Resumen:
Open innovation represents a research field into the business organization area. Though, there are many researchers and practitioners from different areas and sectors that consider that OI is a wide and diffuse concept. This research encompasses into the open innovation literature, but it is focused on the automotive sector, and more specifically, in the providers of services of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). Our study has a double objective: on the one hand, to illustrate which open innovation practices are implemented by OEMs¿ suppliers. We show the agents that participate in each of them, and the objectives that the providers have got with its implementation. On the other hand, we highlight the factors that are most relevant to put into practice these open innovation practices for those firms whose main customers are OEMs.
In order to get these objectives, we have carried out a multiple case study with seven suppliers from different departments of OEMs. Our findings show that the most common practice these firms implement is the joined development, even they have found relevant performance with regional innovation cluster, innovation contest, inward and outward licensing of IP, joint venture and lead user method.
This research permits obtaining a set of conclusions that may be helpful for both the researchers interested in OI and those managers and practitioners that implement OI practices in order to be more fruitful for their firms.
