Technology Enterprise Group

Getting help with open innovation: Role of intermediaries

Background

This research is based on a year-long research project by the IfM's Centre for Technology Management . The project was undertaken in collaboration with a consortium of industrial and other partners, including: BP, CIRA, Crown Cork, Doosan Babcock, EPSRC, GSK, IXC-UK, NESTA, Oakland, PepsiCo, Quotec and Shell.

Firms increasingly need to collaborate with other businesses in order to introduce new products or services. Such partnerships – known as ‘open innovation' (Chesbrough 2003) – help them gain access to new technologies, ideas or skills they require to keep pace with today's evolving markets and changing customer demands. However, this more collaborative approach is an innovation in itself, and demands a new set of capabilities which many businesses do not possess.

Companies looking for help with open innovation will find numerous organisations offering assistance – from commercial and technical consultancies, to government departments, national and local development agencies, academic networks and university technology transfer offices. These organisations have come to be known as ‘innovation intermediaries'.

This project focused on the ways in which intermediary organisations can help to increase the effectiveness of open innovation and intelligence gathering activities. In particular, it aimed to:

• understand the ways in which companies can improve their innovation and technology intelligence activities by engaging with intermediary organisations
• provide criteria for companies to support the selection of intermediaries to work with
• give guidance to intermediaries on how to improve their services and to organise their business models

The project built on earlier research by CTM. Previous projects have studied the implementation of OI in large multinational companies, and the ways in which companies keep ahead of new technological developments. Both projects highlighted the important role played by intermediaries in relation to innovation.

For further information about this research project contact the project leader Dr Letizia Mortara

Report: Getting help with open innovation

The findings of the research have been captured in a report published in December 2010. The report aims to help companies select the most effective source of help with open innovation. It describes the capabilities companies need in order to implement open innovation successfully and the range of assistance offered by different types of innovation intermediaries. It suggests a structured approach to selecting the most appropriate intermediary for a particular company's needs and illustrates this with case studies and examples. The report also aims to help intermediary organisations to present their services more clearly to their clients.

Printed copies of the report are available for purchase (see IfM 'books'). Or you can download an electronic copy for free.

Resources and links

Research areas

• Technology intelligence : Monitoring science and technology developments
• Open Innovation research
• Centre for Technology Management (CTM) research

Reports

• Getting help with open innovation report
• How to implement open innovation: lessons from studying large multinational companies

For information on briefings, newsletters, presentations, blog, forum and further information and support, go to the Open Innovation page.