Open versus closed new service development: the influences of project novelty
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 12:13authored byKuo-Nan Hsieh, Joseph Tidd
Open innovation has become a normative model. However, there is relatively little evidence on its efficacy in different contexts or the specific mechanisms needed to support its implementation. In this study we compare the development of two types of service across two contrasting approaches to development. The first approach, could be characterized as the more conventional or closed, whereas the other approach is much more open. The two types of service vary by the degree of novelty. Based upon 52 interviews with those directly involved in the new service development projects, including partners and suppliers, we identify the influences of project novelty on the effectiveness of open approaches to innovation. We find that higher levels of project novelty demand higher intensity of knowledge sharing and communication. In such cases the more closed new service development tends to reduce the development time, but the more open approach improves the variety and quality of innovation. However, rather than the narrow distinction between internal versus external sources, we find that it is the intensity and quality of such relationships which differentiates innovation outcomes, what we refer to as generative interactions.