Adopting Open Innovation : A New Framework for the Analysis of the Open Innovation Adoption Process

Abstract: Background: The term Open Innovation describes a phenomenon where organizations are no longer solely relying on internal R&D to innovate technologies that they then would bring to market. Instead, firms are looking outside for ideas or working with other organizations to develop technologies in order to capitalize on efficiencies of existing knowledge, reduce investment risks and increase speed to market. We identified a need to analyze the existing open innovation adoption frameworks in order to track similarities and differences so that we could create a new framework which is more comprehensive. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to create a framework for the analysis of the open innovation adoption process which is based on organizational change and other relevant streams of research. In order to do this we were to find answers to the following research questions: 1) How can organizational change theory be used to analyze the movement from a closed to open innovation strategy? 2) In addition to organizational change theory, which research streams should be considered when analyzing the open innovation adoption process? 3) To what extent does our new framework provide an adequate foundation for analyzing the open innovation adoption process at SCA Hygiene Products? Results: Our new framework is meant for the analysis of open innovation adoption process. The framework helps researchers to analyze how different organizations have adopted open innovation based on the four research streams that we have analyzed. Our framework includes aspects of organizational change theory, knowledge management, networks and managerial roles. Key Words: open innovation adoption, organizational change, knowledge management, networks, SCA