INNOVATIVE START-UPS: THE HUMAN ROLE WITHIN AN OPEN INNOVATION APPROACH

This study aims to deepen our knowledge of the Innovative Start Ups (ISUs) ‘human’ role within open innovation (OI) adoption. To achieve this, we explore how the ISU leader, namely the founder/CEO managerial characteristics influence the ISUs open innovation adoption dynamics (i.e. mechanisms, partners, motives and sequence of adoption). The empirical analysis is based on a sample of innovative startups belonging to San Marino Innovation, the institution that in the Republic of San Marino deals with the promotion and support of the development of innovative startups with international growth ambitions. Starting from recognizing the centrality of the ISU founder/CEO as a pivotal decision maker, asking if, when, who and how to engage in OI, this research seeks to explore the main entrepreneurial founder/CEO managerial characteristics and the influence these characteristics have on the OI adoption dynamics within the ISU. Our findings demonstrate that ISU open innovation adoption is project based: they develop open innovation capabilities on a "project by project basis" and mature as a consequence, thus highlighting the importance of the ‘doing, using, interacting’ mode of learning within ISU OI development. References: [1] Audretsch, D., Colombelli, A., Grilli, L., Minola, T., & Rasmussen, E. 2020. “Innovative start-ups and policy initiatives”. Research Policy 49(10): 104027. [2] Spender, J. C., Corvello, V., Grimaldi, M., & Rippa, P. (2017). “Startups and open innovation: a review of the literature”. European Journal of Innovation Management.. [3] Chesbrough, H., Vanhaverbeke, W., Bakici, T., & Lopez-Vega, H. 2011. “Open innovation and public policy in Europe”.