In this article, we consider open innovation from the perspectives of: i) causation and effectuation, and ii) social networking. Our empirical evidence consists of a case study of a late-stage open-innovation project aimed at creating a hybrid ship that uses liquid natural gas and hydrogen as power sources. The results show that the effectuation approach is preferable to open innovation when the initiator of open innovation aims to keep sensitive information inside the closed group, when the initiator has established an effective team of representatives from other firms from earlier innovation projects, and when the participants are geographically close
