Title: Free revealing in open innovation: a comparison of different models and their benefits for companies

Authors: Tim Schweisfurth, Christina Raasch, Cornelius Herstatt

Addresses: Institute for Technology and Innovation Management (W-7), Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Schwarzenbergstrasse 95, D-21073 Hamburg, Germany. ' Institute for Technology and Innovation Management (W-7), Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Schwarzenbergstrasse 95, D-21073 Hamburg, Germany. ' Institute for Technology and Innovation Management (W-7), Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Schwarzenbergstrasse 95, D-21073 Hamburg, Germany

Abstract: In open innovation processes, free-revealing of information has proliferated in the wake of distributed electronic communication systems. Many scholars have coined a multitude of concepts to explain this free-revealing phenomenon and to develop models of organising innovation based on it. These models are partly overlapping, partly exclusive, and partly encompassing. In an extensive literature review, we identify five such concepts and research streams: collective invention, user innovation networks, commons-based peer production, crowdsourcing and open-source innovation. We compare and contrast these models along several dimensions. We present an integrative perspective on the five models and derive implications for research and practice.

Keywords: innovation models; free revealing; information revelation; comparative analysis; open source; crowdsourcing; user innovation networks; collective invention; commons-based peer production; distributed innovation; open innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPD.2011.038867

International Journal of Product Development, 2011 Vol.13 No.2, pp.95 - 118

Received: 29 Oct 2009
Accepted: 14 Apr 2010
Published online: 27 Feb 2015 *

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