The role of the organizational and operational dimensions in the open collaboration performance: a strategic alignment perspective

Kissimoto, Kumiko Oshio; Mattos, Cláudia Aparecida; Laurindo, Fernando José

doi:10.1108/RAUSP-12-2021-0244

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Research Paper • RAUSP 58 (1) • Jan-Mar 2023 • https://doi.org/10.1108/RAUSP-12-2021-0244 copy

The role of the organizational and operational dimensions in the open collaboration performance: a strategic alignment perspective

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the business model and the strategic intent to adopt an open collaboration initiative influence the perceived quality of collaboration outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a framework to analyze the role of the strategic dimension and the operational dimension in open collaboration initiatives through multiple case studies in three companies to understand how the open collaboration initiative was deployed and how was the level of the alignment between these two dimensions.

Findings

The studied cases revealed that when an open collaboration initiative starts in the strategic dimension and there is an alignment between the organizational dimension and operational dimension, the collaboration outcomes are clearer and more traceable.

Research limitations/implications

The study highlights the need to consider the involvement and the internal alignment between strategic and operational dimensions when deploying an open collaboration activity if they want to achieve all the benefits.

Practical implications

The presented framework can help managers to evaluate and understand how open collaboration activities are deployed within the company.

Social implications

The study shows that when an open collaboration initiative is planned, its results and benefits can be extended to local communities by developing them.

Originality/value

This study aims to analyze the open collaboration initiative’s contribution to the overall organizational performance through the alignment between the organizational dimension and operational dimension perspective.

Keywords
Open collaboration; Innovation; Organizational performance; Strategic alignment

Constructs	Main aspects	Related proposition	Authors
Collaboration	Strategic direction Decisions about open collaboration goals Top management involvement Role of the participants	P1	Gaule (2011)Gaule, A. (2011). The strategic context for open innovation. In P. Sloane (Ed.), A guide for open innovation and crowdsourcing, Great Britain: Kogan Page., Barrows & Neely (2011)Barrows, E., & Neely, A. (2011). Managing performance in turbulent times: Analytics and insight, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.; Chesbrough & Brunswicker (2014)Chesbrough, H., & Brunswicker, S. (2014). A fad or a phenomenon? The adoption of open innovation practices in large firms. Research-Technology Management, 57(2), 16–25., Phillips (2011)Phillips, J. (2011). Open innovation typology. In P. Sloane (Ed.), A guide to open innovation and crowdsourcing, Great Britain: KoganPage.; Laursen & Salter (2014)Laursen, K., & Salter, A. J. (2014). The paradox of openness: Appropriability, external search and collaboration. Research Policy, 43(5), 867–878, doi: 10.1016/j.respol.2013.10.004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2013.10... , Piller & Ihl (2009)Piller, F., & Ihl, C. (2009). Open innovation with customers. Foundations, competences and international trends. Aachen RWTH, Vol. 4, Book Series: Studies for innovation in a modern working environment. USB Köln Online Catalogue BWL.
Technology	Technology typology, architecture and/or platform to support open collaboration activity Existence of alignment between IT and strategy IT role in the company	P2	Phillips (2011)Phillips, J. (2011). Open innovation typology. In P. Sloane (Ed.), A guide to open innovation and crowdsourcing, Great Britain: KoganPage., Brabham (2008)Brabham, D. C. (2008). Crowdsourcing as a model for problem solving: An introduction and cases. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 14(1), 75–90, doi: 10.1177/1354856507084420. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856507084420... ; Brabham (2013)Brabham, D. C. (2013). Crowdsourcing, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts; London., Cui et al. (2015)Cui, T. R., Ye, H., Teo, H. H., & Li, J. Z. (2015). Information technology and open innovation: A strategic alignment perspective. Information & Management, 52(3), 348–358, doi: 10.1016/j.im.2014.12.005. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2014.12.005... ; Grover & Saeed (2007)Grover, V., & Saeed, K. A. (2007). The impact of product, market, and relationship characteristics on interorganizational system integration in manufacturer-supplier dyads. Journal of Management Information Systems, 23(4), 185–216.; Rai et al. (2006)Rai, A., Patnayakuni, R., & Seth, N. (2006). Firm performance impacts of digitally enabled supply chain integration capabilities. MIS quarterly, 225–246.; Rai et al. (2012)Rai, A., Pavlou, P. A., Im, G., & Du, S. (2012). Interfirm IT capability profiles and communications for cocreating relational value: evidence from the logistics industry. MIS quarterly, 233–262.; Nolan & McFarlan (2005)Nolan, R. L., & McFarlan, W. E. (2005). Information technology and the board of directors. Harvard Business Review, 83(10), 96–106.; Gassmann (2006)Gassmann, O. (2006). Opening up the innovation process: towards an agenda. R&D Management, 36(3), 223–228.; Gassmann et al. (2010)Gassmann, O., Enkel, E., & Chesbrough, H. (2010). The future of open innovation. R&D Management, 40(3), 213–221.
Performance	Gains in leadership and learning Access to new markets and business models Reduction on costs, time and risk Top management involvement	P3	Smith (2005)Smith, K. H. (2005). Measuring innovation The oxford handbook of innovation, New York, NY: Oxford University Press., Cheng & Huizingh (2014)Cheng, C. C. J., & Huizingh, E. K. R. E. (2014). When Is open innovation beneficial? The role of strategic orientation. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 31(6), 1235–1253, doi: 10.1111/jpim.12148. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12148... ; Chesbrough et al. (2006)Chesbrough, H., Vanhaverbeke, W., & West, J. (2006). Open innovation: Researching a new paradigm, New York, NY: Oxford University Press., Spithoven et al. (2011)Spithoven, A., Clarysse, B., & Knockaert, M. (2011). Building absorptive capacity to organise inbound open innovation in traditional industries. Technovation, 31(1), 10–21. doi: 10.1016/j.technovation.2010.10.003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2... ; Chesbrough et al. (2006)Chesbrough, H., Vanhaverbeke, W., & West, J. (2006). Open innovation: Researching a new paradigm, New York, NY: Oxford University Press., Enkel et al. (2009)Enkel, E., Gassmann, O., & Chesbrough, H. (2009). Open R&D and open innovation: Exploring the phenomenon. R & D Management, 39(4), 311–316.; Hung & Chou (2013)Hung, K. P., & Chou, C. (2013). The impact of open innovation on firm performance: The moderating effects of internal R&D and environmental turbulence. Technovation, 33(10-11), 368–380, doi: 10.1016/j.technovation.2013.06.006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2... ; Ritter & Gemünden (2003)Ritter, T., & Gemünden, H. G. (2003). Network competence: Its impact on innovation success and its antecedents. Journal of Business Research, 56(9), 745–755, doi: 10.1016/S0148-2963(01)00259-4. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0148-2963(01)00... ; Spithoven et al. (2011)Spithoven, A., Clarysse, B., & Knockaert, M. (2011). Building absorptive capacity to organise inbound open innovation in traditional industries. Technovation, 31(1), 10–21. doi: 10.1016/j.technovation.2010.10.003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2... , Piller & Ihl (2009)Piller, F., & Ihl, C. (2009). Open innovation with customers. Foundations, competences and international trends. Aachen RWTH, Vol. 4, Book Series: Studies for innovation in a modern working environment. USB Köln Online Catalogue BWL.; Simoes-Brown & Hardwood (2011)Simoes-Brown, D., & Hardwood, R. (2011). Start at the end. In P. Sloane (Ed.), A guide to open innovation and crowdsourcing, Great Britain: KoganPage.; Thomke (2003)Thomke, S. H. (2003). Experimentation matters: Unlocking the potential of new technologies for innovation, Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA., Chesbrough & Brunswicker (2014)Chesbrough, H., & Brunswicker, S. (2014). A fad or a phenomenon? The adoption of open innovation practices in large firms. Research-Technology Management, 57(2), 16–25.

Constructs	Main aspects	Analysis for each case study
Constructs	Main aspects	Company A	Company B	Company C
Collaboration	Strategic direction	No presence of strategic direction	Very strong presence of strategic direction	Strong presence of strategic direction
	Decisions about open collaboration goals	Focused in increasing awareness in the market	Aligned with organizaton’s growth strategy. Desire to speed up the reach for new technologies, knowledge and market	Aligned and deployed to fill the gap about the final consumer needs. Ideas for sustainable growth
	Top management involvement	Involvement of the marketing and sales departments only	Involvement of all the board of directors	Involvement of the board of directors, with special attention to the R&D, technology and innovation departments
	Role of the participants	Idea generation. There is no type of commitment or further engagement in other initiatives	Strong level of collaboration. Disclosure of information and high level of commitment and further engagement	Deep level of collaboration. Disclosure of information and plans. High level of commitment and further engagement
Technology	Technology typology, architecture and/or platform to support open collaboration activity	Facebook, mainly to idea generation. Open to overall public	Customized collaboration platform developed to attend to their objectives and needs. Selected participation, with specific objectives	Selected participation with specific objectives. Invitation to participation done by personal contact and use of technology as a facilitator. Later, adoption of a partner’s platform to collaborate with universities and young entrepreneurs
	Existence of alignment between IT and strategy	Not observed	IT and business strategy are aligned. There is a technology and innovation VP	IT and business strategy are aligned; however, for open collaboration, activities are in an intermediate stage
	IT role in the company	To support the operation efficiency	Technology is a vital part for their growth strategy in the whole company	Technology is a key part for their R&D
Performance	Gains in leadership and learning	Not observed	Many of their growth and business innovation are based on the learning from the collaborative experiences	They strongly relay in the collaboration perspectives. It is from these experiences that they learn about the final customer needs and are able to make long-time planning for their products and services
	Access to new markets and business models	Not observed	Through the learning obtained from the collaboration activities, the companies are able to constantly innovate in their products and business models	Through the learning obtained from the collaboration activities, the companies are able to constantly innovate in their products and business models
	Reduction on costs, time and risk	Not observed	One of the key collaboration initiatives is the quick prototyping initiatives where participants are invited to create new product, packages or even business models and go until the prototyping stage – all in a very short time span	Once specific needs are identified and partners and customers engaged in the process, the risk of developing something that will not be accepted in the market is low. Also, the time to market is shortened by this process
	Top management involvement	Not observed	Top management is involved in the whole process	Top management is involved in the decision about what actions should be taken
Results	Open collaboration direct results	Yes	Yes	Yes
Results	Open collaboration indirect results	No	Yes	Yes

Proposition	Analysis	Results
P1	The proposition is positively confirmed in Companies B and C. At Company A, it is partially confirmed	Confirmed
P2	The proposition is positively confirmed in Companies B and C. At Company A, it is confirmed by its absence – the fact that the role of IT at Company A and the absence of any kind of alignment between IT and business contributed to the low quality of the open collaboration results	Confirmed
P3	The proposition is positively confirmed in Companies B and C. At Company A, it is confirmed by its absence – once open collaboration was not part of strategic decision, summed to the absence of what is stated in P2, they were not able to identify the intangible results, nor did they use them in their plans	Confirmed

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E-mail: rausp@usp.br

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[1] Corresponding author Kumiko Oshio Kissimoto can be contacted at: kkissimoto@gmail.com