Research Opportunities for Network Forms of OI

At #RnDParis2019 Thursday, I gave a “master class” on the network forms of open innovation: alliances, communities, crowds, consortia, ecosystems and platforms. It was a standing room only session: it appears that there are a lot of innovation researchers (particularly those new in their careers) who want to learn more about this area and the research opportunities.

Interest in the network form of OI began with Wim Vanhaverbeke’s chapters in our 2006 book, Open Innovation: Researching a New Paradigm. I extended the idea with a chapter in our 2014 book, New Frontiers in Open Innovation. In several other papers (West et al 2006, 2014; West & Bogers, 2014), we noted the emphasis of OI research on dyadic collaboration between firms, and the dearth of research on OI in platforms, ecosystems, and so on.

There are many opportunities both for network research informed by OI, and using OI to inform one or more of the network forms of interorganizational cooperation.

My slides are up on Slideshare. I welcome any feedback or questions.

References

Joel West and Marcel Bogers, “Leveraging External Sources of Innovation: A Review of Research on Open Innovation,” Journal of Product Innovation Management, 31, 4 (July 2014): 814-831. DOI: 10.1111/jpim.12125

Joel West, Wim Vanhaverbeke and Henry Chesbrough, “Open Innovation: A Research Agenda,” in Henry Chesbrough, Wim Vanhaverbeke and Joel West, eds., Open Innovation: Researching a New Paradigm, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 285-307.

Joel West, Ammon Salter, Wim Vanhaverbeke, Henry Chesbrough, “Open innovation: The next decade,” Special Issue on Open Innovation: New Insights and Evidence, Research Policy, 43, 5 (June 2014): 805-811. DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2014.03.001