Open Innovation Strategies: Incubators in Action

Abstract

Open innovation strategies are considered a powerful tool to support organizations in innovation activities. They are recognized as even more relevant and viable for organizations with limited resources, such as start-ups. Additionally, recent studies have identified a knowledge gap in the literature on how business incubators provide networking and facilitate open innovation collaboration both within the incubator between entrepreneurs and outside of it with external stakeholders. This study employs literature review through a bibliometric analysis and qualitative research by providing insights into the usefulness and applicability of 33 open innovation strategies by incubators. Insights came from incubation managers from more than 10 countries from Africa, Europe and Asia. The research findings enable an understanding of the applicability and use of open innovation strategies by incubators around the world and provide practitioners and academics with a narrowed research agenda for further in-depth exploration of the topic.