New product development through open innovation: Role of organization structure and contextual factors

Open innovation remains a topic of great importance in new product development research and practice. Firms following open innovation recognize the value of external inputs to the process of new product development and seek to utilize these inputs internally. Therefore, it is imperative to investigate the success of new product as open innovation may influence the success in different ways. This study focuses on the four distinct elements in the process of developing a new product: Planning, Development, Marketing and Commercialization. In addition, this paper points to another two areas that have not been covered by previous researchers: organizational structure and contextual factors. It is suggested that these factors have moderating effect on the relationship between open innovation and NPD process. Subsequently, a conceptual framework is proposed.