Assessing open innovation climate and its impact on absorptive capacity In an attempt to thrive open innovation and collaboration with young and innovative start-up companies, more and more corporate firms use so-called corporate accelerators (CA). In such CA initially scouted start-ups work together with mentors and corporate internals to proof the strategic-fit of their innovative ideas and technologies with the sponsoring corporate firm and qualify for an ongoing collaboration. The working methods and routines inside a corporate accelerator are based on strong collaboration of individuals from different professional backgrounds and described as flexibly responding to the changing demands of the market-place. Structurally separated from the often mechanistic and inward-looking culture in corporations, the flexible climate and the agile routines in corporate accelerators are aligned to create a breeding ground for external innovations and allow fast-track progress in the knowledge absorption process. To validate those assumptions and illustrate the impact of CA, this presentation will illustrate the results of a single case-study of corporate acceleration (Alperia Startup Factory). Hereby the open innovation climate prevalent in a corporate accelerator was compared with other conventional business units of the same company. Furthermore this climate’s impact on the respective units’ realized absorptive capacity was assessed. In an additional ad hoc analysis different meaningful clusters of open innovation climate on the unit-level in the analysed company could be illustrated. The results of this study show, that corporate accelerators can in fact be understood as a relatively fertile breeding ground for external innovation. But also evidence for the CA-accompanying limits and challenges will be illustrated, i.e. the importance of a well-executed initial scouting process of external start-ups and the raising question of how corporate acceleration-outcomes are best transferred into the corporate core-business in the aftermath.

1. Corporate accelerator as a
strategy to thrive open
innovation
BenediktUnger (MSc), FreeUniversity of Bozen/Bolzano;
Dr. DieterTheiner (MBA, PhD),AlperiaS.p.A.
Benedikt.Unger@unibz.it Dieter.Theiner@alperia.eu

2. Corporate Accelerator (CA)
as a fertile strategy
for
big firm / nascent venture -
collaboration …
… but with certain limitations/reservation.
Main Finding:

3. Alperia‘s Corporate Accelerator:
The Startup Factory
Exploitation of existing
business model /
technology!
New emerging
technology and
markets?
(and
basically everyone with a good idea)
Exploration of new
business opportunities!
Proof of concept,
experienced industry
partners and early
customers?
How to ensure
effective
COLLABORATION?
(Weiblen & Chesbrough, 2015)

4. Alperia‘s Corporate Accelerator:
The Startup Factory
Exploitation of existing
business model /
technology!
New emerging
technology and
markets?
(and
basically everyone with an good
idea)
Exploration of new
business opportunities!
Proof of concept,
experienced industry
partners and early
customers?
Fertile breeding
ground!?
(Weiblen & Chesbrough, 2015)

5. ✓ Structural separation
(Weiblen & Chesbrough, 2015)
✓ Collaboration between corporate
employees & StartupAgents
✓ External Mentors
✓ Lean market research methods
✓ Top-management support
(Kohler, 2016; Richter et al., 2018; Alänge & Steiber, 2018)
✓ Cross-departmental and agile collaboration
✓ Special request to reflect on existing
markets & exploitation behavior
(Kohler, 2016; Neerijnen, 2016; Pauwels et al., 2016)
Patterns and routines in a Corporate
Accelerator?!
From the
idea to a
concrete
concept …

6. Reflexivity
✓ Structural separation
(Weiblen & Chesbrough, 2015
✓ Collaboration between corporate
employees & StartupAgents
✓ External Mentors
✓ Lean market research methods
✓ Top-management support
(Kohler, 2016; Richter et al., 2018; Alänge & Steiber, 2018)
✓ Cross-departmental and agile collaboration
✓ Special request to reflect on existing
markets & exploitation behavior
(Kohler, 2016; Neerijnen, 2016; Pauwels et al., 2016)
Open InnovationClimate
(Remneland-Wikhamn &Wikhamn, 2011)
Outward focus
Innovation &
flexibility
Patterns and routines in a Corporate
Accelerator?!

7. Accelerator
Conventional
BU
Reflexivity
Outward
focus
Innovation &
flexibility
Reflexivity
Outward
focus
Innovation &
flexibility Expectation

8. Accelerator
Conventional
BU
Reflexivity
Outward
focus
Innovation &
flexibility
Reflexivity
Outward
focus
Innovation &
flexibility
• Online questionnaire (Likert scales)
• Quasi-experimental design:
(𝑛 = 296 (N~1,000))
→ 𝑛1 = 24 (CA-participants)
vs.
→ 𝑛0 = 102 (conventional Business-Units)
Excerpt from the questionnaire:

9. Accelerator
Conventional
BU
Reflexivity
Outward
focus
Innovation &
flexibility
Reflexivity
Outward
focus
Innovation &
flexibility
(+ 0.21)*
*(α = 0.05)
• Online questionnaire (Likert scales)
• Quasi-experimental design
(𝑛 = 296 (N~1,000)):
→ 𝑛0 = 102 (conventional Business-Units)
vs.
→ 𝑛1 = 24 (CA-participants)
Excerpt from the questionnaire:

10. Exploitation of existing
business model /
technology!
New emerging
technology and
markets?
(and
basically everyone with an good
idea)
Exploration of new
business opportunities!
Proof of concept,
experienced industry
partners and early
customers?

11. Exploitation of existing
business model /
technology!
New emerging
technology and
markets?
(and
basically everyone with an good
idea)
Exploration of new
business opportunities!
Proof of concept,
experienced industry
partners and early
customers?
Output!
Transform and
exploit in the
marketplace.

12. Own Illustration: Programs with competition character illustrated as funnel:
Engagement
with Key
Stakeholders
&
Goal Setting for
Scouting
Multistage Selection /
Elimination Process
OpenCall/
Scouting
100-150
Ideas
~ 100 ~ 30 10 5-7 3-5 Realized Projects
Acceleration / Proof-
of-concept
Jury Pitch
3-6 Months
New markets/
opportunities
Current markets/
opportunities

13. Ability to
transform
&
exploit
external
knowledge.
Results:
Reflexivity
Open InnovationClimate
(Remneland-Wikhamn &Wikhamn, 2011)
Outward focus
Innovation &
flexibility
RealizedAbsorptiveCapacity
(Zahra & George, 2002)

14. Ability to
transform
&
exploit
external
knowledge.
Results:
Reflexivity
Open InnovationClimate
(Remneland-Wikhamn &Wikhamn, 2011)
Outward focus
Innovation &
flexibility
(~ + 0.85)**
*(α = 0.05), **(α = 0.01)

15. Ability to
transform
&
exploit
external
knowledge.
Results:
Reflexivity
Open InnovationClimate
(Remneland-Wikhamn &Wikhamn, 2011)
Outward focus
Innovation &
flexibility
(~ + 0.85)**
*(α = 0.05), **(α = 0.01)
Corporate
Accelerator
-
Format
*

16. Negative moderation effect –
an assumption:
Structural
separation
Distance to
core-business
Loss of
momentum
?
(Kohler, 2016; Birkinshaw & Gibson, 2004)

17. Conclusion: CA can be an immense (learning) opportunity for everyone involved …
… if initial scouting
process is done right.
… if CA represents fertile
breeding ground for
external ideas.
… ifCA-aftermath is
executed right.

18. Conclusion: CA can be an immense (learning) opportunity for everyone involved …
… if initial scouting
process is done right.
… if CA represents fertile
breeding ground for
external ideas.
… ifCA-aftermath is
executed right.
Example for best practice:

19. Main Bibliography:
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Shankar, R. K. & Shepherd, D. A. (2018)Accelerating strategic fit or venture emergence: Different paths adopted by corporate accelerators.Journal of BusinessVenturing. [Online]Available
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20. Thank you very much! Q&A?
Benedikt.Unger@unibz.it Dieter.Theiner@alperia.eu

21. Thank you very much! Q&A?
Benedikt.Unger@unibz.it Dieter.Theiner@alperia.eu
Numbers= standardized coefficients; * p < 0,05; ** p < 0,01.; CA-Unit (1), conventional business unit (0).
• Single case- analysis
• Quasi-experimental design
• Survey (Likert-scales; 𝑛 = 296):
→ 𝑛0 = 102 (control group)
→ 𝑛1 = 24 (CA-participants)
• ControlVariables:
(Age & Experience & “Learning Goal
Orientation” (Yao & Chang, 2017))
• Reliability checks (SRW &
Cronbach’s α)
• Validity: Confirmatory Factor
Analysis
• Some assumptions before
regression analysis