Stakeholder management in SME open innovation: interdependences and strategic actions
Introduction
The interest in open innovation (OI) continues to grow since its introduction by Chesbrough (2003). In an increasingly globalised economy, organisations rely on external knowledge as a source of competitive advantage (Lee, Park, Yoon, & Park, 2010; Popa, Soto-Acosta, & Martinez-Conesa, 2017). Vast amounts of literature have explored OI processes (Bogers et al., 2017; West & Bogers, 2013), but to date, these studies have predominantly focused on large firms. Therefore, research on OI in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) is pertinent (Vanhaverbeke, 2017). SMEs rely on external capabilities to overcome ‘liabilities of smallness’ (Pullen, De Weerd-Nederhof, Groen, & Fisscher, 2012), however, this presents a paradox since SMEs lack resources to leverage key networks (Ortega-Argilés, Vivarelli, & Voigt, 2009).
OI relies upon effectively managing relationships with external actors (Popa, Soto-Acosta, & Martinez-Conesa, 2017), however, conflicts arise due to mismatched objectives, strategic/organisational fit or power imbalance (Spithoven, Vanhaverbeke, & Roijakkers, 2012). Huggins and Thompson (2015) identify the need to explore ‘how’ stakeholder relationships are managed in OI. Furthermore, Limaj and Bernroider (2019) identify that the knowledge on stakeholder management in a SME-OI context remains very limited and requires further development. Accordingly, this research addresses these limitations by applying a stakeholder lens to explore how SMEs manage external stakeholders during OI. We begin by introducing the different dimensions of SME-OI, before deriving our stakeholder-based theoretical framework. We then present our methodological rationale and discuss our key findings and implications.
Section snippets
Defining open innovation
Open innovation (OI) is rooted in various established academic literatures (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990; Jeffrey & Dyer, 1998; Teece, 1986), creating a challenge in distinguishing OI from ‘business as usual’ (Trott & Hartmann, 2009). In conceptual terms, authors have debated between concepts (and phenomena) such as: closed vs. open innovation (Huizingh, 2011); open business model (Weiblen, 2014) vs. (‘ordinary’) business model (Burmeister, Lüttgens, & Piller, 2016) and open innovation vs. open
Research methodology
A qualitative case study was adopted to explore SME interactions with diverse stakeholders. This responds to calls for context rich, comparative studies to aid theoretical and empirical advancement (Limaj & Bernroider, 2019). Cases were selected from different regions (Denmark, Finland, The Netherlands and Norway) which have comparable levels of innovation and share similar characteristics such as the important role SMEs play in each region's employment and economic development (European
Results
The cases varied from very open, non-pecuniary crowd-science initiatives (case B), crowdsourcing (case C), networking with experts (cases B, C, G, H, I), co-innovation with universities (cases A, E, F, J, K) towards pecuniary OI heavily relying on risk-sharing (cases A, D, E). All of the studied cases represent mainly inbound OI with several having also a coupled OI logic (cases B, C, F, H, I, K). Only a few cases had some outbound practices applied (cases A, G, J spin-outs, case I
Discussion
OI can present many opportunities for resource constrained SMEs (Brunswicker & Vanhaverbeke, 2014; Van de Vrande et al., 2009). Yet prior research has not provided a clear understanding of the stakeholder dynamics during SME OI processes (Gould, 2012; Limaj & Bernroider, 2019). Our findings identify a range of primary and secondary stakeholders engaged across various stages of the OI process. Primary stakeholders provided essential knowledge and resources helping the SMEs to enhance their
Conclusions
Our findings respond to research by Spithoven et al. (2012), Vanhaverbeke (2017) and Van de Vrande et al. (2009) by providing new insights into the dynamic stakeholder relationships involved in SME OI which, to-date, have been underexplored. We also advance stakeholder theory (as called by Freeman, 2010) by operationalising key stakeholder constructs in an SME OI context. We illustrate the importance of stakeholder power, contingency and dependency during OI and the need to combine existing
Acknowledgement
This research forms a part of a larger European project – INSPIRE (H2020 project under grant agreement No 691440 – INSPIRE). The INSPIRE project is a Coordination and Support Action funded by the European Commission, which aims to professionalize Open Innovation (OI) processes within Europe's SMEs (for more information please see www.inspire-smes.info).
Ekaterina Albats is a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Business and Management, LUT University, Finland and at the Scandinavian Consortium for Organizational Research (SCANCOR), Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, USA. Ekaterina's research expertise lies in the fields of open innovation, university-industry collaboration and academic entrepreneurship. Ekaterina has been working in multiple research and consulting projects on open innovation and business development for
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Ekaterina Albats is a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Business and Management, LUT University, Finland and at the Scandinavian Consortium for Organizational Research (SCANCOR), Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, USA. Ekaterina's research expertise lies in the fields of open innovation, university-industry collaboration and academic entrepreneurship. Ekaterina has been working in multiple research and consulting projects on open innovation and business development for SMEs and large enterprises. Ekaterina is a member of the Open Innovation Academic Network (www.oi-net.eu), which brings academics and practitioners together for building a curricular on open innovation.
Allen Alexander is a Senior Lecturer in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Exeter Business School in Cornwall, within their Centre for the Circular Economy. His research focuses on strategic knowledge management and the role that knowledge can play in developing enhanced commercial capability and as a source of innovation. His recent studies have explored Open Innovation, Innovation Ecosystems and Regional Systems of Innovation and currently he is working on determining Circular Innovation, a component of the Circular Economy.
Maral Mahdad is a postdoctoral research fellow of innovation and entrepreneurship at the Department of Food and Resource Economics of University of Copenhagen. She obtained her Ph.D. in Management at Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, in Italy. Her research activities focus on innovation management, open innovation, university-industry collaborations, knowledge transfer and business model innovation. She has worked on various European Projects as a researcher during her career and she was involved in both academic research activities and consulting in the meanwhile. Maral is an active member of various research communities in the domain of innovation management.
Kristel Miller is a Senior Lecturer in Strategy at Ulster University. Her research interests are in the areas of university-industry knowledge transfer, university academic entrepreneurship and technology commercialisation processes, the development of SME innovation capabilities and how organisations of different types engage in business model innovation. She is a regular conference speaker at international conferences and has published in several international journals. Kristel also works in a consultancy capacity to help start-up ventures grow.
Ger Post is a research professor of business entrepreneurship at Fontys University of Applied Science and is head of a research group focusing on innovation, entrepreneurship and industrial engineering. His research includes open innovation in SMEs, the design of innovation ecosystems, entrepreneurship and collaboration in industry networks and supply chains. He is an active member of the Fontys Centre of Entrepreneurship and the Fontys Centre of Expertise on High Tech Systems and Materials. Next to his academic work he has extensive experience in consultancy and industry.