Going all in or spreading your bet: a configurational perspective on open innovation interaction channels in production sectors

Using different interaction channels within open innovation partnerships holds the potential to enhance the chance of success in production sectors. However, our comprehension of how open innovation partnerships are affected by varying combinations of interaction channels, and how this corelates with their level of open innovation output, remains limited. There are discrepancies in the current literature regarding the individual and combined effects of open innovation interaction channels. Our study aims to resolve these inconsistencies by using a configurational perspective, which allows for the identification of multiple successful pathways. Employing fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to a dataset of European open innovation partnerships in production sectors, we uncover specific combinations of interaction channels that explain high levels of innovation outcomes. Subsequently, we distinguish between two successful pathways. Notably, we observe that the relationship between interaction channels is causally complex, high engagement in open innovation may not guarantee favorable innovation outcomes. This finding highlights the intricate causal dynamics at play. Thus, our study is a significant step toward reconciling the disparate perspectives in the literature concerning the impact of interaction channels on open innovation output.