Companies use a concept called open innovation to expand beyond in-house research and development and to use external sources to find new technologies, develop new products and services, or to launch new platforms. "The Smart Way to Open Your Innovation Process," a recent joint study by Purdue University's Research Center for Open Digital Innovation and global professional services company Accenture, noted that large companies embrace open innovation but do not always utilize it strategically.
“The study suggests that open innovation remains of strategic value to large firms in the United States and Europe," said Sabine Brunswicker, associate professor of innovation and director of Purdue’s Research Center for Open Digital Innovation (RCODI). "It also shows managers increasingly experiment with different types of open innovation, such as crowds and communities."
A one-size-fits-all approach isn't the solution, Brunswicker said. "Open innovation requires a careful design of the right project ‘mode,’ in order to drive an open innovation project towards success. Managers need to learn how to embrace openness and establish new managerial practices that balance tensions emerging from uncertainty and ambiguity.”
The study looked at the use of open innovation in research and development in companies with more than 1,000 employees and revenue of at least $250 million.
Read the full Purdue University news release.