Partner Selection for Open Innovation

Abstract

In this paper we propose to consider open innovation from the point of view of causation and effectuation approaches (Sarasvathy, 2008) and a social networking perspective. Our empirical evidence consists of a case study of an ongoing open innovation project aimed to create a hybrid ship which uses liquid natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen as power sources. The results show that the effectuation approach is preferable to open innovation when the initiator of open innovation aims to keep sensitive information inside the closed group, has established an effective team of representatives from other firms from earlier innovation projects, and participants are situated closely geographically.