How to be an open innovator when you are an SME? An institutional work analysis

The literature of Open Innovation (OI) has portrayed an important number of cases of large enterprises that are adopting a more open, collaborative and networked model for developing new products, processes, and management models. However, few studies have reported how Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are using this innovation dynamic. To understand the phenomenon of the adoption of OI by SMEs, this study uses the Institutional Work (IW) theoretical lens, aiming to understand how OI is institutionalized in the organizational environment of SMEs. To identify the combination of practices that reinforce OI the QCA methodology was used. As a result, it is highlighted that OI is being reinforced mainly by the institutional practices of creating and maintaining. The research contributes to the literature offering the relationships between OI and IW and presents a combination of managerial practice that can be adopted by SMEs to facilitating the implementation of OI.