Title: Open source innovation: what makes it move?

Authors: Cecília Gerhardt Burtet; Jorge Renato Verschoore; Anelise Caon Bittencourt

Addresses: UNISINOS University, Av. Unisinos, 950, Bairro Cristo Rei, São Leopoldo, RS, Brazil ' UNISINOS University, Porto Alegre, Av. Luiz Manoel Gonzaga, 744 / 318, Brazil ' UNISINOS University, Av. Unisinos, 950, Bairro Cristo Rei, São Leopoldo, RS, Brazil

Abstract: The way organisations conduct their innovation processes has advanced in recent years, evidencing open innovation as an object of study. Von Hippel (2005a) introduced an even more radical innovation concept called Open Source Innovation (OSI), characterised by an opening of the innovation process and its results. In this scenario, we explore the adoption of OSI approach by several organisations and pose the following question: What moves open source innovation initiatives? We conducted field research with international companies that used the OSI approach. Empirical evidence enabled us to address the research question by confirming previous motivations reported in the literature, integrating them into two newly identified backgrounds and unveiling a highly strategic aspect of the adoption of OSI as a business model. Our main contribution is the analysis of open strategies beyond the software industry, paving the way for significant progress and the development of new theories on this topic.

Keywords: open source; innovation; open innovation; strategy; open strategy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2018.092623

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2018 Vol.16 No.3, pp.324 - 341

Received: 16 Sep 2016
Accepted: 18 Feb 2017
Published online: 26 Jun 2018 *

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