Management of Human Resources inside Open Innovation Organizations: Some Reflections

This paper refers to High performance HR inside organizations oriented to Open Innovation. The need for this work dates back to phenomena shifts of our more and more related market towards Open Innovation (OI). The Systems which are discussed in this study are enterprises of today which are oriented to OI, focusing on the human side of it, particularly on Human Resources Management (HRM) in order to thrive competitiveness. It deals with an overview upon the emergence of the phenomenon of Open Innovation remarking its effects on the “changing landscape of knowledge”. Nowadays enterprises find themselves inside the process of globalization which turns organizations of mere production into organizations of global production, where it is very difficult to crowd out a competition which is against local specializations and ramming of productive activities in places capable of offering specific competitive advantages. Therefore, the system of Closed Innovation is not reliable anymore: the change to Open Innovation is needed to thrive positively within the global market. Methodological approach we used refers to Service Science: a strategic area of scientific study of Service Systems at IBM Research. Service science aims to define and improve interactions of multiple entities which work together to achieve win-win outcomes or mutual benefits. More precisely, “a service is value co-creation in the sense of a change or a set of changes which people prefer and realize as a result of their communication, planning, or other purposeful and knowledge-intensive interactions”. Services are implemented by OI processes, determining change in the strategy of the company. In this contextualized scenario, “management of Human Resources inside OI organizations” is discussed. Pointing out that employee, their knowledge, skill sets, and attitudes towards collaboration determine the effectiveness of OI strategies and practices the HR department can play a crucial role in bringing about the necessary change in attitudes. More specifically, by developing HR practices in terms of both internal and external talent management according to the emergent T-Shaped Profile of Professionals.