Page 26 - Gričar, Sergej, Barbara Rodica and Štefan Bojnec, 2016. Sandwich Management. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 26
Sandwich Management
under-utilized ideas and technologies in the firm are allowed to go outside
to be incorporated into others’ innovation processes.
The closed model of innovation is linear and rigid, whereas process
mostly moves from the organisation outwards. The open model has sev-
eral directions of movement due to the connections with the environment
– enterprises commercialize external – internal ideas by deploying outside
– in-house pathways to the market. The processes in the open model of in-
novation are more complex and dynamic. They can commercialize internal
ideas through channels outside of their current businesses in order to gen-
erate value for the organization.
According to Lee et al. (2010), SMEs primarily use external sources as
the way to access marketing and sales channels. The concept of open in-
novation is important for them because they have the necessary flexibili-
26 ty and specific knowledge, but they lack adequate capacities to manage in-
novation resources.
Open innovation also has its pitfalls. The key is to manage intellectual
property. An enterprise must manage intellectual property independent-
ly, protect it appropriately, and precisely define the method of coopera-
tion with external partners in its contracts. Vrande, Jong, and Vanhaver-
beke (2009) in survey drawing on a database collected from 605 innovative
SMEs in the Netherlands. They find out that medium-sized enterprises are
on average more heavily involved in open innovation than their smaller
counter parts. SMEs can overcome their liability of smallness by opening
up their innovation process (Keupp and Gassmann 2007). External tech-
nology commercialization can also be a core competence of such rapidly
growing SMEs. As an appropriate way of solving the problem of limita-
tions, Lee et al. (2010) propose an active role of an intermediary. SMEs can
and should implement external ideas in the same way as internal ones be-
cause the central idea in the background of the open innovation concept
is that companies cannot rely on their own research in the world where
knowledge is so widely spread. This is the reason that enterprises should
buy and licence processes and inventions, such as patents of other compa-
nies (Chesbrough 2011).
Managing Innovation in Small Enterprises
Innovation initiatives have become extremely important for companies
seeking higher competitiveness. In this sense, the first step in order to start
innovation management initiatives is to diagnose the current company’s
situation and to benchmark it with best-practice companies in the market.
The logical sequence would be to propose action plans in order to achieve
under-utilized ideas and technologies in the firm are allowed to go outside
to be incorporated into others’ innovation processes.
The closed model of innovation is linear and rigid, whereas process
mostly moves from the organisation outwards. The open model has sev-
eral directions of movement due to the connections with the environment
– enterprises commercialize external – internal ideas by deploying outside
– in-house pathways to the market. The processes in the open model of in-
novation are more complex and dynamic. They can commercialize internal
ideas through channels outside of their current businesses in order to gen-
erate value for the organization.
According to Lee et al. (2010), SMEs primarily use external sources as
the way to access marketing and sales channels. The concept of open in-
novation is important for them because they have the necessary flexibili-
26 ty and specific knowledge, but they lack adequate capacities to manage in-
novation resources.
Open innovation also has its pitfalls. The key is to manage intellectual
property. An enterprise must manage intellectual property independent-
ly, protect it appropriately, and precisely define the method of coopera-
tion with external partners in its contracts. Vrande, Jong, and Vanhaver-
beke (2009) in survey drawing on a database collected from 605 innovative
SMEs in the Netherlands. They find out that medium-sized enterprises are
on average more heavily involved in open innovation than their smaller
counter parts. SMEs can overcome their liability of smallness by opening
up their innovation process (Keupp and Gassmann 2007). External tech-
nology commercialization can also be a core competence of such rapidly
growing SMEs. As an appropriate way of solving the problem of limita-
tions, Lee et al. (2010) propose an active role of an intermediary. SMEs can
and should implement external ideas in the same way as internal ones be-
cause the central idea in the background of the open innovation concept
is that companies cannot rely on their own research in the world where
knowledge is so widely spread. This is the reason that enterprises should
buy and licence processes and inventions, such as patents of other compa-
nies (Chesbrough 2011).
Managing Innovation in Small Enterprises
Innovation initiatives have become extremely important for companies
seeking higher competitiveness. In this sense, the first step in order to start
innovation management initiatives is to diagnose the current company’s
situation and to benchmark it with best-practice companies in the market.
The logical sequence would be to propose action plans in order to achieve
