Complementing open innovation practices in MNCs. The role of internal cross boundary knowledge flows

Open innovation (OI) so far has mainly been understood as a process involving firm external partners. In this paper, we argue that such a focus limits our understanding of how multinational corporations (MNC) profit from internally applied open innovation practices. We thus build on the current OI literature by investigating and describing open innovation activities, conducted within the firm boundaries. Based on a multiple case study of 17 MNCs, our findings reveal five archetypical internal OI practices that vary in underlying management motives. Interestingly, we also find that internal open innovation consistently mitigates some of the fears and risks related to external open innovation and helps MNCs better leverage developments in ICT. Furthermore, we conclude that initial engagement in internal open innovation at MNCs increases the chance to succeed at external open innovation.