A framework for Open Innovation practices: Typology and characterisation

The research field of Open Innovation (OI) has grown exponentially since Chesbrough coined the term in 2003. However, after more than a decade of research, several essential areas in the OI literature, such as OI practices, are still fragmented and incomplete, as noted in the reviews of OI literature in recent years. The main objective of this research is to conduct a comprehensive literature review of OI practices, which is necessary to clarify the concept and propose more precise terminology. In this study, we develop a theoretical framework that identifies and defines 19 different OI practices typologies, according to three dimensions: direction of resources flow, innovation process stage, and type of relationship. This paper makes a relevant contribution from two perspectives: academic and managerial. From the academic perspective, our work opens the door to future research directions in the OI field that if based in the proposed theoretical framework, could help strengthen the theoretical foundations of this innovation management paradigm. In terms of the managerial view, this new typology of OI practices could help managers select more appropriate practices according to their needs and resources

The wearable co-design domino: A user-centered methodology to co-design and co-evaluate wearables

This paper presents a user-centered methodology to co-design and co-evaluate wearables that has been developed following a research-through design methodology. It has been based on the principles of human–computer interaction and on an empirical case entitled “Design and Development of a Low-Cost Wearable Glove to Track Forces Exerted by Workers in Car Assembly Lines” published in Sensors. Insights from both studies have been used to develop the wearable co-design domino presented in this study. The methodology consists of different design stages composed of an ideation stage, digital service development and test stages, hardware development and test stage, and a final test stage. The main conclusions state that it is necessary to maintain a close relationship between human factors and technical factors when designing wearable. Additionally, through the several studies, it has been concluded that there is need of different field experts that should co-design and co-evaluate wearable iteratively and involving users from the beginning of the process

Wearable design requirements identification and evaluation

: Wearable electronics make it possible to monitor human activity and behavior. Most of these devices have not taken into account human factors and they have instead focused on technological issues. This fact could not only affect human–computer interaction and user experience but also the devices’ use cycle. Firstly, this paper presents a classification of wearable design requirements that have been carried out by combining a quantitative and a qualitative methodology. Secondly, we present some evaluation procedures based on design methodologies and human–computer interaction measurement tools. Thus, this contribution aims to provide a roadmap for wearable designers and researchers in order to help them to find more efficient processes by providing a classification of the design requirements and evaluation tools. These resources represent time and resource-saving contributions. Therefore designers and researchers do not have to review the literature. It will no be necessary to carry out exploratory studies for the purposes of identifying requirements or evaluation tools either

Relevant factors influencing cognitive distance in the performance of collaborative research projects

The research scope of this paper is to reinforce the need to strengthen university-firm relationship. We consider that it is crucial that the interactions between researcher/university and managers/firms should be based on a win-win relationship. In this sense, it is relevant to determine the main drivers behind the success of collaborative research projects, and this study focuses on one of them: cognitive distance. The specific objective of this study is to analyze the main factors that determine the influence of cognitive distance in the individual relationship between researchers and practitioners in collaborative research projects. In the first stage, through a literature review of cognitive distance and collaborative research projects, we identified a list of seven factors that influence cognitive distance and the issues that may provoke in the empirical context. Second, we carried out an empirical study based on semi-structured interviews with coordinators of collaborative research projects managed by the Chair of Business Volkswagen Navarra - University of Navarra. This permitted us to build guidelines that show the main practical concerns associated with each factor and how they were managed in the analyzed projects. This enriches the cognitive distance literature on individual interactions between researchers and practitioners. We highlight the relevance of previous experience of both agents, the exploitation of projects versus exploratory ones, and the determinant role of support infrastructures to minimize the negative effect of high cognitive distance. Nowadays, there is a trend to develop collaborative research projects with firms, not only agreement collaborations. Therefore, our findings could be useful for analyzing the relationships between researchers and practitioners in action research studies developed inside a doctoral thesis or competitive research project. By considering the effect of cognitive distance when selecting collaborative research projects, it will help to increase the degree of success of these projects

Development of a low cost wearable prevention system for MSDs using IMU systems and electrically conductive materials via additive manufacturiing.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are chronic occupational injuries that are common in lean production due to excessive work or repetition. They are considered to be the main cause of disability and absenteeism, reduced production and increased costs. A large number of studies have shown that most of the discomforts are located in the upper body area, but few studies have focused on assessing the degree of exposure in the hand area. The main objective of this thesis is to develop a low-cost wearable device in order to prevent and assess the potential exposure risks of MSDs in the hand. To that end, this thesis includes an evaluation of ergonomic assessment methods, a prototype development of a low-cost wearable, and experimental research in order to implement functional additive manufactured materials to that prototype. In the evaluation study, seven ergonomic assessing measurements were selected for comparison and analysis through an optimised questionnaire and expert interview. It has been concluded that the Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) method is currently the most suitable measurement technology for hand MSDs risk assessment. For the prototype development, Arduino-based hardware modules were selected, and a functional prototype for tracking index finger and thumb movements in real-time is built with the quaternion-based core algorithm. Finally, a prototype of the wearable is developed using electrically conductive materials deposited via Additive manufacturing. Several conductive filaments are tested, and an optimised method is employed to avoid cross-contamination effects.Los trastornos musculo esqueléticos son lesiones crónicas comunes en las líneas de producción debido a movimientos repetitivos. Se consideran como la principal causa de absentismo por bajas, reducción de la producción y aumento de costes. Un gran número de estudios ha mostrado que la mayor parte de las molestias están localizadas en las extremidades superiores, pero pocos estudios se han centrado en la evaluación del grado de exposición de la mano a estas lesiones. El principal objetivo de esta tesis es desarrollar un wearable de bajo-coste para prevenir y evaluar los riesgos de exposición potenciales a estas lesiones musculoesqueléticas en la mano. A tal fin, esta tesis incluye una evaluación de los métodos de valoración ergonómica, el desarrollo de un prototipo de wearable de bajo-coste y una investigación experimental para implementar materiales funcionales en el prototipo mediante Fabricación Aditiva. En la parte de evaluación, se seleccionaron siete metodologías ergonómicas para compararlas mediante un cuestionario y entrevistas con expertos. Se concluyó que los sistemas inerciales (IMU) son la tecnología más adecuada para evaluar las lesiones musculo esqueléticas en la mano. Para el desarrollo, se seleccionaron elementos de hardware basados en Arduino para desarrollar un prototipo que capturaba el movimiento de los dedos índice y pulgar usando el sistema de cuaterniones. Finalmente, se fabricó un prototipo que incorporaba un material conductor eléctrico depositado mediante Fabricación Aditiva para conectar el hardware. Varios filamentos conductores fueron probados previamente, y se desarrolló una metodología optimizada para evitar los efectos de la contaminación cruzada

Relevant factors in the implementation of open innovation practices: Application to the case of SMEs in the automotive

The research field of Open Innovation (OI) has grown exponentially since Chesbrough coined the term in 2003. But after more than a decade of research, some essential areas of research in the OI literature, such as OI practices and the context factors relevant to their implementation, are still fragmented and uncompleted, as noted in the reviews of the OI literature in recent years. In this thesis, I aim to enrich the literature on OI by analysing two specific issues: taxonomy of OI practices; and identifying the relevant context factors that most influence in the implementation of OI practices. Accordingly, the first objective of this research is to conduct a comprehensive literature review of OI practices, which is necessary in order to clarify the concept and propose more precise terminology. This review includes the identification of the different typologies of OI practices defined in the literature and the dimensions used by authors to describe these practices. Secondly, we propose the identification, also based on the literature review methodology, of the internal and external factors that influence the implementation of these practices and the analysis of their relation with each OI practice typology. Then, according to the conclusions of the literature review, we propose a theoretical framework for establishing relations among different typologies of OI practices and the internal and external factors (firm-specific and contextual) relevant for their implementation. The empirical work of this thesis consists of an experimental contrast of the proposed theoretical framework, particularized for OI practices in SMEs in the automotive industry. This empirical work includes two steps, the first is a multiple case study of SMEs in the automotive sector and the second one is a retrospective case study of an SME from the automotive sector that has successfully implemented OI practices over a long period of time. From the academic point of view, this thesis contributes to the OI literature with two main results. The first one is a classification of OI practices typologies, according to their main dimensions, which helps to establish a taxonomy in this research stream. The second one is a theoretical framework for establishing relations among different typologies of OI practices and context factors. From the managerial point of view, the empirical research developed in this thesis, also yields some interesting results. In relation to OI practices typologies, we have shown that the studied SMEs have implemented the following OI practices typologies, which are identified in the theoretical framework: Innovation contest, Inward licensing of IP, Joined development, Joint venture, Lead user method, Outsourcing R&D, Outwards licensing of IP and Regional innovation clusters. Moreover, some specific typologies of these practices are more commonly used by the SMEs from the sample, such as Joined development. When using the theoretical framework developed in the theoretical section to look for relations between the implementation of the OI practices and the context factors, some interesting contributions arise from the multiple case study in relation to the relevance of specific context factors. We identify some relevant factors, from the internal and external contexts that facilitate OI practices implementation, such as absorptive capacity, IP management, Corporate culture, Technological turbulence, Proximities and Intermediaries, along with one factor from the internal context that hinders, namely Ambidexterity. Furthermore, the retrospective case study provides experimental evidence for the substitution effect between the absorptive capacity internal factor and the Intermediaries external factor when implementing a specific OI practice, Innovation contest. This contribution opens up an interesting stream for research and also for application issues. This contribution is a significant advance in the state of the art of current research in the field of OI, not only in general but also, particularly in OI in SMEs. Finally our work is a door to open future research directions in the OI field that, if based in the proposed theoretical framework, could contribute to the strengthening of the theoretical foundations of this innovation management paradigm

Development of a low cost wearable prevention system for MSDs using IMU systems and electrically conductive materials via additive manufacturiing.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are chronic occupational injuries that are common in lean production due to excessive work or repetition. They are considered to be the main cause of disability and absenteeism, reduced production and increased costs. A large number of studies have shown that most of the discomforts are located in the upper body area, but few studies have focused on assessing the degree of exposure in the hand area. The main objective of this thesis is to develop a low-cost wearable device in order to prevent and assess the potential exposure risks of MSDs in the hand. To that end, this thesis includes an evaluation of ergonomic assessment methods, a prototype development of a low-cost wearable, and experimental research in order to implement functional additive manufactured materials to that prototype. In the evaluation study, seven ergonomic assessing measurements were selected for comparison and analysis through an optimised questionnaire and expert interview. It has been concluded that the Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) method is currently the most suitable measurement technology for hand MSDs risk assessment. For the prototype development, Arduino-based hardware modules were selected, and a functional prototype for tracking index finger and thumb movements in real-time is built with the quaternion-based core algorithm. Finally, a prototype of the wearable is developed using electrically conductive materials deposited via Additive manufacturing. Several conductive filaments are tested, and an optimised method is employed to avoid cross-contamination effects.Los trastornos musculo esqueléticos son lesiones crónicas comunes en las líneas de producción debido a movimientos repetitivos. Se consideran como la principal causa de absentismo por bajas, reducción de la producción y aumento de costes. Un gran número de estudios ha mostrado que la mayor parte de las molestias están localizadas en las extremidades superiores, pero pocos estudios se han centrado en la evaluación del grado de exposición de la mano a estas lesiones. El principal objetivo de esta tesis es desarrollar un wearable de bajo-coste para prevenir y evaluar los riesgos de exposición potenciales a estas lesiones musculoesqueléticas en la mano. A tal fin, esta tesis incluye una evaluación de los métodos de valoración ergonómica, el desarrollo de un prototipo de wearable de bajo-coste y una investigación experimental para implementar materiales funcionales en el prototipo mediante Fabricación Aditiva. En la parte de evaluación, se seleccionaron siete metodologías ergonómicas para compararlas mediante un cuestionario y entrevistas con expertos. Se concluyó que los sistemas inerciales (IMU) son la tecnología más adecuada para evaluar las lesiones musculo esqueléticas en la mano. Para el desarrollo, se seleccionaron elementos de hardware basados en Arduino para desarrollar un prototipo que capturaba el movimiento de los dedos índice y pulgar usando el sistema de cuaterniones. Finalmente, se fabricó un prototipo que incorporaba un material conductor eléctrico depositado mediante Fabricación Aditiva para conectar el hardware. Varios filamentos conductores fueron probados previamente, y se desarrolló una metodología optimizada para evitar los efectos de la contaminación cruzada

Relevant factors in the implementation of open innovation practices: Application to the case of SMEs in the automotive

The research field of Open Innovation (OI) has grown exponentially since Chesbrough coined the term in 2003. But after more than a decade of research, some essential areas of research in the OI literature, such as OI practices and the context factors relevant to their implementation, are still fragmented and uncompleted, as noted in the reviews of the OI literature in recent years. In this thesis, I aim to enrich the literature on OI by analysing two specific issues: taxonomy of OI practices; and identifying the relevant context factors that most influence in the implementation of OI practices. Accordingly, the first objective of this research is to conduct a comprehensive literature review of OI practices, which is necessary in order to clarify the concept and propose more precise terminology. This review includes the identification of the different typologies of OI practices defined in the literature and the dimensions used by authors to describe these practices. Secondly, we propose the identification, also based on the literature review methodology, of the internal and external factors that influence the implementation of these practices and the analysis of their relation with each OI practice typology. Then, according to the conclusions of the literature review, we propose a theoretical framework for establishing relations among different typologies of OI practices and the internal and external factors (firm-specific and contextual) relevant for their implementation. The empirical work of this thesis consists of an experimental contrast of the proposed theoretical framework, particularized for OI practices in SMEs in the automotive industry. This empirical work includes two steps, the first is a multiple case study of SMEs in the automotive sector and the second one is a retrospective case study of an SME from the automotive sector that has successfully implemented OI practices over a long period of time. From the academic point of view, this thesis contributes to the OI literature with two main results. The first one is a classification of OI practices typologies, according to their main dimensions, which helps to establish a taxonomy in this research stream. The second one is a theoretical framework for establishing relations among different typologies of OI practices and context factors. From the managerial point of view, the empirical research developed in this thesis, also yields some interesting results. In relation to OI practices typologies, we have shown that the studied SMEs have implemented the following OI practices typologies, which are identified in the theoretical framework: Innovation contest, Inward licensing of IP, Joined development, Joint venture, Lead user method, Outsourcing R&D, Outwards licensing of IP and Regional innovation clusters. Moreover, some specific typologies of these practices are more commonly used by the SMEs from the sample, such as Joined development. When using the theoretical framework developed in the theoretical section to look for relations between the implementation of the OI practices and the context factors, some interesting contributions arise from the multiple case study in relation to the relevance of specific context factors. We identify some relevant factors, from the internal and external contexts that facilitate OI practices implementation, such as absorptive capacity, IP management, Corporate culture, Technological turbulence, Proximities and Intermediaries, along with one factor from the internal context that hinders, namely Ambidexterity. Furthermore, the retrospective case study provides experimental evidence for the substitution effect between the absorptive capacity internal factor and the Intermediaries external factor when implementing a specific OI practice, Innovation contest. This contribution opens up an interesting stream for research and also for application issues. This contribution is a significant advance in the state of the art of current research in the field of OI, not only in general but also, particularly in OI in SMEs. Finally our work is a door to open future research directions in the OI field that, if based in the proposed theoretical framework, could contribute to the strengthening of the theoretical foundations of this innovation management paradigm

Relevant factors influencing cognitive distance in the performance of collaborative research projects

The research scope of this paper is to reinforce the need to strengthen university-firm relationship. We consider that it is crucial that the interactions between researcher/university and managers/firms should be based on a win-win relationship. In this sense, it is relevant to determine the main drivers behind the success of collaborative research projects, and this study focuses on one of them: cognitive distance. The specific objective of this study is to analyze the main factors that determine the influence of cognitive distance in the individual relationship between researchers and practitioners in collaborative research projects. In the first stage, through a literature review of cognitive distance and collaborative research projects, we identified a list of seven factors that influence cognitive distance and the issues that may provoke in the empirical context. Second, we carried out an empirical study based on semi-structured interviews with coordinators of collaborative research projects managed by the Chair of Business Volkswagen Navarra - University of Navarra. This permitted us to build guidelines that show the main practical concerns associated with each factor and how they were managed in the analyzed projects. This enriches the cognitive distance literature on individual interactions between researchers and practitioners. We highlight the relevance of previous experience of both agents, the exploitation of projects versus exploratory ones, and the determinant role of support infrastructures to minimize the negative effect of high cognitive distance. Nowadays, there is a trend to develop collaborative research projects with firms, not only agreement collaborations. Therefore, our findings could be useful for analyzing the relationships between researchers and practitioners in action research studies developed inside a doctoral thesis or competitive research project. By considering the effect of cognitive distance when selecting collaborative research projects, it will help to increase the degree of success of these projects

Wearable design requirements identification and evaluation

: Wearable electronics make it possible to monitor human activity and behavior. Most of these devices have not taken into account human factors and they have instead focused on technological issues. This fact could not only affect human–computer interaction and user experience but also the devices’ use cycle. Firstly, this paper presents a classification of wearable design requirements that have been carried out by combining a quantitative and a qualitative methodology. Secondly, we present some evaluation procedures based on design methodologies and human–computer interaction measurement tools. Thus, this contribution aims to provide a roadmap for wearable designers and researchers in order to help them to find more efficient processes by providing a classification of the design requirements and evaluation tools. These resources represent time and resource-saving contributions. Therefore designers and researchers do not have to review the literature. It will no be necessary to carry out exploratory studies for the purposes of identifying requirements or evaluation tools either