Opening and closing open innovation projects: A contractual perspective

Frano Barbic, Albert Jolink, Eva Niesten, Antonio Hidalgo

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    18 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    In this article we introduce three concepts from transaction cost economics that have so far remained excluded from the open innovation literature, and that enable us to address the demands in the literature for an explanatory mechanism for closing open innovation: unanticipated disturbances, tolerance zone and interpretations of contracts. First, we argue that threats resulting from unanticipated disturbances are absorbed in a tolerance zone and lead to adaptations in knowledge sharing. Second, we argue that these threats and changes in knowledge sharing at the project level impact the interpretation of the open innovation contract at the firm level. Adopting a contractual perspective, the article contributes to the open innovation literature by explaining the tolerance zone of transitioning between closed and open innovation. We illustrate in a case study on a B2B open innovation project how a threat to value creation leads to a continuation of open innovation, whereas a threat to value capture leads to a closing of open innovation.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)174-186
    Number of pages13
    JournalIndustrial Marketing Management
    Volume94
    Early online date6 Mar 2021
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Apr 2021

    Bibliographical note

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2021

    Copyright:
    Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

    Keywords

    • Closing innovation
    • OI project
    • Opening innovation
    • Value capture
    • Value creation

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Marketing

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