Localized Knowledge Flows and Asymmetric Motivations in Open Innovation

Open innovation is a paradigm that focuses on the benefits of inbound and outbound knowledge flows to improve the success of an organization's innovation efforts. Since its introduction early in this century, the concept of open innovation has evolved and matured considerably through thousands of subsequent publications. This has included refinement of the open innovation theory across different contexts and levels of analysis, as well as better evidence regarding the costs and benefits of open innovation strategies. Researchers have also continued to build upon and integrate with other theories, including business models, platforms, organizational innovation and the theory of the firm. Here I suggest two under-researched areas of open innovation. One is the tension in open innovation collaborations when one party has pecuniary motives and the other does not. The second is how a better understanding of the geographic localization of knowledge flows impacts the process of open innovation.