How do R&D project networks support the adoption of open innovation practice?

Purpose of the paper: The aim of this paper is to investigate how firms develop the transition from closed to open innovation and how this process occurs throughout R&D project networks. Methodology: The work develops a multiple case study analysis of 8 Tuscan companies that have developed R&D projects in inter-organizational networks in the period. It investigates the opening of the innovation process departing from the firms’ ego-networks developed over a period of several years. Findings: Results show that small and medium firms are not lagging behind large firms in the adoption of open innovation practices and that the industry where firms operate is not a discriminating factor for opening up firms innovation process. Besides the technological complexity of the production process that companies adopt results one of the main determinant in the implementation of open innovation practices. Research limits: The study deals with temporary project networks, that therefore represents only the tip of the iceberg of the relational innovation processes of the analyzed firms. Practical implications: The work underlines the importance of the opening of the innovation process outside the boundaries of the firms throughout the privileged tools of temporary R&D networks financed by public policies. Managers and entrepreneurs should carefully dedicate resources and competences in this process, according to the increasing relevance of the open innovation paradigm. Originality of the paper: Three network configurations of opening of the innovation process throughout R&D networks are described in order to contribute to our knowledge on the transition from closed to open innovation in small and large firms.