Title: Broadening the scope of open innovation: past research, current state and future directions

Authors: Vareska Van de Vrande, Wim Vanhaverbeke, Oliver Gassmann

Addresses: Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands. ' Department BEW, Hasselt University, Agoralaan Gebouw D, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium; Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, Vlamingenstraat 83, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; ESADE Business School, Av. Pedralbes 60-62, 08034 Barcelona, Spain. ' Institute of Technology Management, University of St. Gallen, Dufourstrasse 40a, CH-9000 St. Gallen, Germany

Abstract: In this first paper of the special issue, we identify some trends in open innovation research by analysing how the literature on this topics has evolved since the introduction of the concept in 2003. Research on open innovation has been mushrooming ever since and the scope has been broadened in different directions. Researchers also started to analyse open innovation at different level of analysis from the individual actors in organisations to ecosystems and national innovation systems. Despite the vast growth in research on open innovation, we identified several directions for further research: open innovation research should be linked to other management areas such as marketing, HRM, change management, etc. In addition, our understanding of open innovation could be improved if the recently developed insights could be related to the existing management theories.

Keywords: open innovation; trends; future directions; innovation research; marketing; HRM; change management; human resource management; management theories.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2010.035974

International Journal of Technology Management, 2010 Vol.52 No.3/4, pp.221 - 235

Published online: 06 Apr 2013 *

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