OPEN INNOVATION MODELS - A CASE STUDY OF PLAYING POKER WITH CHESS PIECES

The qualities of employing open innovation models are widely acknowledgedamong academics and practitioners. Open innovation is perceived as a meansto ensure flexibility and create options for future business. However, theorganisational challenges in employing open innovation models as opposed tomore closed ones are not extensively explored in the literature. This paperaddresses these organisational challenges. On the basis of an in-depth casestudy of a project from the Danish energy sector, two prominent approacheswithin the open innovation paradigm, user-driven and network-basedinnovation, are discussed. The analysis indicates that the organisationsinvolved in the project are only implementing the open innovation models to alimited degree. While indicating that they are employing open innovationapproaches, they are actually operating within a traditional, closed innovationmindset and to a certain extent the project becomes a branding and marketingexercise for the organisations rather than an actual innovation project