Open innovation practices in the development of wind energy supply chain: an exploratory analysis of the literature

Abstract

The open innovation approach and its practice in technological innovation projects have been revealed in the literature and observed in practice companies as an old phenomenon. What differentiates its current use is that today its practice occurs in a systematic and formalized form in companies. This paper carried out a bibliographic-exploratory research about the wind power supply chain and it analyzes how technological innovations made their development possible. The study focuses specifically on exploring within the technological innovations occurred in the chain wind power, as the innovative approach followed by developers organizations. Results indicate that open innovation practices were essential for the success of economic and technological feasibility for the development of such chain, primarily by what happened partnership between the manufacturers of major components (aero generators, towers, blades) wind energy, research institutes, laboratories, universities and federal governments through incentive policies.

Open innovation in the power & energy sector: Bringing together government policies, companies’ interests, and academic essence

“…Both the two theoretical studies (González, Galvão, de Falani, Goncalves, & da Silva, 2012;Srikanth, 2011) focus on the wind power industry, achieving similar conclusions. Firms are encouraged to embrace the OI paradigm, especially in the early stages of development of new technologies, such as the development of new materials (Srikanth, 2011) or a new design for wind turbines blades (González et al, 2012).…”

“…Firms are encouraged to embrace the OI paradigm, especially in the early stages of development of new technologies, such as the development of new materials (Srikanth, 2011) or a new design for wind turbines blades (González et al, 2012). According to Gonzàlez et al, the OI reduces the time to market, expands a knowledge, and technological capabilities, improve its efficiency and reduce R&D costs (2012).…”

“…Conversely, within the academia, scholars often are more inclined to point out radical innovations, which are more likely to be appreciated in the scientific community. When firms need to address significant challenges in the deployment of novel technologies academic institutions support them, improving their success chances (González et al, 2012;Pellegrini et al, 2012;Sahir et al, 2012;Srikanth, 2011). Often firms cooperate with academic spin-offs that were incorporated to develop and bring to the market breakthrough technologies ideated earlier in the academia (Hess & Siegwart, 2014).…”

Innovative contribution of subsidiaries to the parent company: a hypothesis about the relationship between an aerospace company and its subsidiary in Belo Horizonte

“…According to the open innovation paradigm, companies focus their attention on the opportunities to use ideas and knowledge from outside their physical limits, so it is important to understand and follow the knowledge flow, that can be inwards or outwards (CHESBROUGH, 2003). The practice of open innovation can brings benefits such as shared risks/opportunities and joint technological competencies (CAETANO et al, 2011), and the reduction of time for technological development while providing competitive advantage (GONZÁLEZ et al, 2012).…”

Creative profile of undergraduate engineering in a Federal University

“…This fact goes against the more discussed topic today, which is innovation. For González et al (2012), the innovation model known as Closed Innovation is being replaced by new model called the Open Innovation. Adding external knowledge to internal knowledge provides value and competitive advantages for organizations that adopt this model of innovation.…”