Delivered at:: Department of Business Informatics

Course type:: Elective course

When:: 4 year, 1, 2 module

Instructor

Tekic, Zeljko

Full Syllabus

Abstract

Open innovation (OI) is defined as a distributed innovation process based on purposively managed knowledge flows across organizational boundaries. In essence, it suggests the execution of a wide range of practices related to external knowledge acquisition and commercialization, which range from simple crowd engagement to choosing a new ice cream taste to the involvement of lead users in developing new medical devices, R&D purchases, venturing, licensing agreements and free revealing of inventions. In the OI approach, firms look beyond their boundaries to exploit the creativity and expertise of users, customers, experts, and (online) communities to co-create new products and services. In expanding firm boundaries, open innovation affects how companies – large, SMEs, or even startups – strategize, compete, create, deliver and capture value. Thus, successful management of open innovation plays an important role in the survival and competitiveness of emerging and existing organizations. Additional layer of complexity and importance of OI comes with AI. as in the era of AI, collaboration is a vital driver of innovation. It plays a pivotal role not only in gathering and accessing data but also in acquiring cutting-edge technologies, attracting top talent, and drawing upon diverse expertise and experiences. To thrive in this landscape, companies must master the art of complex, open collaboration.To prepare students for this context Open Innovation course covers the fundamentals of open innovation ideas, tools, practices, and strategies, aiming to equip students with the understanding, knowledge, and skills required to manage open and user innovation projects and operations in their future workplaces.

Learning Objectives

The course is designed to help students learn the basics of open innovation – the logic behind it, the existing toolkit, success stories across industries, and how OI shapes a business model and strategy inside a company. To achieve that, the course is conceptualized as a combination of lectures, project work, and interactive exercises. The course Open Innovation is framed by the following questions: • Why open innovation? How it is different from close innovation? • What is the main motivation for organizations to use OI? • How does OI create value for companies? • What OI practices do organizations embrace? • Who are the organizations’ main partners in OI? • What are the challenges in structuring internal processes to systematically benefit from these partnerships? • What are the main drivers and barriers to adopting and using OI from the perspective of a company, an industry, and a country? To produce a holistic view of open innovation management, the course examines it from different perspectives – from the perspective of established (larger and medium) firms, from the perspective of non-commercial organizations as well as from the perspective of high-growth potential firms (startups). Taking into consideration different perspectives and approaches, the course highlights the skills and tools required for successful innovation within different organizations and markets. The course aims to introduce to students a range of OI tools, support usage scenarios of these tools with examples of good practice, and prepare them to understand and manage emerging models of innovation based on open principles in the face of technological changes.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Understand, explain and apply fundamental open innovation concepts and practices.
• Understand and explain the main motivation for organizations to use OI, what OI practices organizations use, who are their main partners in OI, and how they profit from open innovation.
• Understand, explain and critically discuss the differences between open and closed innovation.
• Differentiate between the different types of OI tools (co-creation with users, crowdsourcing, Lead Users, Innovation Intermediaries, in-licensing, open source…) and choose the right OI tool for different problem sets.
• Understand the basics of intellectual property rights and their role in OI.
• Understand, explain and critically discuss the role of open innovation in managing Digital transformation and AI projects.
• Analyze and synthesize companies’ open innovation strategies.
• Effectively communicate innovative initiatives in oral and written form.
• Productively work in groups.
• Critically reflect on its own learning.

Course Contents

What is innovation and why does it matter – intro to the topic and the course
From closed to open innovation: Innovation as a process and its models
Open Innovation - cases across industries
Sources of innovation
Value appropriation mechanisms, IP rights, and Open innovation
How technology is commercialized
Business models and open innovation – user-centricity
Strategy, big companies, startups, and ecosystems
User Innovation
Open and user innovation in Russia

Assessment Elements

In-class discussions, engagement, and homework
This class requires a high level of motivation and active class participation. This is not simply a lecture attendance, it is ENGAGEMENT and PARTICIPATION in the lectures, with deep preparation, timely and relevant comments and discussion, comments linked to the previous lectures, personal experience or other courses; opinion based on evidence, thinking, responding to the lecturer’s questions. Max number of points is 15.
Case Discussion
Students will receive a list of cases to read and prepare for ahead of each of the three case discussions. Prior to the discussions, they will be required to respond to a set of questions related to the selected cases. During the designated lecture or seminar sessions, students should be prepared to engage in critical discussions of the cases in class.
Open innovation in Russia (team project)
Each team is required to propose at least four open innovation (OI) projects initiated by Russian organizations for analysis during the course. The instructor will select three of these four projects for the team to analyze. Please note the following requirements and procedures: Project Selection Guidelines - Diverse Companies: All projects must come from different organizations. - Timeframe: Projects should have been initiated between 2017 and 2024. - First-Come, First-Served: To avoid duplication of projects across teams, a shared Yandex document will be used as a live database. - Database Entry: Teams must enter the projects they plan to focus on by listing the company name, a link to a reference, and a brief one-sentence description of the project (since some companies may have multiple OI projects). - Database Timeline: The database will be open for editing from September 20 at noon until October 18 at noon. - Penalty for Late Entry: Each day of delay will result in a penalty of -1 point from the team’s final score for the task Analysis Requirements For each of the selected projects, the following questions must be answered in the team presentation: 1. What was the goal of the project? 2. What was the organization’s main motivation for using open innovation? 3. What specific OI practices were employed by the organization? 4. Who were the organization’s key partners in the OI initiative? 5. How did open innovation create value for the company? 6. What were the main drivers and barriers to adopting and implementing OI from the perspectives of the company, industry, and country? 7. What did your team learn from these examples? 8. Are there any common patterns across the projects? 9. What could have been done differently in these projects?
Exam
The exam is taken in a written format based on a selection of open-ended questions offlime or online with proctoring (start exam platform). Time allowed: 90 minutes.

Interim Assessment

2024/2025 2nd module
0.1 * Case Discussion + 0.15 * Case Discussion + 0.4 * Exam + 0.15 * In-class discussions, engagement, and homework + 0.2 * Open innovation in Russia (team project)

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Chesbrough, H. W. (2003). The Era of Open Innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 44(3), 35–41.
Tidd, J., Bessant, J. R., & Pavitt, K. (2012). Managing innovation : integrating technological, market and organizational change. Chichester [Etc.].
von Hippel, E. A. (2016). Free Innovation. United States, North America: MIT Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.606752F7

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Baldwin, C., Hienerth, C., & von Hippel, E. (2006). How user innovations become commercial products: A theoretical investigation and case study. Research Policy, (9), 1291. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.eee.respol.v35y2006i9p1291.1313
Brunswicker, S., & Chesbrough, H. (2018). The Adoption of Open Innovation in Large Firms. Research Technology Management, 61(1), 35–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/08956308.2018.1399022
Chesbrough, H. (2020). To recover faster from Covid-19, open up: Managerial implications from an open innovation perspective. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.04.010
Chesbrough, H., & Rosenbloom, R. S. (2002). The role of the business model in capturing value from innovation: evidence from Xerox Corporation’s technology spin-off companies. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/11.3.529
Chesbrough, H., Lettl, C., & Ritter, T. (2018). Value Creation and Value Capture in Open Innovation. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 35(6), 930–938. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12471
Hienerth, C., von Hippel, E., & Berg Jensen, M. (2014). User community vs. producer innovation development efficiency: A first empirical study. Research Policy, (1), 190. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.eee.respol.v43y2014i1p190.201

Authors

TEKIC ZELJKO -

Bachelor’s Programme 'Digital Product Management'

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Open Innovations