International Journal of
Innovation, Management and Technology

Abstract

The concept of open innovation is gainingpopularity in both the world of engineering and management.However, despite this growing interest, most existing studiestend to focus mainly on large companies. Thus, the purpose ofthis paper is to explore the drivers of the implementation of theopen innovation concept in SMEs. This study uses a surveycarried out through an online questionnaire that was sent tosome Portuguese SMEs. The results show that there is a highlevel of receptivity to implement open innovation. The findingsalso suggest the existence of a positive relationship between theapplication of open innovation and the level of satisfaction withthe R&D unit’s performance. Overall, SMEs seem to be moremotivated to apply open innovation to improve their innovationprocess and capacity than to reduce costs, share innovationrisks, or improve reputation. Moreover, findings alsodemonstrate that the main drivers for the adoption of openinnovation vary along with company size. For micro-enterprises,the main driver is to complement internal skills. Smallenterprises look for the most effective way to develop newproducts and services whilst medium-sized enterprises aremainly driven to monitor market trends and improve theirinnovation process.