Financial Resources as an Inhibiting Factor of Open Innovation and Strategies to Overcome it

Abstract

Within Open Innovation (OI), projects are not created solely with the company’s own  resources, but also based on the participation of actors within the same innovation  ecosystem who contribute to the requesting company. Many companies, due to the  lack of these resources-especially financial ones-are those that most often opt for  this type of partnership within organizational networks. During the innovation  process, this factor may prevent projects from succeeding, and strategic actions  become required. This study was qualitative in nature, based on interviews with  twenty managers who work with OI, aiming to identify whether the financial factor is  an inhibiting factor of OI, focusing on the development of innovative products, and to  highlight the strategies that company managers used to overcome it. After a content  analysis, supported by Atlas Ti, the research indicated that access to financial  resources was an inhibiting factor of OI, and that the use of public funding, cost  reduction, resources from investors, support from the state federation of industries  and contractual negotiation were strategic actions adopted to prevent obstacles from  hindering the continuity of projects.