Specifics of Open Innovation in Smes

In recent years, in specialized literature a new paradigm in open innovation management has come up, namely open innovation. It has aroused interest amongst both practitioners and theorists, although, for a long time, the studies were only focused on large companies. But the role of open innovation is becoming increasingly more important in SMEs due to globalization, the economic changes of recent years and the current market conditions. The success of such a strategy depends on the company's degree of openness to the outside in its innovation activities and its ability to balance between internal knowledge management, identification of external sources, knowledge transfer and collaboration to create new economic value. This article presents the results of a questionnaire-based survey conducted among managers of SMEs on open innovation. The objective of the investigation is to identify the motives for open innovation in SMEs and the key factors in implementing a management strategy which includes open innovation. The study includes companies that were involved in such projects and have experience in open innovation.