Power of Togetherness - Open Innovation through the Lens of Institutional Logics

Abstract

Innovation has been the topic of conversation within the field of management for several years. Scientific research regarding innovation management includes numerous concepts and theories such as the closed and open innovation models. Nevertheless, previous studies often overlook the practical implications of said theories, creating a research gap that this study attempts to fill. This study, therefore, focuses particularly on the open innovation model with its Outside- In and Inside-Out approaches used by organisations to navigate through an accelerating VUCA environment. The aim of the study is to analyse how open innovation is organised in practice and to investigate what guides an organisation’s actions. Thus, a case study on an international pharmaceutical company was conducted by interviewing and observing employees regarding their applied managerial innovation activities. In order to analyse the gathered findings, the concept of institutional logics is applied and two local logics, the traditional pharmaceutical logic and the open innovation logic, are defined. By observing how the company’s open innovation actions are guided by the local logics and vice versa, a recursive relationship is identified. Further on, to understand their dynamics, differences, and co-existence, both logics are explained through an institutional knot and the act of institutional knotting. This results in a better understanding of the company’s innovation activities and, herewith, contributes to several managerial implications of how to apply open innovation in practice.