Topic:
Niraj S. Mankad
Abstract:
An important characteristic of media firms is the element of content embodied into their products and services. Media content is an amalgamation with ideas, art and culture at the core and manifested as the firm’s product or service. This article studies the creation of media products from an innovation management perspective and demonstrates how their development traditionally followed a strategy of open innovation. The concept of open innovation suggests reliance on a network of external sources to realise and expedite the process of innovation within firms. Prior work in the field has drawn attention to nuances of open innovation focusing on external elements like nature of participants, relationships, motivation and firm-specific determinants such as processes and capabilities. However, in both, innovation or media management literature on open innovation in the context of media products or services and their development is rudimentary. In this article, we demonstrate how media firms have treaded the open innovation path by virtue of collaboration and co-operation with multiple participants across, and outside, the firm’s funnel of innovation. We further, examine and contrast the open innovation process between media and non-media firms seeking to arrive at learning that find applicability across other industries.