Title: Implementing open innovation: a case study in the renewable energy industry

Authors: Davide Chiaroni; Vittorio Chiesa; Federico Frattini; Riccardo Terruzzi

Addresses: Politecnico di Milano, Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, 20156, Milano, Italy ' Politecnico di Milano, Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, 20156, Milano, Italy ' Politecnico di Milano, Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, 20156, Milano, Italy ' Politecnico di Milano, Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, 20156, Milano, Italy

Abstract: This paper focuses on a relatively neglected aspect of the open innovation model, i.e., the anatomy of the organisational change process a firm goes through when it modifies its strategic approach to innovation from a closed to an open approach. By analysing the case of an Italian firm in the renewable energy industry, this paper illuminates the role of pilot projects in fostering this process of organisational change. For each stage of this organisational change process, the paper identifies the variables that should be taken into account to purposefully manage pilot projects as instruments to enable transition from closed to open innovation. The paper provides a discussion of these findings and outlines avenues for future research.

Keywords: pilot projects; open innovation; change management; renewable energy industry; case study; organisational change; change management; Italy; project management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTIP.2015.070847

International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning, 2015 Vol.10 No.3/4, pp.195 - 221

Published online: 30 Jul 2015 *

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