In accordance with today’s fierce competition between firms in being innovative, firms face new challenges in transforming knowledge into innovations to gain competitive advantage. In light of the trend towards open innovation, executives and entrepreneurs must reconsider their firms’ inbound innovation strategies to not to lose competitiveness. Additionally, they must align their business models accordingly to enable and to support open innovation activities.
However, while the trend towards open innovation is evident, theoretical approaches on how different business models demand different open innovation strategies still provoke a lot of controversy in current business and academic literature. Based on latest research this thesis will introduce a novel type of contingency framework that matches inbound open innovation strategies with equivalent open business model designs. A theoretical analysis and an empirical application of a case study of Novo Nordisk will provide an answer to how inbound open innovation strategies and business models can be aligned accordingly with the help of a contingency framework.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. OBJECTIVES
2. METHODOLOGY
3. DEFINITIONS AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
3.1. INNOVATION
3.1.1. THE BASIC CONCEPT OF INNOVATION
3.1.2. TYPES OF INNOVATIONS AND THEIR ECONOMIC RELEVANCE
3.1.3. THE OPEN INNOVATION PARADIGM
3.1.4. ILLUSTRATION OF CORE OPEN INNOVATION ACTIVITIES
3.2. THE BUSINESS MODEL
3.2.1. LATEST BUSINESS MODEL CONCEPTS
3.2.2. AN ORGANIZATIONAL BUSINESS MODEL CONCEPT
3.3. THE CONTINGENCY FRAMEWORK
3.3.1. MARKET-BASED INNOVATION STRATEGY
3.3.2. CROWD-BASED INNOVATION STRATEGY
3.3.3. COLLABORATIVE INNOVATION STRATEGY
3.3.4. NETWORK-BASED INNOVATION STRATEGY
4. THEORETICAL EXAMINATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE FRAMEWORK
4.1. THE ADOPTION OF OPEN INNOVATION – RECENT INSIGHTS
4.2. ANALYSIS OF THE CONTINGENCY FRAMEWORK
4.2.1. EXAMINATION OF OPEN INNOVATION STRATEGIES
4.2.2. EXAMINATION OF SUCCESSFUL OPEN BUSINESS MODELS
5. EMPIRICAL APPLICATION OF THE CONTINGENCY FRAMEWORK
5.1. THE INTERVIEW GUIDE
5.2. CASE STUDY OF NOVO NORDISK
6. DISCUSSION
7. CONCLUSION
Research Objectives and Themes
This thesis examines how firms can effectively align their inbound Open Innovation Strategies (OIS) with supportive Business Model (BM) designs to gain competitive advantages. By introducing and applying a contingency framework, the work aims to provide managers and entrepreneurs with a tool to systematically bridge the gap between innovation activities and organizational structure.
- Theoretical exploration of Open Innovation and Business Model concepts.
- Development and analysis of a contingency framework for innovation management.
- Investigation of the alignment between OIS and BM design parameters.
- Empirical case study application at Novo Nordisk.
Excerpt from the Thesis
3.1.3. THE OPEN INNOVATION PARADIGM
New ideas emerge and knowledge is being created randomly all the time and almost everywhere in various not consequently business institutions or organizations. Hence, two major theoretical perspectives have emerged concerning the sources and the traffic of knowledge and its transformation into innovations.
The traditional Schumpeterian perspective illustrates the source of innovation as the creation of knowledge and the creation of innovations from exclusively within the same firm due to funded internal research and development (R&D) processes (Fig. 5). This approach is rather analogous to the simplistic linear model in Fig. 1. That traditional Schumpeterian concept is examined by the American economist Henry Chesbrough. He describes it as the CPI which is stated to be an exclusively inward orientated landscape of ideas and knowledge in terms of funding and organizing innovation activities inside the firm’s R&D laboratories (Chesbrough, 2003a, pp. 21-24).
Due research by Eric von Hippel and others, the logic of the traditional CIP has continuously been reconsidered. Traditionally, the locus of an innovation was assumed to be the locus of the innovation. Back in the late 1980’s after twelve years of research regarding innovations, he found that the innovation sources for product innovations vary significantly and against common assumptions they were not exclusively developed by the manufacturers due to internal R&D (Von Hippel, 1988, p. 3). With his studies, he pointed out that in certain scopes users had developed the greater part of innovations, while in other scopes users innovated more. Taking new implications into account, he examined innovation processes as an interconnection between manufacturers, users, suppliers as well as others and named his new findings functional sources of innovation (Von Hippel, 1988, p. 3).
Summary of Chapters
1. INTRODUCTION: Outlines the rise of Open Innovation due to competitive pressure and the need for firms to reorganize their business models to manage these activities effectively.
2. METHODOLOGY: Describes the approach taken to examine the contingency framework, including the interdisciplinary literature review and the qualitative case study method.
3. DEFINITIONS AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND: Introduces core concepts of innovation, the Open Innovation paradigm, Business Model design, and the specific contingency framework for aligning strategies.
4. THEORETICAL EXAMINATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE FRAMEWORK: Analyzes the adoption of Open Innovation based on recent industry insights and theoretically evaluates the proposed framework's adequacy.
5. EMPIRICAL APPLICATION OF THE CONTINGENCY FRAMEWORK: Provides an application of the framework through an expert interview and a detailed case study of the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.
6. DISCUSSION: Reviews the findings of the thesis, critically assessing the strengths and limitations of the contingency framework in practice.
7. CONCLUSION: Summarizes the key findings and confirms the hypothesis that the contingency framework is an effective tool for aligning inbound innovation strategies with business model designs.
Keywords
Open innovation, business model, inbound innovation strategies, contingency framework, R&D management, knowledge sourcing, Novo Nordisk, firm innovation, organizational structure, strategy alignment, competitive advantage, innovation management, technology transfer, user innovation, process innovation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this thesis?
The thesis explores how firms can successfully manage and align their "inbound" Open Innovation Strategies with their organizational Business Models to maintain competitive advantage.
What are the central themes of the research?
Key themes include the evolution of innovation paradigms, the classification of Open Innovation strategies (market, crowd, collaborative, network), and the structural and governance components of Business Models.
What is the core objective of the work?
The goal is to determine how firms can systematically match specific inbound Open Innovation activities with equivalent, supportive Business Model designs to minimize risks and maximize innovation performance.
Which research methodology is employed?
The research uses a qualitative, explorative approach, combining an interdisciplinary literature review with an expert interview and a single-case study of the pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk.
What does the main part of the thesis cover?
It covers the theoretical grounding of innovation and Business Models, the detailed mechanics of the contingency framework, an analysis of how these are adopted in various industries, and an empirical case study validation.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Open innovation, business model, inbound innovation strategies, contingency framework, and organizational innovation.
Why was Novo Nordisk chosen as a case study?
Novo Nordisk was selected as an example of a pharmaceutical company that effectively navigates the tension between internal R&D core competencies and the necessity of external knowledge sourcing.
What is the main finding regarding the contingency framework?
The findings suggest that the framework serves as a holistic, advantageous tool for managers to reorganize their companies, ensure strategic consistency, and better manage the complexities of Open Innovation.
- Citation du texte
- Felix Thyen (Auteur), 2017, Managing Inbound Open Innovation Strategies in Context of the Business Model, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/419888
