Modeling and Evaluating Open Innovation as Communicative Influence

We address the management of open innovation in the agile context. The open innovation management principles are approached from the perspectives of process and communication. The goal is a multidisciplinary theoretical framework of open innovation, agile development, communication, motivation and incentives. Practical frameworks, models, and principles are presented for managers and consultants, who build up open innovation communities. The main research questions are: 1. Which features transform business context towards management of open innovation? 2. Which dimensions of communicative influence could benefit management of open innovation? 3. How to model open innovation in an agile context? 4. How to analyze communicative influence in practical cases of innovation? We propose a facilitated innovation process model which links together agile development, product management and company internal as well as external innovation processes. The model emphasizes the innovation broker's viewpoint. External and internal stakeholders are involved through subsequent phases of the product or service innovation process. We also propose a tentative framework for determinants of communicative influence which is used to analyze empirical cases involving three start-up SMEs in an early idea generation phase. Innovator motivation is enhanced through exchange of incentives. Finally future research is shortly described.