Mechanisms in Open Innovation: A Review and Synthesis of the Literature

Authors

Ruben H.A.J. Ogink
Martin C. Goossen, Old Dominion UniversityFollow
A. Georges L. Romme
Henk Akkermans

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2023

DOI

10.1016/j.technovation.2022.102621

Publication Title

Technovation

Volume

119

Pages

102621 (1-15)

Abstract

A large body of literature explores the role of context, structure, actors, and outcomes of open innovation (OI), yet pays little attention to the mechanisms underlying these relationships. In this review paper, we synthesize the OI literature using a context-mechanism-outcome approach to identify and classify the various mechanisms observed in empirical OI studies. Our findings demonstrate that the OI literature draws on a wide variety of mechanisms originating from the fields of management, sociology, economics, and psychology. The fifteen mechanisms most frequently observed in the literature fall into four categories: governance and policies; environmental dynamics and interactions; knowledge, skills, and capabilities; and learning by doing. Moreover, by examining the levels of analysis of these mechanisms, we observe substantial differences in how these mechanisms operate at the individual, project, firm, network, and society level. Finally, we identify various avenues for future research arising from our synthesis of the literature.

Rights

© 2022 The Authors.

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Data Availability

Article States: Supplementary data files included with this article.

Original Publication Citation

Ogink, R. H. A. J., Goossen, M. C., Romme, A. G. L., & Akkermans, H. (2023). Mechanisms in open innovation: A review and synthesis of the literature. Technovation, 119, 1-15, Article 102621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2022.102621

Repository Citation

Ogink, Ruben H.A.J.; Goossen, Martin C.; Romme, A. Georges L.; and Akkermans, Henk, "Mechanisms in Open Innovation: A Review and Synthesis of the Literature" (2023). Management Faculty Publications. 61.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/management_fac_pubs/61