Corporate hub as a governance structure for coupled open innovation in large firms

Abstract

This paper addresses how the open innovation concept can be applied in large corporations aiming to work with small innovative firms. More specifically, we report an in-depth qualitative study of how AstraZeneca, a global bio-pharmaceutical corporation, designed and enacted a new mode of organizing for coupled open innovation, with an initiative called the BioVentureHub. The governance structure behind this way of organizing is explored and conceptualized, and we also analyse how this structure shaped the relations and the value being collaboratively generated and shared. Theoretically, the paper connects the governance literature with open innovation. From the analysis of the empirical case, we propose a distinct governance structure that we label as a corporate hub, and we distinguish it from other “open” governance forms, e.g. market, network and bazaar governance, and explain the potential value it brings for coupled open innovation between large and small firms.