Enkel discussant

 The advantages of cooperation are increasing in the open innovation era.

 As the focus shifted from purely internal R&D activities, the academic community started
emphasizing that the firms should be open to outside innovation.
 The outside-in process: enriching the company’s own knowledge base through the
integration of suppliers, customers, and external knowledge sourcing.
 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.
 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.
 the coupled process is popular in companies of all sizes that have substantial resource
allocation.
 Our study reveals that the participating companies use possible external partners in different
ways. While 83% mainly link with non-competing market and technology leaders, 79%
partner world-class universities and 61% local ones.
 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 (Chesbrough and Prencipe, 2008).
 1) Define open innovation in your own words.
2) What is the difference between Open R&D and Open Innovation?
3) Why are Open R&D and Open Innovation becoming increasingly popular?
4) According to the authors, what is the potential benefit of combining Open R&D and Open
Innovation approaches?
5) Give an example of a company that has successfully implemented Open R&D or Open
Innovation.
6) What are some potential challenges or drawbacks of Open R&D and Open Innovation?
7) How can companies overcome these challenges to successfully implement Open R&D and
Open Innovation?
8) Do you believe that Open R&D and Open Innovation will become the dominant approach to
innovation in the future? Why or why not?
9) How can Open R&D and Open Innovation contribute to sustainable innovation?
10) What further research can be done to explore the phenomenon of Open R&D and Open
Innovation?

Lego is a Danish company that has been manufacturing and selling toy building blocks since 1949. In
the early 2000s, Lego was facing declining sales and increasing competition from digital toys and
games. In response, the company adopted an open innovation approach that aimed to bring in
external ideas and technologies to supplement their internal R&D efforts.

Case Study Questions

1. What was Lego's innovation strategy prior to adopting an open innovation approach? What
were the limitations of this approach?
2. Did Lego use an outside in, inside out or coupled- process for open innovation?
3. How did Lego implement their open innovation model? What were the key elements of this
approach?
4. Which strategic approaches to technology transactions did Lego utilize in their open
innovation model?
5. What were the benefits and challenges of Lego's open innovation model? How did the
company overcome these challenges?

Case Study Analysis

1. Prior to adopting an open innovation approach, Lego's innovation strategy was focused on
internal R&D and patents. This approach limited Lego's ability to bring in external ideas and
technologies.
2. Lego used all three processes

Coupled process: For Mindstorm they collaborated with MIT to create toys, which combined
hardware and software with toys.

Outside in: LEGO ideas also started a crowdsourcing platform in which The company invites users to
post their ideas for LEGO products and campaigns for them.

Inside out
3. Lego implemented their open innovation model through a variety of initiatives, including
partnering with external organizations, crowdsourcing ideas from customers and fans, and
hosting innovation challenges. The key elements of this approach included building
relationships with external partners, creating a culture of open innovation within the
company, and leveraging technology to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing.
4. Lego utilized several strategic approaches to technology transactions in their open innovation
model, including licensing, joint ventures, and acquisitions. The company also developed a
clear intellectual property strategy to protect their own innovations and manage their
collaborations with external partners.
5. The benefits of Lego's open innovation model included increased access to external ideas and
technologies, improved speed and efficiency of innovation, and a more diverse and
collaborative culture. However, the company also faced challenges in managing
collaborations with external partners and integrating external ideas and technologies into
their internal R&D process. Lego overcame these challenges by building strong relationships
with external partners, developing clear processes for managing collaborations, and fostering
a culture of open innovation within the company.