WHAT DOES OPEN INNOVATION MEAN? BUSINESS VERSUS ACADEMIC PERCEPTIONS

Since the first appearance of 'open innovation' as a theoretical concept in 2003, the debates on its essence still continue among academics, while its interpretations within the business community also seem to differ from one company to another. Using a survey of 251 companies operating in Europe, in this research, we compare the perceptions of open innovation that exist within both the academic and business worlds, to assist in the conceptual development of the phenomenon. Our research reveals a mismatch in these perceptions, as only a few activities counted as 'open' by innovation scholars appear to affect companies' self-reported state of open innovation implementation. Moreover, our research has shown differences in the interpretation of open innovation among companies of different sizes. Only free revealing, acknowledged by scholars as one of the open innovation practices, has been recognised as such a practice by all the studied firms. This paper contributes to conceptualisation of 'open innovation' and shares practical insights on bridging academia and business perceptions of it.