Corporate engagements with startups: antecedents, models, and open questions for innovation management

Abstract

Corporate Engagements with Startups (CEwS) are Open Innovation initiatives in which large established companies interact with startups aiming at improving innovation performance. Complementary characteristics of established companies (e.g. resource availability, inertia…) and startups (resource scarcity, flexibility, technologies…) are starting points for such engagements. However, large companies and startups are remarkably different so that working together can be overly challenging. Especially for large companies, many intricacies emerge to interact with nascent businesses (e.g. processes, culture, resource sharing, information disclosure, etc.). This study summarizes the current literature on CEwS and identifies the main strands and antecedents of this phenomenon, as well as the main reference models available in the literature. Then, the paper presents and discusses some open questions for innovation management under the perspective of large companies, based on the gaps identified between the presented literature on CEwS and the organizational debate within the innovation management field. Finally, we present implications for theory and practice and suggest directions for future studies on CEwS.

Setting the three-stage R&D shared portfolio methodology: an innovative approach to industry–university collaboration

“…the contract signing that precedes the project execution, following Plewa et al. (2013) – contributing to reducing disparities in project scope and assignments, which is likely to impact bureaucratic work (Bagno, Salerno, Souza Junior, & O'Connor, 2020). In doing so, research trends and market needs are the predominant topics of the initial discussion, instead of an abrupt immersion in topics like intellectual property rights and financial division of royalties, for instance. A shared work environment provides mutual benefits other than those associated with R&D outcomes .…”

“…The proposition of a methodology to build an initial R&D portfolio contributes to “unfuzzying” the FFE of a company’s innovation process (Bagno, Salerno et al. , 2020).…”

Open innovation

“…In this direction, Cajuela and Galina (2020) found that startups are influenced by the organizational culture of large corporations, especially those that encourage cross-functional thinking. On the other hand, established companies that work together with startups have the chance to foster a culture for innovation (BAGNO et al, 2020).…”

“…Corporate incubation programs also allow startups to develop specific capabilities to absorb knowledge through mentorship networks and specialized training (CAJUELA; GALINA, 2020). However, one of the great challenges of corporate acceleration programs is the institutionalization of knowledge (BAGNO et al, 2020). Most of these programs take place outside organizational structures, which Renata Simões Guimarães e Borges, Gilvan Augusto Silva can compromise the integration and consolidation of technology or knowledge generated within the program.…”

“…In addition, Groote and Backmann (2020) point out the pronounced lack of research on the partnerships between incumbents and startups. Bagno et al (2020) explains that the research dedicated to understanding the collaboration between large companies and startups is still in its early days. According to the authors, most studies on corporate engagement with startups neglects the complexity of internal organizational factors drawing upon an oversimplification of a "maverik champion", who is responsible for interacting with the startups.…”