The role of culture in open innovation processes through intermediaries: towards a theoretical framework

Purpose – The paper aims at analysing the role of culture in open innovation processes supported by open innovation intermediaries, mainly from a seeker’s point of view, creating a new framework linking open innovation processes and open innovation intermediaries based on different types of knowledge. Design/Methodology/Approach – Starting from the assumption that culture matters in the knowledge transfer processes, we relied on extant literature on open innovation processes, open innovation intermediaries, and types of knowledge to build a new framework to understand which open innovation intermediary types are more suited to support the different open innovation processes supported by intermediaries and how they can help firms in overcoming cultural barriers. Originality/Value – The role of culture in open innovation has already been studied, though not in relation with its processes. Moreover, culture has not been analysed when open innovation intermediaries support open innovation processes. In order to fill this gap in literature, our paper focuses on the support that different types of open innovation intermediaries could give in overcoming the cultural barriers more likely to occur when implementing different open innovation knowledge transfer processes. Practical Implications –The framework built can help seekers to overcome cultural barriers, to open up their internal R&D activities, and to improve their innovation processes by taking advantage of external knowledge sources, choosing the right open innovation intermediary type, and making its support fully effective.