Abstract

Open innovation recognizes potential opportunities and advantages gained from leveraging knowledge and innovations found outside an organization‟s formal boundaries. With the intensive use of Internet-based tools, organizations are actively involved in using Open Innovation Platform (OIP) to attract external knowledge. However, developing a company-initiated OIP is a challenging task because usage of OIP depends on the voluntary participation of external users, which makes companies cannot follow the protocol of developing traditional IS. Furthermore, a company's institutional properties may also impact the design company-initiated OIP. In this research, we focus on one type of organizational property, namely power boundary, and explore its impact on the design of a company-initiated OIP over time. From qualitative analysis of two versions of OIP in a single company, we develop a theoretical model depicting how the changes of power boundary of a firm influence the design of a company-initiated OIP over time. This result generates theoretical and empirical insights into the OIP design and power boundary and thus has important implications for both scholars and practitioners.

Share

COinS