Forms of Innovation Openness in Global Automotive Groups

Open innovation can involve more or less information and knowledge from few or many areas and few or many actors. The communication can also be more or less intense and frequent. These are considered here to be aspects of openness. Patterns of open innovation are often identified primarily in a vertical dimension in relation to various types of suppliers. Vertical 'open' innovation might however also have 'closed' signatures, especially in relations with suppliers owning scarce and specified technology and/or in relations with large suppliers prescribing technological content. Patterns of more or less closed innovation are mainly identified in a horizontal dimension. This type of innovation has closed signatures since the underlying technology being more or less general or specifically applicable is not traded on an open market, but developed for specific purposes between cooperating parties. In summary, attention should be paid to the openness in both vertical and horizontal perspectives.