When agility meets open innovation: two approaches to manage inbound projects

Organizational Agility, Open Innovation, and Business Competitive Advantage: Evidence from Culinary SMEs in Indonesia

Some problems that are often faced by small and medium industry players are the low ability of SMEs to explore opportunities, and the low ability of SMEs to innovate in business. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the influence of organizational agility and open innovation on competitive advantage in culinary SMEs in Medan. This study used quantitative methods. The subjects in this study were employees and owners of the culinary industry in Medan City as many as 218 respondents. The sampling technique is carried out by accidental sampling method. The data was processed by structural methods of modeling equations, and using the IBM Amos Program. The results showed that there was a positive and significant influence between organizational agility and corporate open innovation. The findings also prove that organizational agility and open innovation can predict the competitive advantage of the culinary industry in Medan City positively and significantly. The results also found that open innovation mediates the influence of organizational agility on the competitive advantage of the culinary industry in Medan. In other words, open innovation is proven to significantly mediate those that form or create strong links between organizational agility and competitive advantage. We provide suggestions to improve organizational agility, and unlock innovations in the culinary industry in Medan City to improve business competitiveness.

A New Approach for Agile Teams’ Allocation in Open Innovation Projects

Due to constant change in the marketplace, it can be difficult for companies to secure the material, human, and technological resources necessary for competitive innovation activities. In this sense, and to overcome these constraints, the open innovation model is a quite successful approach, where the sharing of resources among companies allows the formation of an innovation ecosystem. However, the execution time of these projects can be negatively affected if the performance of each work team is not taken into account. In this work, the application of the agile approach in open innovation projects is proposed as a way to reduce the uncertainty both in the execution time of the projects and in the respective implementation costs. In this sense, a methodology for optimal team assignment for agile teams in open innovation projects according to their performance on each project task is developed to determine the optimal team assignment that leads to the shortest project execution time. This methodology will support decision making in the project management of open innovation projects, especially in the selection of the internal and external work teams that will participate in a given innovation project. The application of the proposed methodology is illustrated with an example describing and analyzing the different steps of its application. The results show that with the proposed methodology it is possible to take into account the performance of each team when calculating the project execution time and that the project execution time varies depending on the assignment of the agile teams to the project tasks. It is also shown that it is possible to determine the optimal assignment with the shortest project execution time.

Managing open innovation projects: an evidence-based framework for SMEs and large companies cooperation

Purpose

How can joint open innovation (OI) projects between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies (LCs) be effectively managed? This study aims to try to answer this research question with a focus on the critical success factors (CSFs) of such cooperation.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on 40 semi-structured interviews with Italian SMEs and LCs engaged in various industries, 20 open OI projects involving SMEs and LCs are investigated using a reflexive thematic analysis, a methodology involving both deductive and inductive approaches.

Findings

Fifteen CSFs grouped into seven categories emerge from the analysis of joint OI projects between SMEs and LCs. Among them, shared leadership, dynamic decision-making and priority setting emerge as essential elements at the basis of the proposed SMEs–LCs cooperation in joint OI projects that were not sufficiently addressed by prior studies.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to provide an evidence-based framework for managing joint OI projects between SMEs and LCs. Relatedly, this study links the practices and most recurring CSFs that facilitate such cooperation.

Agile and generic work values of British vs Indian IT workers: a culture-clash case

Purpose

After deciding to become agile, many information technology (IT) units struggle; they underestimate the needed managerial expertise to alter their current culture toward an agile one, particularly when cross-cultural (f)actors are involved. Given that work values are the key to an organizational culture, the study derived a set of agile work values of culturally diverse IT professionals together with a set of well-known generic work values. Consequently, the authors illustrate that managers in charge of the transition to an effective agile culture must pay serious attention to the specific value constellations of its often highly diverse workforce.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review resulted in an initial list of agile work values. Then, mainly through a Delphi round, 12 agile-specific work values were established. These were survey rated, along with the validated set of 18 generic work values, by 102 British and Indian IT professionals in a digital service and consulting firm that was requested by its client to become agile. The observations made in 14 feedback group-interview-type dialogs enriched the surveyed data further.

Findings

In the current exploratory study, four generic value dimensions were complemented by two agile-specific ones: team communication and shared responsibility. Among the British and Indian (on-site and offshore) workers, only 2 of the 30 current work values were shared while 7 significant value differences were found, explaining the noted employee bitterness, productivity losses and client disengagement. This situation was reflected in the many discrepancies between the professionals' ideal agile way of working and how their unit was currently functioning.

Originality/value

The multi-method study shows an over-optimistic approach to becoming agile in a common cross-cultural context; insights are gained on how to optimize agile ways of organizing IT work when British IT workers collaborate with Indian IT workers. It may benefit many agile practitioners and managers working with(in) cross-culturally mixed and partly remote teams.

Uncovering Two Decades of Open Innovation Benefits: A Qualitative Meta-Analysis

Research on open innovation (OI) benefits has received growing interest from researchers and practitioners in the past two decades. But it lacks valuable frameworks that categorize these benefits. This paper aims to explore OI benefits since 2003 and to come up with a comprehensive framework categorizing them. To do so, the authors conducted a qualitative meta-analysis of 708 articles from the Scopus platform by mobilizing IRAMUTEQ 0.7 Alpha2 and NVivo12 solutions for text mining and qualitative content analyzes. The findings highlight six categories of the following interrelated OI benefits: (1) Performance, (2) innovation process, (3) market, (4) product and service, (5) knowledge, and (6) customer. This classification offers researchers constructs for potential models of OI impacts and brings innovation managers potential indicators for the dissemination and absorption of OI practices by organizations.

The microfoundations of design sprint: how Johnson & Johnson cultivates innovation in a highly regulated market

Purpose

Mastering innovation in highly regulated markets might require companies to overcome significant barriers. Rules, laws and limitations on social, economic and institutional dimensions can hinder the ability of a company to transfer knowledge within and across organizational boundaries. However, as recent research in innovation management increasingly advocates user involvement and early understanding of user needs as best practices, the inability to freely interact with customers due to highly regulated market restrictions can hinder the company’s capability to innovate. Hence, this paper aims to shed light on how an emerging managerial approach, such as Design Sprint, can support companies operating in highly regulated markets to overcome user involvement limitations and boost human-centered innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper sheds light on how to boost innovation in a highly regulated market by leveraging an in-depth case study. The study investigates the use of the Design Sprint approach adopted by the pharmaceutical multinational Johnson & Johnson to revise the way its R&D department orchestrates the new product development process, overcoming the user involvement challenges of highly regulated markets.

Findings

In analyzing six different projects undertaken in the past two years, the findings illustrate three microfoundational dimensions of the Design Sprint approach in highly regulated markets, the so-called 3T model: team, time and tools. Indeed, deploying the Design Sprint in a highly regulated market has proven that being able to experiment in the early stages, building rough prototypes in real-time and openly collaborating with partners is crucial to boost innovation and anticipate constraints.

Originality/value

The paper sheds light on the Design Sprint approach by initially grounding an emerging managerial approach on organizational and management theory, leveraging the lens of microfoundations. In doing so, this study suggests how Design Sprint is based on the pillars of experimentation, knowledge transfer and co-creation usually neglected in highly regulated markets where user involvement is challenging. Finally, this study discloses the importance of using a design-based methodology in fostering innovation in highly regulated markets.