Marine Agogué, Elsa Berthet, Tobias Fredberg, Pascal Le Masson, Blanche Segrestin, Martin Stoetzel, Martin Wiener and Anna Yström
Innovation intermediaries have become key actors in open innovation (OI) contexts. Research has improved the understanding of the managerial challenges inherent to intermediation…
Abstract
Purpose
Innovation intermediaries have become key actors in open innovation (OI) contexts. Research has improved the understanding of the managerial challenges inherent to intermediation in situations in which problems are rather well defined. Yet, in some OI situations, the relevant actor networks may not be known, there may be no clear common interest, or severe problems may exist with no legitimate common place where they can be discussed. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the research on innovation intermediaries by showing how intermediaries address managerial challenges related to a high degree of unknown.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw upon the extant literature to highlight the common core functions of different types of intermediaries. The authors then introduce the “degree of unknown” as a new contingency variable for the analysis of the role of intermediaries for each of these core functions. The authors illustrate the importance of this new variable with four empirical case studies in different industries and countries in which intermediaries are experiencing situations of high level of unknown.
Findings
The authors highlight the specific managerial principles that the four intermediaries applied in creating an environment for collective innovation.
Originality/value
Thereby, the authors clarify what intermediation in the unknown may entail.
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Susanne Ollila and Anna Yström
This chapter asks how we can understand the managerial practices in open innovation, a recently popularized way of organizing innovative work. Open innovation implies opening up…
Abstract
This chapter asks how we can understand the managerial practices in open innovation, a recently popularized way of organizing innovative work. Open innovation implies opening up the borders of the organization, creating a context where conventional steering and managerial tools no longer apply. Utilizing a collaborative research approach, following an open innovation collaboration over 8 years, this chapter outlines the managerial practices that direct the collaboration. These practices are important for meaning making and identity creation in the collaboration and can be understood as a form of authorship, a continuous intervention strategy to manage, develop and change the organizational context.
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Anna Yström, Hedvig Aspenberg and Annika Kumlin
By increasing connectivity between multiple partners, the new paradigm of open innovation has been argued to stimulate creativity. However, there are still few empirical studies…
Abstract
Purpose
By increasing connectivity between multiple partners, the new paradigm of open innovation has been argued to stimulate creativity. However, there are still few empirical studies exploring what influence this new form of organizing for innovation has on the creative climate. The purpose of this paper is to start filling that knowledge gap by exploring the creative climate in an open innovation arena called SAFER, where 26 partner organizations meet to innovate together.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a mixed method consisting of a quantitative creative climate questionnaire complemented by qualitative data gathering through interviews.
Findings
The findings suggest that the networking and cross-functional meetings within the arena are beneficial to facilitate a creative climate, but there are challenges in handling uncertainties such as work identities, information sharing and knowledge transparency.
Practical implications
The arena is found to be rather dependent on interaction with the outside environment, implying that a well-constructed arena from an organizational point of view is in itself not enough to ensure a creative climate. The project organization of the arena makes the general perception of SAFER fragmented, and it is questioned whether such an arena could or should strive for only one creative climate.
Originality/value
The paper presents an interesting example of how introducing open innovation affects the creative climate, and discusses the difficulty of using established methods for assessing the creative climate in the new, emerging forms of organizing for innovation.
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Anna Tiso, Caterina Pozzan, Manuel Francisco Morales Contreras and Chiara Verbano
Facing the burden of chronic diseases has become a priority for health-care systems’ economic and social sustainability. To this end, this paper aims to focus on adopting Health…
Abstract
Purpose
Facing the burden of chronic diseases has become a priority for health-care systems’ economic and social sustainability. To this end, this paper aims to focus on adopting Health Lean Management (HLM), a widely used managerial approach, to improve the performance and quality of care provided in chronic care pathways. HLM addresses not only efficiency and timeliness issues but also care effectiveness and integration. Indeed, the lack of continuity and co-ordination of care constitutes a major challenge for chronic pathways. This research provides an innovative contribution, by extending the implementation of HLM to chronic pathways developed across hospital and territorial care. Indeed, HLM scope typically regards hospital units and departments; hence, analysing the interaction between different levels of care represents a novelty from an academic and practical perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
With the aim of understanding how to extend the adoption of HLM towards the territory, an action research project has been developed. In particular, an improvement project focused on breast cancer care pathways has been launched in a Spanish hospital. The research investigates which HLM activities, tools and practices need to be accomplished in this kind of project, grasping insights into emerging wastes. To this end, the HLM project followed the Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control (DMAIC) cycle, supporting the project team in effectively conducting a preliminary context analysis, qualitative and quantitative data collection, the current state analysis and the countermeasure proposals.
Findings
The analysis conducted on the breast cancer care pathway highlighted major criticalities in managing the diagnosis of new patients. In particular, waiting times to obtain diagnostic imaging and breast specialist consultations highly impacted the care pathway effectiveness and efficiency. Specific wastes that caused these delays have been investigated, leading to the definition of specific countermeasures that could minimise the inefficiencies: an 85% reduction of the staging process lead time was estimated.
Originality/value
The achieved results contribute to enhancing the quality of care delivered to breast cancer patients. This paper enriches the theoretical knowledge about HLM, extending its typical field of application; provides practical support to health-care providers, managers and leaders with a case demonstrating how to develop HLM projects adopting the DMAIC cycle; and finally, it has valuable social implications, addressing the global threat of chronic disease.
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Andrea Urbinati, Paolo Landoni, Francesca Cococcioni and Ludovico De Giudici
In recent years, companies have started to open up their Research and Development (R&D) and their innovation activities to external partners. They aim to access new resources and…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, companies have started to open up their Research and Development (R&D) and their innovation activities to external partners. They aim to access new resources and capabilities and to gain shorter time-to-markets. However, as several studies have shown, it can be difficult to manage collaborative (open) innovation projects to achieve desired outcomes. Starting from this premise, the paper investigates how project stakeholder management is different in open innovation projects from traditional R&D projects.
Design/methodology/approach
The study has a qualitative nature and is based on the interpretative paradigm with an inductive orientation. The paper leverages interviews with experts involved in open innovation projects conducted in two Science and Technology Parks between Sweden and Italy.
Findings
The analysis shows how companies manage multiple stakeholders in open innovation projects and the peculiarities project stakeholder management faces in these projects when compared with traditional R&D projects. The paper shows how the relationships with external partners in open innovation projects are regulated by informal identification and analysis frameworks, which reduce the tensions deriving from these multiple collaborations. In addition, it underlines a set of good practices, and project management aspects for developing effective absorptive capacity of know-how, resources, and capabilities from external stakeholders in open innovation projects.
Originality/value
The paper analyzes for the first time how companies manage multiple stakeholders in open innovation projects in a different way from traditional R&D projects. Furthermore, the paper introduces a shift in the focus of the analysis: it focuses on the level of the project conducted through multiple collaborations instead of on the level of the firms involved in the project. Finally, the paper integrates open innovation research with project management research.
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Maral Mahdad, Thai Thi Minh, Marcel L.A.M. Bogers and Andrea Piccaluga
There is little known about investigating the importance of all proximity dimensions simultaneously as a result of geographical proximity on university-industry collaborative…
Abstract
Purpose
There is little known about investigating the importance of all proximity dimensions simultaneously as a result of geographical proximity on university-industry collaborative innovation. This paper aims to answer the question of how geographically proximate university and industry influence cognitive, social, organizational, institutional and cultural proximity within university-industry joint laboratories and finally, what is the outcome of these interplays on collaborative innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses an exploratory multiple-case study approach. The results are derived from 53 in-depth, semistructured interviews with laboratory directors and representatives from both the company and the university within 8 joint laboratories of Telecom Italia (TIM). The data collection was carried out in 2014 and 2015. The analysis follows a multi-grounded theory approach and relies on a mix of deductive and inductive reasoning with the final goal of theoretical elaboration.
Findings
This study finds the role of social and cultural proximity at the individual level as a result of geographical proximity as an enabler of collaborative innovation by triggering mutual learning, trust formation and frequent interactions. Cognitive proximity at the interface level could systematically influence collaborative innovation, while organizational and institutional proximity has marginal roles in facilitating collaborative innovation. The qualitative analysis offers a conceptual framework for proximity dimensions and collaborative innovation within university-industry joint laboratories.
Practical implications
The framework not only advances state-of-the-art university-industry collaboration and proximity dimension but also offers guidance for managers in designing collaborative innovation settings between university and industry.
Originality/value
With this study, the paper advances the understanding beyond solely the relationship between proximity and collaboration and shed light on the interplay between geographical proximity and other proximity dimensions in this context, which has received limited scholarly attention.
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Maciej Rys, Pawel Krzyworzeka and Anna Żukowicka-Surma
This study explores the dynamics of patient transfers within the Polish healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the roles of negotiation, boundary work and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores the dynamics of patient transfers within the Polish healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the roles of negotiation, boundary work and systemic flexibility. Despite extensive literature on patient transfers, gaps remain in understanding the general mechanisms that complicate these processes, especially under crisis conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
By interviewing 18 specialists across various medical fields, our research provides empirical evidence from Poland, highlighting the experiences of medical practitioners who navigated the complex landscape of patient transfers during the pandemic.
Findings
By integrating negotiation and boundary work theories, we reveal how healthcare professionals manage patient flows and the challenges they face. Our findings show that during the unique situation caused by the uncertainties and lack of preparedness for the pandemic, while standardization and rationalization tools have limited effectiveness, proactive involvement and strategic negotiation are crucial for successful patient management.
Research limitations/implications
The study's primary limitation is its focus solely on the Polish healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may not fully represent other contexts or healthcare systems.
Originality/value
The study underscores the importance of communication and interpersonal skills in facilitating patient transfers. We also argue that the previous experiences with negotiating orders, dealing with limited resources and making constant compromises had, in a way, built resilience in Polish medical experts and prepared them for the uncertainties encountered while treating COVID-19 patients. These insights contribute to academic theories and offer practical recommendations for enhancing healthcare system resilience and adaptability in future crises. Ultimately, the study emphasizes that flexibility and strategic negotiation are key to managing patient transfers in a fragmented and complex healthcare environment.