Exploring open innovation practice in firm‐nonprofit engagements: a corporate social responsibility perspective

Sara Holmes, Palie Smart · 2009 · R and D Management

Summary. This study examines how corporations and nonprofits collaborate to drive innovation through open innovation practices. Eight UK partnerships show two distinct approaches: exploratory engagement that generates emergent innovation, and focused resource exploitation that follows planned processes. Boundary-spanning roles differ based on organizational linkage strength—formal management roles in loosely connected dyads versus informal facilitation roles in highly connected ones. Open innovation driven by social issues, rather than purely economic motives, broadens corporate search activities and generates innovations while building social legitimacy.

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@article{holmes-2009-exploring-open-innovation-practice-firm,
  title   = {Exploring open innovation practice in firm‐nonprofit engagements: a corporate social responsibility perspective},
  author  = {Sara Holmes and Palie Smart},
  journal = {R and D Management},
  year    = {2009},
  doi     = {10.1111/j.1467-9310.2009.00569.x},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9310.2009.00569.x}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Exploring open innovation practice in firm‐nonprofit engagements: a corporate social responsibility perspective
AU  - Sara Holmes
AU  - Palie Smart
JO  - R and D Management
PY  - 2009
DO  - 10.1111/j.1467-9310.2009.00569.x
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9310.2009.00569.x
ER  - 

Details

DOI

10.1111/j.1467-9310.2009.00569.x

Countries

United Kingdom

Regions

Europe

Categories

innovation-networks, innovation-theory, general-innovation

Added

2026-04-28