While interest in the open innovation model is still growing, limitations in its scope and application are starting to become evident. The findings of the study present a nuanced and tempered view of open innovation at the project level. The study indicates that, at the project level, the benefits of an open innovation strategy can be maximised and its limitations can be overcome by focusing on the three dimensions of ‘openness’ (breadth, exploration and depth), and by implementing the strategy following the principles of contingency theory. The study’s main theoretical contribution rests on the development of a contingency theory of inbound open innovation at the project level. A first set of empirical results, based on a survey of 205 new product development (NPD) projects in the manufacturing sector in the UK, suggests that the type of innovation (incremental and radical innovation) and the strength of the appropriability regime are key contingencies, which influence an open innovation strategy at the project level. A second set of empirical results, obtained from a case study at Jaguar (UK), illustrates that further contingencies occur in the course of radical innovation projects. The decision to adopt an open or closed innovation strategy is influenced by the interaction between three key contingencies: the stages of the new product development process, the strength of the appropriability regime and the informal appropriation instrument (secrecy).

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<p>This thesis presents how and if open innovation software (OIS) supports different types of creativity. The relevant theories and information on how an OIS is designed and, the relevant theories of creativity are used for making a model to test on different OIS.</p><p>The result shows that most OIS functionality supported the structuralist and situationalist school of creativity but it also shows that the inspirationalist school was poorly supported in the current functionality. With the result we discuss the implications of supporting all types of creativity to support the most of the users and in the end enable more innovations.</p>

This thesis presents how and if open innovation software (OIS) supports different types of creativity. The relevant theories and information on how an OIS is designed and, the relevant theories of creativity are used for making a model to test on different OIS. The result shows that most OIS functionality supported the structuralist and situationalist school of creativity but it also shows that the inspirationalist school was poorly supported in the current functionality. With the result we discuss the implications of supporting all types of creativity to support the most of the users and in the end enable more innovations.

In today competitive business environment MNCs need to extend their R&amp;D and include external sources to explore and exploit knowledge; Open Innovation is used to meet this increased competitive environment. The aim of this thesis is to explore how MNCs act when they select their external collaboration channels; why MNCs select a specific channel of innovation and problems associated with the work. The conclusion of this thesis could help MNCs and their managers regarding the choice of Open Innovation channels. This thesis also studies different Open Innovation channels and when companies work with several channels together.   A qualitative multiple-case study was conducted to explore how seven MNCs act when they select which external channel to collaborate with to increase their innovation capacity. An MNCs´ Open Innovation channel selection process is formed by the innovation needed, the innovation needed tend to form which channel to collaborate with, for example the timeframe perspective; when MNCs are focusing on long-term development of products they collaborate with universities. Further, if an MNC wants to develop an already existing technique, they choose to collaborate with suppliers, as they are familiar with the product. All companies use their already existing network as a channel to gain external innovation and new ideas.

The purpose of this study is to explore critical aspects in the establishment of an open innovation arena. This study considers only the perspective of science parks as the establisher and facilitator of the open innovation arenas. By understanding these critical aspects science parks and its participants can benefit from improved innovativeness. Using existing theories, a theoretical framework illustrating critical aspects for the establishment of an open innovation arena was created and subsequently tested through a qualitative research strategy. The research design included case studies into four science parks, three in Sweden and one in the UK, at various stages of establishing and facilitating open innovation arenas. The primary data comprised interviews with top management at each of the science parks, as well as one interview with a committee overseeing science parks in Sweden. The locations for the case study selection were based on Sweden and United Kingdom’s current prominence and success in fostering collaborations. The results of this study indicate that there are a number of critical aspects important during the establishment of open innovation arenas by science parks. Among these critical aspects are the selection of participants, a neutral and passive stance on formalization of contracts and IP, the creation of trust and motivation within the arena, the importance of the physical arena setting and the benefit of an arena topic area prominent amongst the surrounding participants. In addition, this study shows the importance of science parks’ neutral position, as well as the influence of the participants throughout all aspects. Based on these findings, practical and theoretical implications are presented and discussed in the paper. The key implications of this study are that science parks should play an active role to select appropriate projects and participants in order to create trust and motivation within the arena, provide a physical meeting place and access to specialized equipment that fosters communication and encourages collaboration among participants, as well as sourcing projects close to the science park’s geographical proximity. Additionally, they should choose one or more topic area and utilize networks in order to build up expertise, While science parks should play a passive role regarding formalization and IP regulations, it is important that they know how to assists the participants when requested.

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to extract and provide practical knowledge and examples from both theory and practice in order to clarify some practices that can be used in the implementation of open innovation. It can be of interest for whomever willing to gain an insight into the practical features of open innovation and for companies considering, or struggling with the implementation of open innovation.</p><p>The study was approached with a qualitative and interpretive method. Secondary sources were used exclusively to review the practical aspects of open innovation in theory and practice. Open innovation practice at Nokia Corp. and the Procter & Gamble Company were researched and reported using studies of other authors as well as the companies’ own publications.</p><p>The classification of open innovation practices in contemporary literature is not sufficient to provide an understanding for the various types of open innovation practices that can be applied and used in practice. A classification based on types of activities is presented by the authors, and practical suggestions regarding design and implementation concludes the thesis.</p>

The purpose of this thesis is to extract and provide practical knowledge and examples from both theory and practice in order to clarify some practices that can be used in the implementation of open innovation. It can be of interest for whomever willing to gain an insight into the practical features of open innovation and for companies considering, or struggling with the implementation of open innovation. The study was approached with a qualitative and interpretive method. Secondary sources were used exclusively to review the practical aspects of open innovation in theory and practice. Open innovation practice at Nokia Corp. and the Procter &amp; Gamble Company were researched and reported using studies of other authors as well as the companies’ own publications. The classification of open innovation practices in contemporary literature is not sufficient to provide an understanding for the various types of open innovation practices that can be applied and used in practice. A classification based on types of activities is presented by the authors, and practical suggestions regarding design and implementation concludes the thesis.

Open innovation that Henry Chesbrough introduced in 2003 promotes the usage of the input of outsiders to strengthen internal innovation processes and the search for outside commercialization opportunities for what is developed internally. Open innovation has enabled both academics and practitioners to design innovation strategies based on the reality of our connected world. Although the literature has identified and explored a variety of benefits and costs, to the best of our knowledge, no study has reviewed the benefits and costs of open innovation in terms of their importance for strategic performance. To conduct such a study, we need to take into account two main issues. First, the number of benefits and costs of open innovation are multifold; so, to have a comprehensive comparison, a large number of benefits and costs must be compared. Second, to have a fair comparison, benefits and costs must be compared in terms of different performance criteria, including financial and non-financial. Concerning the issues above, we will face a complex process of exploring benefits and costs. In this regard, we use multiple criterion decision-making (MCDM) methods that have shown promising solutions to complex exploratory problems. In particular, we present how using a stochastic multi-criteria clustering algorithm that is one of the recently introduced MCDM methods can bring promising results when it comes to exploring the strategic importance of benefits and costs of open innovation. Since there is no comprehensive understanding of the nature of the benefits and costs of open innovation, the proposed model aims to cluster them into hierarchical groups to help researchers identify the most crucial benefits and costs concerning different dimensions of performance. In addition, the model is able to deal with uncertainties related to technical parameters such as criteria weights and preference thresholds. We apply the model in the context of open innovation for universities concerning their research collaboration with industries. An online survey was conducted to collect experts' opinions on the open-innovation benefits and costs of university-industry research collaboration, given different performance dimensions. The results obtained through the cluster analysis specify that university researchers collaborate with industry mainly because of knowledge-related and research-related reasons rather than economic reasons. This research also indicates that the most important benefits of university-industry research collaboration for universities are implementing the learnings, increased know-how, accessing specialized infrastructures, accessing a greater idea and knowledge base, sensing and seizing new technological trends, and keeping the employees engaged. In addition, the results show that the most important costs are the lack of necessary resources to monitor activities between university and industry, an increased resistance to change among employees, conflict of interest (different missions), an increased employees' tendency to avoid using the knowledge that they do not create themselves, paying time costs associated with bureaucracy rules, and loss of focus. The research's findings enable researchers to analyze open innovation's related issues for universities more effectively and define their research projects on these issues in line with the priorities of universities.

Introduction: The introduction aims to provide a background to the case company, what Open Innovation (OI) is and how the concept is used in producing companies that are large and SME, as well as a brief description of what a fixture can look like. Purpose and issues: The purpose and goal of this study is to develop a permanent fixture for milling machines that will cut different articles into different lengths to save time and money. Since the case company uses this study as an OI strategy, the purpose is also to investigate why producing companies use OI in the development of products and what risks it may entail.Based on the purpose of the study, two questions were formulated: RQ1: What are the main reasons that producing companies use OI in their product development process and what risks may occur using OI? RQ2: Can a generic product development process, if possible, be applied when developing a fixture for milling machines through OI? In such case, what steps are applicable in this study? Approach and method: A case study was performed at a company and data was collected through literature studies, observations, and semi- and unstructured interviews. The literature study was collected to link the collected theoretical data with the results and was taken from books and scientific articles. The product development process was performed by following the theoretical frame of reference. Results: The respondents use OI for external input to develop the technology and utilize external knowledge. The concept is used to make the innovation process progress. The respondents have experienced positive results from using OI, but it has also entailed certain risks. Students are often used as an OI strategy to carry out student thesis and projects at companies.A fixture was developed following a generic product development process and a 3D CAD model of the product solution was developed. The phases product planning, concept development, development at system level and detailed development were completed to develop a solution to the problem that the case company experienced. Conclusions: The conclusions that can be drawn in this study are that OI is recommended to be used in producing companies to continue to develop even though it may involve risks.A fixture was created based on the requirements and goal specifications that the case company had, with a solution to the problem that existed. The fixture that was developed can be manufactured economically and practically and can save the fall company time and money. Keywords: Open Innovation, Open Innovation risks, reasons for Open Innovation, SME Open Innovation, large companies Open Innovation, product development, concept development, product design, concept design, fixture design, product development process. / Introduktion: Introduktionen syftar till att ge en bakgrund till fallföretaget, vad Open Innovation (OI) är och hur konceptet används i producerande företag som är stora och SME, samt en kort beskrivning av hur en fixtur kan se ut. Syfte och frågeställningar: Syftet och målet med denna studie är att utveckla en permanent fixtur till fräsmaskiner som ska skära olika artiklar i olika längder för att spara tid och pengar. Eftersom fallföretaget använder denna studie som en OI-strategi är syftet även att undersöka varför producerande företag använder OI vid utvecklingsarbeten och vilka risker det kan medföra. Utifrån studiens syfte formulerades två frågeställningar: FF1: Vilka är de främsta orsakerna till att producerande företag använder OI i deras produktutvecklingsprocess och vilka risker kan förekomma genom användning av OI? FF2: Kan en generisk produktutvecklingsprocess om möjligt tillämpas vid framtagning av en fixtur till fräsmaskinergenom OI? Vilka steg är i sådana fall tillämpbara i denna studie? Ansats och metod: En fallstudie utfördes på ett företag och data samlades in genom litteraturstudier, observationer, samt semi-och ostrukturerade intervjuer. Litteraturstudien samlades in för att kunna koppla den insamlade teoretiska data med resultatet, och hämtades från böcker och vetenskapliga artiklar. Produktutvecklingsprocessen utfördes genom att följa den teoretiska referensramen. Resultat: Respondenterna använder OI för extern input för att utveckla tekniken och utnyttja extern kunskap. Konceptet används för att få innovationsprocessen att fortskrida. Respondenterna har upplevt positiva resultat av att använda OI, men det har även medfört vissa risker. Studenter används ofta som en OI-strategi för att utföra studentarbeten och projekt hos företag. En fixtur utvecklades genom att följa en generisk produktutvecklingsprocess och en 3D CAD-modell av produktlösningen utvecklades. Faserna produktplanering, konceptutveckling, utveckling på systemnivå och detaljutveckling fullföljdes för att ta fram en lösning till problemet som fallföretaget upplevde. Slutsatser: Slutsatserna som kan dras i denna studie äratt OI rekommenderas att användas i producerandeföretag för att fortsätta utvecklas även fast det kan medföra risker. En fixtur skapades utifrån de krav-och målspecifikationerna som fallföretaget hade, med en lösning till problemet som fanns. Fixturen som utvecklades kan tillverkas ekonomiskt och praktiskt och kan bespara fallföretaget tid och pengar.