SMEs’ Open Innovation: Applying a Barrier Approach

Sandra Dubouloz, Rachel Bocquet, Catherine Equey Balzli, Elodie Gardet () and Romain Gandia
Additional contact information
Sandra Dubouloz: IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc
Catherine Equey Balzli: HEG - Haute Ecole de Gestion de Genève
Elodie Gardet: IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc
Romain Gandia: IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: This article identifies barriers that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) encounter when they openly innovate, according to the open innovation (OI) mode used (inbound, outbound, coupled). A qualitative analysis—involving seven case studies of SMEs active in digital (high-tech) or social economy (low-tech) sectors—reveals that they face more internal than external OI barriers. Overall, the nature of the barriers does not vary across OI modes, but their intensity does. With regard to external barriers, the results reveal a "tribe syndrome," such that SMEs resist opening up to other firms that do not share the same values.

Keywords: open innovation (OI); OI barriers; SMEs; digital economy; social economy; tribe syndrome (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ent and nep-sbm
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03944937
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in California Management Review, 2021, 64 (1), pp.113-137. ⟨10.1177/00081256211052679⟩

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-03944937/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03944937

DOI: 10.1177/00081256211052679

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().