City Research Online

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation seeks to explore the drivers and contingent factors of openness and open innovation outcomes. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods in three empirical standalone papers format, this dissertation explored three main research questions covering the “what”, “how”, and “when” in relation to the management and emergence of collaborative innovation at the firm level.

The first study (Chapter 2) analyses the interplay between external collaboration, appropriability regimes, and innovative performance and examines the differential effects of formal and informal appropriability in manufacturing and service firms. Through a quantitative analysis of a large UK dataset, we found that the effectiveness of both formal and informal appropriation is contingent on the degree of openness. Also, the mechanism of appropriation is contingent on the nature of the firm.

The second study (Chapter 3) digs further to better understand the contingencies of openness and explores ‘how’ start-ups configure their appropriability regimes and manage the paradox of openness in their various growth stages. Through an inductive study of Fintech start-ups, we argue for a more dynamic approach to appropriability, building on the two theoretical views in the literature, and posit that the relationship between openness and appropriability is contingent upon the start-up growth stage and the type of external collaboration. Results uncover four patterns of appropriability profiles besides a pattern of openness for start-ups.

The third study (Chapter 4) investigates how collaborative practices emerge in collaborative spaces, when they do. Based on a qualitative case study and borrowing from interstitial spaces literature, we develop a theoretical framework for understanding how collaborative practices emerge in a collaborative space. Our findings suggest the enabling and/or inhibiting role of interstitial spaces (e.g. informality and spatiality) and catalysts in the emergence of collaborative practices in a collaborative space. This study provides important insights in better delineating the conditionality of openness and its associated contingent factors of what precedes collaboration and (open) innovation.

The dissertation’s main contribution is to the literature on innovation management. The dissertation aimed to stipulate an empirical testimony to the value of research on collaborative innovation in better understanding its contingencies/drivers and linking the debate to the literature on appropriability (strategy), start-ups (entrepreneurship), and service innovation. The three empirical papers generated insights on topics relevant to scholars and practitioners such as the appropriation of innovation performance, the configuration and management of the paradox of openness in start-ups, and the emergence of collaborative practices in collaborative spaces. As such, this dissertation, by employing both quantitative and qualitative methods, aimed at adding to these important academic debates and further shedding light on the management of collaborative innovation.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
Departments:	Bayes Business School > Management Doctoral Theses Bayes Business School > Bayes Business School Doctoral Theses

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