Enkel, Gassman &

Chesbrough (2009) discussion

By Li-Bao Chang
Which open innovation process is used?
• LEGO started a crowdsourcing platform called LEGO Ideas.
• The company invites users to post their ideas for LEGO products and
campaigns for them.
• Ideas that get 10,000 votes within a year qualify for a review by
LEGO. If accepted, these ideas are transformed into commercially
available products
The outside in process is used
• The outside-in process: enriching the company’s own knowledge base through the integration of suppliers,
customers, and external knowledge sourcing.

• In this case through the integration of customers.

Think of a company that has used the
coupled open innovation process
• The coupled process refers to co-creation with (mainly)
complementary partners through alliances, cooperation, and joint
ventures during which give, and take are crucial for success.
Companies that establish the coupled process as key combine the
outside-in process (to gain external knowledge) with the inside-out
process (to bring ideas to market) and, in doing so, jointly develop and
commercialize innovation.
Example
• With help from MIT, LEGO Mindstorms was launched in 1998. It is
a combination of a hardware and software structure that enables
enthusiasts to develop programmable robots based on LEGO
building blocks.

• Co creation with complementary partner, while bringing a new

innovative idea to the market
Think of a company that has
used the inside-out open
innovation process

The inside-out process refers to

earning profits by bringing ideas to
market, selling IP, and multiplying
technology by transferring ideas to
the outside environment.
 Example
IBM has also established a network of research centers and innovation
hubs around the world, such as the IBM Research Lab in Zurich and the
IBM Watson Center in New York. These centers bring together
researchers, engineers, and business leaders to explore new technologies
and develop innovative products and services.

Transfer ideas to outside environment

Questions

What is a corporations’
innovation strategy prior to
Why is open innovation
implementing open innovation?
becoming more important?
And what are the limitations of
this approach?
Answers
• Prior to adopting an open innovation approach, a company’s innovation strategy is primarily focused on
internal R&D and patents. This approach limits a company’s ability to bring in external ideas and
technologies.

The importance
• The advantages of cooperation are increasing in the open innovation era
• the academic community started emphasizing that the firms should be open to outside innovation.
• Developments in internet technology and social networking technologies will allow companies to interact
with numerous sources and predict an unprecedented level of richness. Companies will be able to draw their
customers, suppliers, or other partners in the heart of their product development e.g. through online idea
management or community participation in product development