‘Structural arrangements for open innovation: a comparative analysis of Chinese and French multinational companies’

Résumé En

The ‘structural perspective' of OI, outlines the role of the structural arrangements of companies in supporting open practices. Paradoxically, the understanding of the arrangements of companies that are dedicated to openness remains under-investigated. In this perspective, this article focuses on specific arrangements that are related to the inside-out and outside-in processes. The analysis also emphasises the structural arrangements dedicated to Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), in so far as IPRs are considered as key tools for openness. Based on four cases in Western (French) and emerging (Chinese) contexts we answer the following research question: what are the company’s structural arrangements dedicated to the inside-out and outside-in OI processes? The results outline the existence of common characteristics whatever the OI process regarding the links between top management and innovation entities, structural arrangements dedicated to evaluation, knowledge management and decision making may be. The results emphasize the existence of specific arrangements for each process related to IPR management. These findings contribute: to the structural theories of innovation by proposing the first comprehensive approach to the structural perspective for OI processes; to innovation ambidextry which has never been documented in OI; to the recent literature on the contextual dimension of OI deployment.