Title: Is open innovation supporting sustainable innovation? Findings based on a systematic, explorative analysis of existing literature

Authors: Romana Rauter; Elke Perl-Vorbach; Rupert J. Baumgartner

Addresses: Institute of Systems Sciences, Innovation and Sustainability Research, University of Graz, Merangasse 18/1, 8010 Graz, Austria ' Research and Technology House, Graz University of Technology, Mandellstraße 9/II, 8010 Graz, Austria ' Institute of Systems Sciences, Innovation and Sustainability Research, University of Graz, Merangasse 18/1, 8010 Graz, Austria

Abstract: Open innovation (OI) and sustainable innovation (SI) are concepts that are contested, but widely used, both in business practices as well as in management science. This systematic, explorative analysis of literature focuses on the clarification of the concept of OI for SI from a company perspective and provides a comprehensive literature review. By qualitatively analysing 19 papers that were published between 2003 and 2015, we show that OI is an important concept for SI, although its concrete application and impacts still remain debatable. The analysis presented contributes to existing research by linking OI and SI and clarifying the concepts. Our results imply that future research areas of interest include the social dimensions of SIs or OI in the context of life-cycle-thinking, but also support practitioners by providing a discussion of practical cases whereby OI practices have been applied within a sustainability context.

Keywords: sustainable innovation; open innovation; literature review; content analysis; sustainability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISD.2017.083289

International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, 2017 Vol.11 No.2/3, pp.249 - 270

Received: 06 Apr 2015
Accepted: 28 Jan 2016
Published online: 23 Mar 2017 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article