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This chapter asks how we can understand the managerial practices in open innovation, a recently popularized way of organizing innovative work. Open innovation implies opening up the borders of the organization, creating a context where conventional steering and managerial tools no longer apply. Utilizing a collaborative research approach, following an open innovation collaboration over 8 years, this chapter outlines the managerial practices that direct the collaboration. These practices are important for meaning making and identity creation in the collaboration and can be understood as a form of authorship, a continuous intervention strategy to manage, develop and change the organizational context.

The purpose of this paper is to review the emerging research field of open innovation and identify where the field is going as well as suggest future fields of research.

All academic papers and books published until November 2007 under the label of open innovation were systematically reviewed. Also, nine key researchers were asked to contribute with their opinions on the research frontier.

A number of key themes in the research were identified, and conclusions on the underlying structure were drawn. This reveals that there is a tendency towards a broader definition and application of the term, a growing critical perspective, and a concentration on theory development and managerial implications.

The paper suggests that the locus of the innovation process and the extent of collaboration should be used as two dimensions in a model to further understanding of how open innovation develops. These dimensions have an important impact on both the human and the organizational side of innovation, areas that are highlighted as important fields for further research.

Despite the interest in the open innovation topic, a comprehensive review of the academic publications in the area does not seem to exist. The review and the conclusions drawn support the understanding of the growing field.