Industry 4.0 for Thai SMEs: Implementing Open Innovation as Innovation Capability Management

Abstract

The challenges of cooperation and collaboration faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand require a specific approach to creating new shared value through innovation—open innovation is extensively applied. The purpose of this research is to shape the psychometric properties of an Open Innovation Implementation scale that supports a fourdimensional factor model incorporating centralization, knowledge management, the technology transfer evaluation process, and networks. A sample of 373 SMEs was used for second-order analysis. The results provided evidence indicating the significant relationship between shaping the concept of Open Innovation Implementation (OII), implying that SMEs should therefore consider the managerial and organizational dimensions of implementing open innovation. In addition, our findings offer manufacturing SMEs the strategic opportunity to innovate via interaction with relevant stakeholders, such as industries, universities, government, and customers/users, to stay competitive.