Open and Closed Innovation

Open Innovation is a phenomenon in both research and management practice. Since radical innovation or new business development often require external technologies or ways of commercialization, many firms have shifted from a Closed to an Open Innovation model. However, firms often face difficulties during the implementation. While the implementation effort usually focuses on external ideas and technologies as well as the processes to identify them, cultural challenges are neglected.

Philipp Herzog develops a theoretical framework arguing that Open Innovation and Closed Innovation cultures need to be different (e.g. regarding the not-invented-here (NIH) syndrome). Based on a multi-respondent survey among 120 R&D employees from three business units of a leading chemical firm, he provides empirical evidence for many of the hypothesized differences in innovation culture. The findings may also help firms cope with the challenges experienced in implementing the Open Innovation concept.

Autorentext
Dr. Philipp Herzog ist wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Institut für betriebswirtschaftliches Management im Fachbereich Chemie und Pharmazie der Universität Münster.

Zusammenfassung
Firms acting in an environment of rapid technological change are often dependent on externally developing knowledge sources in order to generate radical innovations. This pressing need of integrating external R&D sources has forced many firms to shift from a Closed Innovation model to an Open Innovation model. In the chemical industry as the industry of focus in the present work the innovative force slowed down in the last 20 years. As a consequence, many chemical firms strive for implementing new forms of innovation management and follow an innovation strategy that involves the external environment to a greater extent. They implement the Open Innovation concept by setting up separated organizational units (e.g. Degussa's 'Creavis Technologies & Innovation' or BASF's 'Joint Innovation Lab'), which focus on innovation projects that cannot be operated by their internal R&D departments alone. However, many firms are facing difficulties during the implementation. While the implementation effort often focuses on external ideas and technologies and the processes to identify them, cultural challenges are neglected.

Inhalt
Innovation and the Open Innovation concept.- Innovation culture.- Conceptual framework and hypotheses.- Analysis and results.- Discussion of findings and implications for theory and practice.- Summary and conclusion.