Explicating Open Innovation: Clarifying an Emerging Paradigm for Understanding Innovation

TLDR: Open innovation is defined as a distributed innovation process based on purposively managed knowledge flows across organizational boundaries, using pecuniary and non-pecuniary mechanisms in line with the organization's business model as mentioned in this paper.

Abstract: We explore the growth, scope and impact of the academic literature that has arisen since the publication of Open Innovation back in 2003. Moreover, we further clarify and develop the conceptualization of open innovation, which we define as a distributed innovation process based on purposively managed knowledge flows across organizational boundaries, using pecuniary and non-pecuniary mechanisms in line with the organization's business model. On this basis, we then discuss divergent views on open innovation and we call for greater consistency in future research. Next, we address some of the critiques on the notion and development of open innovation as they have emerged in the literature so far. Finally, we consider the progress open innovation research has made, relative to the research agenda identified in Chesbrough, Vanhaverbeke, and West (2006), and extend the possible research subjects and units of analysis.