The Role of Open Innovation in Technology Development in Knowledge-Based Companies Case study: Incubator of Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology

Nowadays, the use of innovation as a technology development factor in companies is an important issue. Yet, it is critical to investigate which kind of innovation is more fit to integrate within the strategy of knowledge-based companies. The present study aims to investigate the role of open innovation in the technology development of knowledge-based companies. It chooses to analyze the strategy of the knowledge-based companies located in the Growth Center of the Iranian Research Organization for Science and technology as its case study. The selected methodology is a qualitative research based on questionnaires and interviews with innovators, entrepreneurs, and experts on their approach to open and closed innovations. The research was conducted in 2021. The findings show that open innovation is one of the factors that has played a role in the development and promotion of technology and has been effective in the emergence of factors such as competitiveness, survival, flexibility against changes, and reducing costs related to technology development and idea generation. Also, networking, human power empowerment, cooperation with companies to obtain new resources, development of team skills, and internationalization of activities are some of the factors that were less important in the studied companies. Finally, the development strategies of the companies are analyzed and described