The organisation of innovation in the wine industry Open innovation, external sources of knowledge and proximity

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate on the spatial organisation of the open innovation model in the wine industry in Canada. Design/methodology/approach - The paper employs a micro-firm level survey among 146 wine firms in Canada. Descriptive and non-parametric tests are used in the analysis. Findings - The results on the occurrence of collaborations depict modest collaborative activities with external sources. Most of the collaborations and information are sourced locally because the local climate and growing conditions are so specific that alternative sources and collaborations are less relevant. The results also show that the firm's openness strategy has a weak influence on innovation capacity but firms that introduce more innovations are those that embrace an open innovation strategy to a greater extent than the less innovative. Research limitations/implications - The number of respondents is still limited (i.e. about 150). Moreover, only the relationship between some firm-specific factors related to innovation and the degree of openness is studied. Practical implications - The paper provides managerial implications because it suggests that firms adopting an open innovation strategy through collaborations have a higher impact on innovation development by means of introducing new types of innovation and on R&D activities. Originality/value - The paper introduces the spatial dimension of the open innovation strategy in the wine industry in order to understand the link between the geographically-dispersed open innovation networks and their impacts on innovation capacities and innovation development of winery firms.