Accelerating IDT (Industrial Technology Adoption) in UK manufacturing through Open Innovation
If solutions involving Industrial Digital Technologies (IDTs) that meet the needs of UK manufacturers are readily available, they can be obtained through market-based contracts or licensing agreements. However, some manufacturers may have more complex requirements that necessitate highly customized solutions or even the development of new technologies. In these situations, manufacturers and IDT providers may need to engage in Open Innovation. Open Innovation (OI) means working with external partners to find solutions to innovation-related problems. It is a distributed innovation process based on purposively managed knowledge flows across organizational boundaries. Both systematic research and anecdotal evidence show that OI has many benefits, such as:
Improved time-to-market
e to a wid l Access a n f exter o y t e i r va dge knowle
ced Redu
Shar ed
risk
costs
OI Mechanisms Once firms have decided to embrace OI, the choice of OI mechanism is the next important decision for successful OI management. Researchers have identified two main OI mechanisms to tap into outsider knowledge: Partnership Cooperative interorganizational relationships within networks of external partners, such as universities, suppliers, and competitors (e.g., alliances, joint ventures). Crowdsourcing Openly broadcasting (often through OI intermediaries) an organizational problem to a large pool of potentially interested people, out of which some self-select to participate in the development of innovative solutions.
Each OI mechanism has different benefits (e.g., accessing a broad range of potential solutions, providing a rich communication channel between solution seekers and partners) and costs (e.g., coordination and opportunism costs; setup costs). Even within the same organization, different innovation projects should be managed through different OI mechanisms.
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