Overcoming Barriers to Open Innovation at Apple, Nintendo and Nokia

This is a conceptual paper on the application of open innovation in three case examples of Apple, Nintendo, and Nokia. Utilizing key concepts from research into managerial and organizational cognition, we describe how each company overcame barriers to utilizing open innovation strategy in R&D and commercialization projects. We identify three levels of barriers: cognitive, behavioral, and institutional, and describe the companies balanced between internal and external resources to launch products that were instrumental in companies reinventing themselves in mature markets.

Authors:

• Erik Pontiskoski
• Kazuhiro Asakawa

Keywords:

• managerial cognition
• open innovation.

References:

[1] Afuah, A. (2003). Innovation management: strategies, implementation,
and profits, Oxford University Press, USA (2nd ed )
[2] Asakawa, K. (2001). Organizational tension in international R&D
management: the case of Japanese firms, Research Policy, Vol. 30
(2001), p. 735-757
[3] Asakawa, K. and Lehrer, M. (2003). Managing local knowledge assets
globally: The role of regional innovation relays, Journal of World
Business, Vol.38 No.1: 31-42.
[4] Barney, J. (1991). Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive
Advantage, Journal of Management; Mar 1991; Vol. 17, No. 1; p. 99-
120.
[5] Chesbrough, Henry (2003). The Era of Open Innovation, MIT Sloan
Management Review, Spring 2003.
[6] Chesbrough, Henry (2004). Managing Open Innovation, Research
Technology Management, January-February 2004, p. 23-26.
[7] Chesbrough, Henry & Schwartz, Kevin (2007). Innovating Business
Models with Co-development Partnerships, Research Technology
Management, January-February 2007, p. 55-59.
[8] Davies, A., Brady, T, Hobday, M., 2006. Charting a Path Toward
Integrated Solutions, MIT Sloan Management Review, Spring 2006,
Vol. 47, No. 3.
[9] Day, GS (1994). The capabilities of market-driven organizations, Journal
of Marketing, 1994.
[10] Deshpandé, R and Farley, JU 1998. The market orientation construct:
correlations, culture, and comprehensiveness, Journal of Market-Focused
Management, 1998
[11] Doz, Y & Kosonen, M. (2008). The Dynamics of Strategic Agility:
Nokia's Rollercoaster Experience, California Management Review, 2008
[12] Eisenhardt, K.M. & Martin, J.A. (2000). Dynamic capabilities: what are
they?, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 21 Iss. 10-11 (Oct 2000), p.
1105 - 1121
[13] Galbraith, J.R., 2002. Organizing to Deliver Solutions, Organizational
Dynamics, Autumn 2002.
[14] Hamel, G. and C. K. Prahalad (1994). Competing for the Future.
Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA
[15] Hammond, Keeney, Raiffa (1998). The Hidden Traps in Decision
Making, Harvard Business Review, Sept.-Oct. 1998
[16] Hart, S.L. (1995). A Natural-Resource-Based View of the Firm,
Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Oct., 1995), p. 986-
1014.
[17] Hill, R.C. & Levenhagen, M. (1995). Metaphors and Mental Models:
Sensemaking and Sensegiving in Innovative and Entrepreneurial
Activities, Journal of Management, Vol. 21, No. 6, 1057-1074 (1995)
[18] Jarzabkowski, P. (2004). Strategy as Practice: Recursiveness,
Adaptation, and Practices-in-Use, Organization Studies, 25(4): p. 529-
560.
[19] Kohli, AK and Jaworski, BJ (1990). Market orientation: the construct,
research propositions, and managerial implications, Journal of
Marketing, 1990.
[20] Kohli, AK and Jaworski, BJ (1993). Market orientation: antecedents and
consequences, Journal of Marketing, 1993.
[21] Lehrer, M. and K. Asakawa (2003). Managing intersecting R&D social
communities: A comparative study of European knowledge incubators in
Japanese and American firms, Organization Studies, Vol.24. (2003)
[22] Moran, Mike (2007). Do It Wrong Quickly: How the Web Changes the
Old Marketing Rules, IBM Press, 1 edition, 2007.
[23] Narver, JC and Slater, SF (1990). The effect of a market orientation on
business profitability, Journal of Marketing, 1990.
[24] Porac, J., Ventresca, M. and Mishina, Y. (2002). "Interorganizational
Cognition and Interpretation." In Joel Baum (Ed.), Companion to
Organizations, p. 579-598: Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
[25] Slater, SF and Narver, JC (1995).Market orientation and the learning
organization, Journal of Marketing, 1995
[26] Solomon, M. R. (2003). Conquering Consumerspace, New York:
AMACOM.
[27] Teece, D.J., Pisano, G and Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and
strategic management, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 18, Iss.7
(1997), p. 509-533
[28] Tikkanen, H., Lamberg, J.A., Parvinen, P., and Kallunki, J.P. (2005).
Managerial cognition, action and the business model of the firm,
Management Decision, Vol. 43, Iss. 6, 2005
[29] Treacy, M. and Wiersema, F. (1993). Customer intimacy and other value
disciplines, Harvard business review, 1993
[30] Tuli, K.R, Kohli, A.K, and Bharadwaj, S.G., 2007. Rethinking Customer
Solutions: From Product Bundles to Relational Processes, Journal of
Marketing, July 2007, Vol. 71, p. 1-17.
[31] Vargo, S.L. & Lusch, R.F. (2004). Evolving to a new dominant logic for
marketing, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 68, Iss. 1, 2004, p. 1-17.
[32] Vargo, S.L. & Lusch, R.F. (2006). Service-dominant logic: reactions,
reflections and refinements, Marketing Theory, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2006, p.
281-288
[33] Walsh, J. (1995) Managerial and organizational cognition: Notes from a
trip down memory lane, Organization Science, 6 (May-June), 280-321.
[34] Wise, R. & Baumgartner, P., 1999. Go Downstream: The New Profit
Imperative of Manufacturing, Harvard Business Review, September-
October 1999.
[35] Zahra, S.A. & George, G. (2002). Absorptive Capacity: A Review,
Reconceptualization, and Extension, Academy of Management Review,
2002, Vol. 17., No. 2, 185-203.