Barriers of implementing open innovations in Macedonian SME’s

Abstract

Open innovation is a concept of growing acceptance in the field of innovation management. It is based on the idea that companies can leverage the knowledge generated externally to improve their innovation performance. Shorter innovation cycles, the rising costs of industrial research and development, and a lack of resources have motivated many organizations to change their innovation strategies towards implementing open innovations. However managing open innovation process in SMEs is more difficult and complex than it is the case with large enterprises. The reasons behind the low integration of the open innovations in SMEs generally can be found in their limited organizational, financial and human resources. By conducting a survey among 63 SMEs in Republic of Macedonia, current open innovation practices and barriers are searched. Findings revealed that the low capacity of the SMEs to deal with the open innovation process, low awareness of the benefits of the open innovation process, and lack of knowledge on protection of intellectual property rights are concluded as the main constraints in adapting open innovation practices.