Title: Open Innovation in the automotive industry: Why and How? Evidence from a multiple case study

Authors: Valentina Lazzarotti; Raffaella Manzini; Luisa Pellegrini; Emanuele Pizzurno

Addresses: Università Carlo Cattaneo – LIUC, Corso Matteotti 22, 21053 Castellanza (VA), Italy ' Università Carlo Cattaneo – LIUC, Corso Matteotti 22, 21053 Castellanza (VA), Italy ' Department of Energy and Systems Engineering, University of Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino, 56122 Pisa, Italy ' Università Carlo Cattaneo – LIUC, Corso Matteotti 22, 21053 Castellanza (VA), Italy

Abstract: The paper explores the concept of Open Innovation (OI) and evaluates whether, why and how it is adopted in the automotive field. The study attempts to enrich the existing empirical evidence because few studies about the topic were conducted. With this aim, we studied the experience of three well-known companies operating at different levels in the value chain of the automotive industry: a final car-producer on one hand; two suppliers (i.e., a designer and a supplier of components) on the other. The underlying idea is that firm-specific strategic goals as well as external factors (i.e., environmental/industry features) can affect (i.e., explaining whether and why) the adoption of OI approaches and that openness can lead to some advantages despite some obstacles could prevent the achievement of the expected benefits.

Keywords: open innovation; technological collaboration; automobile industry; case studies; automotive innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTIP.2013.052620

International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning, 2013 Vol.9 No.1, pp.37 - 56

Published online: 30 Mar 2013 *

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