enabled the development of lead compound III in Chapter VI. III is selective for OGFOD1 against the structurally closely related prolyl hydroxylase PHD2.

碩士
義守大學
管理碩博士班
103
Open Innovation (OI) has been studied mainly in large-scaled high-tech firms or Multinational Corporations (MNCs). Few have studied OI on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Since SMEs make vital contributions to national and global economics and innovations, their engagement in the OI should not be neglected. In addition, the demand to access supporting resources, especially knowledge, from open communities is critical for SMEs, through a backward knowledge flowing process called reverse knowledge sharing. This study investigates on the relationship among OI, reverse knowledge sharing and SME performance with questionnaire data collected from SMEs in Vietnam. Results indicated that there was a positive relationship between OI and reverse knowledge sharing. Results also indicated that the degree of relationship between SMEs and their stakeholders moderated the relationship between OI and reverse knowledge sharing. Practical implications and theoretical potential for future research are discussed.

碩士
中原大學
企業管理研究所
99
Small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) play an important role in economy growth of Taiwan. However, facing globalization and low production and labor costs of China, SMEs in Taiwan have become more difficult to maintain their business. Chesbrough(2003) brought up the open innovation concept to solve the difficulties in innovation. And related researches of open innovation were published and applied in various industries later. Lee et al.(2010) applied this concept in SMEs, bringing up an intermediated network model to help SMEs build an network to commercialize their technology. This study uses this model to construct an intermediated network platform for Taiwan’s SMEs. This study uses factor analysis, finding out 7 main factors to construct this platform: 1. Market expansion support, 2. Market analysis service, 3. Competitive industry analysis service, 4. Staff function support, 5. General Management, finance and law consulting service, 6. Network Construction support, 7. Matching and strategy consulting service. Then use DEMATEL method to find the impact and relations between these 7 factors and MMDE method to find out the threshold value to filter the less important factors. Ranking the importance of the 7 factors, we get: 1. Market expansion support, 3. Competitive industry analysis service, 6. Network Construction support, 7. Matching and strategy consulting service, 2. Market analysis service, 5. General Management, finance and law consulting service, 4. Staff function support. The most influencing factor is 5. General Management, finance and law consulting service, and the most influenced factor are: 1. Market expansion support, 3. Competitive industry analysis service, and 7. Matching and strategy consulting service.

碩士
國立成功大學
生物醫學工程學系
107
Open innovation (OI) is a phenomenon of novel innovation management strategy in the recent century, several implications in the diversity of industry were investigated around focusing with the technology-driven industry. Medical device industry was considered as one of the most beneficial from the model of OI implication support from the characteristic of the industry itself. Yet the term had been majority study in case of a developed country and Large-scale firm, the question is left for the practice of OI in the developing country where are more seeking for the improvement opportunity for the firm performance in the medical innovation development process. The study subject to identify the suitable OI implication strategy for the firm base on the sub-crucial process of the medical device innovation process model, trough the literature review and interview with critical stakeholder individual to construct the frame process model for identifying the suitable implement method and independence between each process. Using the content analysis material for construction of medical device innovation model, the validation for the suitable purpose strategy had been done used the absorptive capability and internal resource limitation analysis (AIA) to the subprocess as can be separated into four-quadrant combining with the DEMATAL method to purpose the overall strategy for each and overall dimension of medical device innovation process. The outcome display that for the subject industry, the implementation of the OI is more suitable to the conduct in the early market stage more than the marketing relates one, while in detail in each innovation phase the suitable implementation order is scattered. The chain implementation for OI method had been introducing from the result of the optimal pathway. Thus, we discover that only in the case of the regulatory approval process are not suitable for the chain implementation of OI but more suitable in case of independent apply for each subprocess. Furthermore, due to the impact chain of the innovation process, this study indicates that in case of the process were not suitable for the OI implementation yet still can benefit the improvement of the operation by conduct the OI implement in the early relate process.

A inovação aberta está, visivelmente, a assumir uma importância crescente nas organizações. Como tal, estudar os impactos que a mesma cria tornou-se, desde logo, um desafio. Avaliar os efeitos que pode originar não só na performance como também nos processos organizacionais, tempo e pessoas, é uma tarefa difícil e de grande complexidade, dado o vasto leque de fatores que estão na base da capacidade de inovar de cada organização. Como forma de ultrapassar esta barreira, e uma vez que a literatura de especialidade carece de estudos e frameworks que possam evidenciar estes impactos, parece evidente que a criação de um modelo de avaliação holístico consiga colmatar as limitações evidenciadas na literatura. Assim, a presente dissertação propõe um modelo de análise que recorre ao uso integrado de técnicas de mapeamento cognitivo, suportadas pela abordagem Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA), com a técnica DEcision MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), no sentido de evidenciar o impacto que certas dinâmicas, ligadas à inovação aberta, podem gerar dentro de uma pequena ou média empresa (PME). Como tal, procurar-se-á evidenciar um processo de análise mais realista e absoluto, promovendo, assim, uma tomada de decisão mais clara e informada.
Open innovation is clearly taking on an increasing importance in organizations. Studying its impacts has become a challenge for everyone. Assessing the possible effects not only on performance but also on processes, time and people, is a difficult and complex task, given the different capacity of each organization to innovate. As a way to overcome this barrier, and considering the lack of studies and frameworks in the literature related to open innovation, this dissertation proposes a methodological framework that combines cognitive mapping techniques, supported by the Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA) approach, and the DEcision MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique. This dual methodology allows the impact that certain dynamics related to open innovation can produce within a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) to be analyzed. The information was collected from SME managers and entrepreneurs, who accepted to participate in face-to-face group meetings. The results of our framework were validated by both the panel members and a project manager at COTEC Portugal – a leading think-and-action network for advancing technology diffusion and business innovation cooperation. Contributions and limitations of our proposal are also analyzed.

During the past decades, the business environment experienced vast changes and unstable economic conditions. The recent economic crisis had a pervasive influence on companies’ viability and inhibited them in their innovation efforts. As a matter of fact, SMEs that typically possess fewer resources are even more constrained and affected during recessions. Much literature highlighted the strategic importance of Open Innovation practices for innovation performance. Specifically, technological co-operation is assumed to be one of the most effective Open Innovation activity that brings in external resources and thus influences product innovation performance. Nonetheless, even though some literature examined what types of companies are able to maintain or increase innovative efforts during recessions, few studies investigated in how far economic recessions change the willingness of companies to open up their innovation practices and the effect of R&D co-operation on subsequent product innovation performance. This research study investigates if open innovation activities are a possible strategy for SMEs to weather economic recessions and positively impact subsequent product innovation performance. Consequently, is gradually opening up innovation activities and participating in R&D co-operation during crisis beneficial? Having analyzed data of German SMEs, the study confirms that a higher degree of openness, compared to a closed innovation system during crisis positively affects radical and incremental innovation performance. Furthermore, R&D co-operation is more likely to affect only incremental performance. However, only vertical co-operation is found to be significant, whereas engaging with multiple different co-operation partners even deteriorates innovation performance.

Ainovação aberta tem vindo a assumir uma importância crescente ao longo das últimas décadas, uma vez que se tornou condição fulcral na obtenção de vantagem competitiva. Como tal, a avaliação da propensão para a inovação aberta constitui, cada vez mais, um desafio para as organizações. Avaliar a propensão para a inovação aberta das pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs), em particular, é uma tarefa difícil e de grande complexidade, dada a panóplia de fatores diferenciados que influenciam a sua capacidade inovadora. No sentido de ultrapassar esta dificuldade, e uma vez que a literatura da especialidade sugere existirem limitações relativas à identificação dos critérios a incorporar nos modelos de avaliação existentes, bem como no cálculo dos respetivos ponderadores, parece evidente a necessidade de criar um modelo de avaliação que consiga colmatar estas limitações. Como tal, a presente dissertação propõe um modelo que recorre ao uso integrado de técnicas de mapeamento cognitivo, suportadas pela abordagem "JOintly Understanding Reflecting and NEgotiating strategY (JOURNEY Making)", com o "Integral de Choquet (IC)", no sentido de identificar e priorizar os critérios relevantes para mensurar a propensão das PMEs para a inovação aberta. Desta forma, procurar-se-á tornar o processo de avaliação mais completo e realista, potenciando, assim, uma tomada de decisão tendencialmente mais transparente e informada.
Open innovation has captured increasing interest as a prerequisite for achieving competitive advantage. Measuring firm propensity to open innovation has become, however, an increasingly challenging endeavor. This is particularly true for small - and medium - sized enterprises (SMEs) due to the myriad factors that influence their innovation capability. In order to overcome this difficulty, this study sought to integrate cognitive mapping and the Choquet integral (CI) (a non-additive information aggregator), aiming at identifying and prioritizing relevant criteria for measuring SME propensity to open innovation. Based on a real-world application, information was first collected from SME managers and entrepreneurs who accepted to participate in face-to-face group meetings, allowing realism to be incorporated in the decision-making process. The results were validated both by the panel members and the project director of COTEC Portugal – a leading Think and Action network for advancing technology diffusion and business innovation cooperation –, and show that cognitive mapping facilitates the identification and understanding of the cause-and-effect relationships between the determinants of open innovation in SMEs. CI, in turn, introduces realism into the construction of value functions and respective assessments of SMEs. The limitations and implications of the proposed system are also discussed.

碩士
國立高雄應用科技大學
商務經營研究所
99
If small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are to successfully implement inbound open innovation they require injections of external complementary resources. As such, this study examines the potential impact of external complementary resources on inbound open innovation and operating performance; this study also examines whether transformative capacity acts as a mediator in the process. In the conceptual framework of this study, resource complementarity is a second-order latent variable, including three first-order latent variables: technological complementarity, capability complementarity, and product knowledge relatedness. To assess the relationships between the latent variables, this study utilizes structural equation modeling to test goodness-of-fit for the model and the research hypotheses; research data was collected using surveys of 242 Taiwanese-owned SMEs in mainland China. Empirical results indicated that when SMEs seek to implement inbound open innovation, technological complementarity was the most important factor in resource complementarity. In addition, transformative capacity has a significant mediating effect between resource complementarity and inbound open innovation as well as between resource complementarity and firm performance. Finally, inbound open innovation will positively impact firm performance. The contribution of this paper lies in explaining the role played by transformative capacity in the process of inbound open innovation for SMEs through empirical analysis.

碩士
國立屏東科技大學
資訊管理系所
101
Due to the rapid changing environment, shortening product life cycles, and increasing cost of R&;D, the company cannot maintain its competitiveness by only relying on its internal R&;D capability. Unlike the traditional closed innovation in the enterprise, open innovation and wikinomics have changed the innovation model and create a new way to success. The concepts of open innovation and wikinomics emphasize that the company should cooperate with external organizations to enhance the R&;D capability and gain the competitiveness. The goal of this research is to investigate the impacts of organizational wikinomics on open innovation adoption and organizational performance. We applied five constructs to evaluate the organizational wikinomics, including collaboration, openness, interdependence, sharing and integrity. In addition, open innovations are divided into inbound and outbound one, and organizational performance is measured by R&;D performance. Both of quantitative and qualitative research methods are applied in this research, and SMEs in Taiwan are selected as the research subjects. The research results show that the organizational wikinomics, openness, interdependence, sharing and integrity, have significant effects on inbound open innovation adoption. In the other, collaboration, sharing, and integrity have significant impacts on outbound open innovation. In advance, the inbound open innovation has significant influences on the organizational performance, while the outbound one has no effect.

The way firms innovate has notably changed in recent years. A clear example is the manufacturing sector which has been experiencing a new revolution in production and innovation. Linked to this industrial shift, manufacturing firms have been adopting more open and collaborative practices to innovate. This phenomenon, known as Open Innovation (OI), is helping firms to acquire and explore knowledge from external sources (inbound process) and to exploit knowledge via the commercialisation of ideas and technology (outbound process). Even though numerous researchers have studied the adoption of OI and its relation to numerous strategic and organisational results, very few studies have focused on investigating the positive influence of diverse OI approaches and practices on multiple dimensions of firm performance from different angles. These drawbacks hinder the diffusion of OI practices and raise the question of whether it is convenient for any firm in any industry to adopt or not to adopt OI. Thus, this thesis helps to fill this gap by examining the extent to which OI practices are adopted by firms and other actors in unexplored mature manufacturing industries and by understanding the unidentified roles that these practices play in relation to different dimensions of firm and industrial performance.  This thesis brings together different methodologies and data to investigate OI practices with a novel multi-perspective approach. Hence, OI practices are framed within the industrial context of manufacturing firms in Italy and Sweden, several actors in the food industry, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the Italian foundry industry, and also within worldwide SMEs designing and producing supercars. More specifically, using data from 247 European manufacturing firms collected through a tailored OI survey, this thesis supports the relevance of internal context characteristics such as firm size and provides evidence of the relation between configurations of OI models and innovation performance. Through two case studies in the food industry, this thesis demonstrates novel forms of OI practices that can be characterised and adopted by different innovation actors within and around this mature industry. Likewise, drawing from 30 rigorous case studies of small and medium-sized foundries, this research for the first time illuminates the relation between the aggregations of some innovation practices (specifically internal R&D and inbound OI) with a contemporarily relevant dimension of environmental and industrial performance such as energy efficiency. Although foregrounding the practical implications of adopting OI practices, this project also investigates and attempts to contrast some of the theoretical perspectives used when researching OI in mature manufacturing industries. This thesis concludes with an integrative study of the main aspects of the research project to demonstrate the advantages of using a multi-perspective approach to study OI. This last study, originally inspired from two case studies of small carmakers, involved collecting data from 48 small and medium-sized manufacturers of supercars with a survey designed to evaluate OI influence on several types of firm performance. Collectively, the results from this thesis confirm the validity of OI in new research contexts and reveal a combined influence of specific innovation practices on innovativeness, but also on the dimensions of industrial, environmental, and social performance. This thesis contributes to theory and practice by empirically showing that even though OI and the results of practicing it are highly context dependent, adopting OI practices can definitely have a positive influence in the overall performance of firms in mature manufacturing industries, including SMEs and other small actors.
Det sätt på vilket företagen innoverar har förändrats märkbart under de senaste åren. Den här situationen syns tydligt inom tillverkningssektorn, som upplever en ny produktions- och innovationsrevolution. Med tanke på detta inför tillverkningsföretagen öppnare och mer samarbetsbaserade metoder. Detta fenomen, benämnt öppen innovation (Open Innovation, OI), hjälper organisationer att förvärva och utforska kunskaper från externa källor (ingående process) och att utforska kunskaper genom kommersialisering av idéer och teknik (utgående process). Även om ett flertal forskare har studerat införandet av OI och hur det hänger samman med olika strategiska och organisatoriska resultat, har endast mycket få studier lagt fokus på att undersöka de positiva effekter som olika former av OI-metoder och -praxis har på flera dimensioner av företagens resultat och ur olika synvinklar. Den här bristen hindrar spridningen av OI-praxis och väcker frågan om huruvida det är fördelaktigt för ett företag i en viss bransch att införa eller inte införa OI. Denna avhandling hjälper till att fylla det här tomrummet genom att undersöka i vilken utsträckning öppen innovationspraxis har införts av företag och andra aktörer i outforskade, mogna tillverkningsbranscher och vilka oidentifierade roller sådan praxis spelar i förhållande till olika dimensioner av företagsresultat och branschresultat. Denna avhandling för samman olika metoder och data för att undersöka OI-praxis ur ett nytt multiperspektiv. Det industriella sammanhanget för studien av OI-praxis är därför tillverkningsföretag i Italien och Sverige, flera aktörer inom livsmedelsindustrin, små och medelstora företag från den italienska gjuteriindustrin samt små och medelstora företag världen över som utformar och tillverkar superbilar. Denna avhandling använder data från 247 europeiska tillverkningsföretag, som samlats in genom en skräddarsydd enkät om öppen innovation, för att bekräfta betydelsen av det interna sammanhangets egenskaper, t.ex. företagets storlek, och lägga fram bevis för relationen mellan OI-modellkonfigurationer och innovationsresultat. Genom två fallstudier inom livsmedelsindustrin visar denna avhandling nya sätt på vilka OI-praxis kan karakteriseras och införas av olika innovationsaktörer inom och omkring den här mogna branschen. Forskningsprojektet utgår även från 30 noggrant genomförda fallstudier av små och medelstora gjuterier för att för första gången belysa relationen mellan samlingar av vissa former av innovationspraxis (nämligen intern FoU och ingående OI) och en samtida relevant dimension av miljö- och branschresultat, t.ex. energieffektivitet. Detta projekt bildar förgrunden till de praktiska följderna av att införa OI-praxis, men undersöker även och försöker kontrastera till några av de teoretiska perspektiv som används vid forskning kring OI i mogna tillverkningsbranscher. Denna avhandling avslutas med en integrerande studie av forskningsprojektets huvudsakliga aspekter för att påvisa fördelarna med att använda en multiperspektivmetod vid studier av OI. Den sista studien, till vilken inspirationen ursprungligen hämtades från två fallstudier av små biltillverkare, innebar insamling av data från 48 små och medelstora tillverkare av superbilar med en enkät avsedd att utvärdera OI:s påverkan på flera typer av företagsresultat. De sammantagna resultaten från denna avhandling bekräftar OI:s giltighet i nya forskningssammanhang och avslöjar en kombinerad effekt av vissa former av innovationspraxis på innovationsförmåga, men även på dimensionerna industriella, miljömässiga och sociala resultat. Avhandlingen bidrar till teori och praktik genom att empiriskt påvisa att även om OI och resultaten av OI-praxis är starkt kontextberoende, kan införande av OI-praxis säkerligen ha ett positivt inflytande på det totala resultatet för företag i mogna tillverkningsbranscher, däribland små och medelstora företag och andra mindre aktörer.
Il modo in cui le imprese stanno innovando è notevolmente cambiato negli ultimi anni. Un chiaro esempio è il settore manifatturiero, che sta reagendo a una nuova rivoluzione nella produzione e innovazione. Collegato a questo cambiamento industriale, le aziende del settore della manifattura stanno acquisendo nuove pratiche più aperte e collaborative per innovare. Questo fenomeno, noto come ‘Open Innovation’ (OI), sta aiutando alle aziende ad acquistare e esplorare le conoscenze dalle fonti esterne (processo ‘inbound’) e di sfruttare la conoscenza tramite la commercializzazione delle idee e delle tecnologie (processo ‘outbound’). Anche se numerosi ricercatori hanno studiato l’adozione della OI e la sua relazione con numerosi risultati strategici ed organizzativi, in pochi studi si sono concentrati sullo studio dell’influenza positiva di diversi approcci e pratiche sulle multipli dimensioni della performance aziendale di diverse angolature della OI. Questi inconvenienti ostacolano la diffusione delle pratiche OI ed evidenziano la questione se è pure conveniente per qualsiasi tipo d’azienda in qualsiasi tipo d’industria adottare o non adottare OI. Così, questa tesi contribuisce a riempire questa lacuna tramite la esaminazione delle misure in cui le pratiche della OI vengono adottate dalle aziende ed altri attori nelle inesplorate industrie mature della manifattura e attraverso la comprensione dei ruoli non identificati che queste pratiche giocano in relazione alle diverse dimensioni della performance aziendale e industriale.   Questa tesi mette insieme le diverse metodologie e i dati ad indagare sulle pratiche della OI con un nuovo approccio multi-prospettico. Quindi, le pratiche OI sono inquadrate nel contesto industriale delle aziende manifatturiere in Italia e in Svezia, i diversi attori nel settore alimentare, le piccole e medie imprese (PMI) del settore della fonderia italiana, e anche nelle PMI di tutto il mondo che disegnano e producono i supercars. In particolare, utilizzando i dati di 247 aziende manifatturiere europee raccolti attraverso un sondaggio, questa tesi sostiene la rilevanza delle caratteristiche del contesto interno come la dimensione della azienda e fornisce la prova della relazione tra configurazioni dei modelli OI e la capacità di innovazione. Attraverso due casi di studio nel settore alimentare, questa tesi dimostra delle nuove forme di pratiche OI che possono essere caratterizzate e adottate dai diversi attori dell’innovazione all’interno ed all’intorno di questo settore maturo. Allo stesso modo, raccolto da 30 rigorosi casi di studio delle piccole e delle medie fonderie, questa ricerca per la prima volta illumina la relazione tra le aggregazioni di alcune pratiche di innovazione (in particolare le pratiche interne di R&S e di OI inbound) con una dimensione contemporaneamente rilevante delle prestazioni ambientali ed industriali quali l’efficienza energetica.   Anche se in primo piano le implicazioni pratiche dell’adozione delle pratiche della OI sono accentate, il progetto indaga anche e cerca di contrastare alcune delle prospettive teoriche utilizzate nella ricerca nelle mature industrie manifatturiere. Questa tesi finisce con uno studio integrativo degli aspetti principali del progetto di ricerca per dimostrare i vantaggi di utilizzare un approccio multi-prospettiva per studiare la OI. Quest’ultimo studio, originariamente ispirato da due casi di studio di piccole case automobilistiche, ha coinvolto la raccolta dei dati provenienti da 48 piccole e medie produttori di supercars tramite un sondaggio per valutare l’influenza dei diversi tipi di performance aziendale. Collettivamente, i risultati di questa tesi confermano la validità di OI in nuovi contesti di ricerca e rivelano una influenza combinata di pratiche d’innovazione specifica su innovazione, ma anche sulle dimensioni della performance industriale, ambientale e sociale. Questa tesi contribuisce alla teoria e alla pratica, che empiricamente mostra che se anche la OI ed i risultati di praticarla sono molto dipendenti dal contesto, l’adozione delle pratiche OI può sicuramente avere un effetto positivo nelle prestazioni complessive delle aziende nella industria manifatturiere matura, comprese le PMI ed altri piccoli attori.

This thesis is produced as part of the EMJD Programme European Doctorate in Industrial Management (EDIM) funded by the European Commission, Erasmus Mundus Action 1.

EDIM is run by a consortium consisting of the industrial management departments of three institutions.

•KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

•Politecnico de Milano, POLIMI, Milan, Italy

•Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, UPM, Madrid, Spain

QC 20160128

European Doctorate in Industrial Management

A inovação tem ganho progressivamente maior importância para as empresas ao longo do tempo. Ao multiplicarem-se os desafios a que são atualmente sujeitas, são cada vez mais aquelas que aplicam a inovação aberta por forma a ultrapassar essas barreiras e manterem-se competitivas. Apesar do crescente interesse no conceito, os estudos existentes sobre inovação aberta concentram-se maioritariamente nas empresas de grande dimensão. Assim, a presente investigação pretende contribuir para a literatura ao estudar a aplicação do conceito de inovação aberta nas PME portuguesas. Em concreto, através do estudo exploratório desenvolvido, foi possível concluir que existe atualmente um elevado nível de recetividade à inovação aberta por parte das PME portuguesas, tendo sido igualmente possível analisar quais as principais práticas, motivações e benefícios da inovação aberta para estas empresas.
Innovation has progressively gained greater importance for companies over time. Considering the numerous challenges to which they are currently subject to, more and more companies are applying open innovation in order to overcome those barriers and remain competitive. Despite the growing interest in the concept, existing studies on open innovation focus mainly on large firms. Thus, the present investigation intends to study the application of the concept of open innovation in portuguese SMEs. Specifically, through the research carried out, it was possible to conclude that there is currently a high level of open innovation in portuguese SMEs. It was also possible to analyze the main practices, motivations and benefits of open innovation for these companies.

A inovação aberta tem vindo a ganhar, progressivamente, uma maior importância ao longo do tempo, dado que a aposta numa cultura de inovação constante e de inovação aberta tornou-se indispensável para a sobrevivência das organizações a longo prazo. Nesta ótica, é de fulcral relevância compreender os fatores que produzem impactos na sua capacidade inovativa e no sucesso das inovações das organizações. Tendo em conta o vasto leque de fatores existentes, parece evidente que o estudo dos mesmos e dos efeitos que estes originam no desempenho das pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) é um trabalho difícil e que envolve uma grande complexidade, tornando-se mesmo num desafio. De modo a superar esta adversidade, e dado que a literatura atual apresenta várias limitações ao nível da seleção dos critérios a integrar nos sistemas de avaliação já existentes e da determinação dos seus pesos relativos, torna-se necessário o desenvolvimento de um sistema de avaliação que permita obter uma visão holística do problema em análise e que seja capaz de suprimir estas limitações. Para o efeito, a presente dissertação sugere um sistema que faz uso da combinação de técnicas de mapeamento cognitivo, assentes na abordagem JOintly Understanding Reflecting and NEgotiating strategY (JOURNEY) Making, com a técnica Best-Worst Method (BWM), de modo a identificar os critérios pertinentes na avaliação do grau de inovação aberta nas PMEs e proceder ao cálculo dos respetivos ponderadores. O propósito é promover uma análise mais realista e integrada, fomentando tomadas de decisão mais conscientes e claras.
Open innovation has gradually gained greater importance over time, since the commitment to a culture of constant innovation has become indispensable for the survival of organizations in the long-term. From this point of view, it is crucial to understand the factors that impact the innovation capacity of these organizations and the success of innovations. Given the wide range of existing factors, it seems clear that studying them and the effects they have on the performance of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) is a difficult and extremely complex endeavor. In fact, a real challenge. To overcome this adversity – and given that the current literature presents several limitations regarding the selection of the criteria to be integrated into the existing evaluation systems and the determination of their relative weights – it is necessary to develop an evaluation system that allows for a holistic view of the problem under analysis and that can surmount these limitations. To this end, this dissertation suggests a system that combines cognitive mapping techniques, based on the JOintly Understanding Reflecting and NEgotiating strategY (JOURNEY) Making approach, and the Best-Worst Method (BWM) technique. The aim is to identify relevant criteria in the evaluation of the degree of open innovation in SMEs, and to calculate the corresponding weights. Therefore, the purpose is to promote a more realistic and comprehensive analysis, fostering more conscious and clear decision making.