The role of open innovation in fostering SMEs’ business model innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Purpose The economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has had significant consequences on the activities of companies worldwide. This study aims to unveil how open innovation fostered business model innovation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) during the pandemic. Design/methodology/approach The research adopts a qualitative approach, involving a multiple case study methodology, and focusses on six SMEs operating in various traditional sectors. Findings The findings highlight the impact of the external stimulus, COVID-19, on business model innovation and the key role of open innovation management in pursuing the business model innovation, which may also involve a digital transformation. Originality/value While some studies have examined how the pandemic has fostered business model transformation, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study analysing the pivotal role of open innovation in driving business model innovation during challenging times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Knowledge integration for resilience among multinational SMEs amid the COVID-19: from the view of global digital platforms

“…The most pressing concern for multinational small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in recent times has been their resilience to cross-border business in the face of the global public health emergency imposed by COVID-19 (Gupta et al , 2022; Lee et al , 2022). For multinational SMEs, uncertainty is even more complex as they may not have resources and ability to face sudden challenges with agility and promptness (Jabeen et al , 2022). Thus, uncertainty has forced many of these firms to seek external digital infrastructures to maintain adequate knowledge of uncertain business scenarios (Abdalla et al , 2022; Chin et al , 2021).…”

“…In this way, these global digital platforms are creating new and much broader access for multinational SMEs to integrate knowledge (Chin et al , 2022; Nambisan et al , 2019). For many multinational SMEs, these platforms can help to acquire key resources, which allow them to overcome uncertainty, pursue new opportunities and increase resilience in high-risk environment (Gupta et al , 2022; Jabeen et al , 2022). However, the literature on the role played by global digital platforms in the relationships between knowledge integration (KI) processes and resilience is scant.…”

The differential effect of learning from others on creative performance over individual tenure: empirical evidence from open innovation communities

“…Open innovation communities are launched by firms to involve their consumers into the innovation process (Bhatti et al , 2020; Jabeen et al , 2022). On these online platforms, contributors can freely discuss existing products, provide possible solutions and further develop novel products by themselves (Füller et al , 2007).…”

“…Traditionally, innovation was conducted within a firm’s boundary. While, open innovation suggests that firms in hyper-competitive environment should open their boundaries and include external parties into innovation process to successfully develop valuable innovations (Jabeen et al , 2022). Following this trend, many firms have practiced open innovation by hosting an open innovation community, which refers to an online platform that allows globally dispersed consumers with diverse knowledge and expertise to voluntarily engage in various innovative activities such as discussing novel ideas, providing possible solutions and developing creative products (Garcia Martinez, 2017; Lee and Seo, 2016; Schemmann et al , 2016).…”

Source of funding and specialized competences: the impact on the innovative performance of start-ups

“…Another option is to acquire these knowledge and expertise from outside the company by leveraging new technologies, open innovation and virtual tools (Chesbrough et al , 2008; Wi et al , 2011). Even in the presence of an external stimulus, such as a global pandemic, knowledge spillover related to open innovation plays a key role in business model innovation, including through digital transformation (Jabeen et al , 2022). The advent of these information technologies has enabled new business paradigms, such as crowdsourcing, that have drastically decreased the costs involved in R&D field (Callaghan, 2014) by balancing the opportunities of fund raising and knowledge sourcing (Stieger et al , 2012) thus significantly contributing to economic growth, innovation and job creation (Thompson, 2014).…”