Track: Service Systems and Service Management

Abstract

Open innovation is a paradigm suggesting that firms should seek external pathways, knowledge and capabilities in their product development process. Several companies have benefited from open innovation giving the concept high attention from the academia and businesses.  However, despite service sector’s high economic contributions, open innovation in the sector is still under-researched. This study focuses on how service companies implement open innovation for new product development. The study is in terms of the process types, networks, steps, outcomes and barriers involved in the open innovation process. Because open innovation process is affected by the industrial characteristics, only selected industries, which include financial institutions, telecommunications and knowledge-intensive industries, were studied. The study closes the gap in the academic area as well as provides managerial insights for firms in service sector. To answer the research questions, interviews were conducted with service companies in Thailand and responses were analyzed resulting in new findings about open innovation.