Free books and reports on open innovation, co-creation, and crowdsourcing

Here is an overview of valuable, free books and reports related to open innovation, co-creation and crowdsourcing. Drop a comment if you know of other books, reports, or longer articles that are available for free and worth sharing.

Books

Social Media for Corporate Innovators and Entrepreneurs: Add Power to Your Innovation Efforts by Stefan Lindegaard

“How can my company use social media to bring out better innovation faster?” This is the key question that I explore in this book, which covers issues such as:

• What are the benefits of using social media for innovation efforts?
• What are the challenges and how can you overcome them?
• How can the different social media platforms help bring out better innovation faster?
• How can innovation leaders get a better understanding of social media and start maximizing the value of their virtual networks?

Download here.

Making Open Innovation Work by Stefan Lindegaard

Practical, engaging and direct! This is the style of Making Open Innovation Work, which explores the open innovation intersection between big and small companies by covering the following topics:

• Why big companies need small companies as part of their open innovation ecosystems.
• The benefits of open innovation and the challenges it poses for companies of different sizes.
• How to make open innovation work when the partners are of unequal size.
• How to identify and develop the people who will drive open innovation within an organization.

Download here.

Reports and articles

Open Innovation and Public Policy in Europe by Henry Chesbrough and Wim Vanhaverbeke

This report combines new research and analysis on open innovation with focused interviews of major participants in the European innovation system. The recommendations comprise an informal 'charter' for EU open innovation policy.

Download here. 

Open Innovation in SMEs by Wim Vanhaverbeke, Ine Vermeersch and Stijn De Zutter

This study found that open innovation can create new opportunities for all types of SMEs—from start-ups in high-tech markets to players in traditional markets—because they can change business models without having the required technologies in-house.

Download here.

Open Innovation: What’s Behind the Buzzword by i7 Institute and Accenture

This report analyzes what open innovation changes in the way they innovate in terms of partner relationships, internal organization, and innovation performance.

Download here.

Managing the Business Risks of Open Innovation by McKinsey & Company

This report advises you to focus on the factors that could redefine intellectual-property competition in your industry.

Register to download here.

World Intellectual Property Report: The Changing Face of Innovation by Wipo

This report looks into how the role of intellectual property has fundamentally changed based on these four key points:

• Firms are investing historically unprecedented amounts in the creation of intangible assets.
• Innovation-driven growth is no longer the prerogative of high-income countries alone.
• The act of inventing new products or processes is increasingly international in nature and seen as more collaborative and open.
• Knowledge markets are central within this more fluid innovation process.

Download here.

Open Innovation: Gateway to Breakthrough Ideas by Frost & Sullivan

Here you can find a three-page excerpt giving an overview of how consumer goods company Amway approaches open innovation.

Read excerpt here.

Open Innovation by MIT Sloan Management Review

Here you don’t get free reports, but you do get a very interesting overview of blog posts and reports by MITsloan on open innovation. Some of the excerpts are quite elaborate which is why I include this link.

Go here for overview.

The social economy: Unlocking value and productivity through social technologies by McKinsey & Company

“While 72 percent of companies use social technologies in some way, very few are anywhere near to achieving the full potential benefit. In fact, the most powerful applications of social technologies in the global economy are largely untapped.
Companies will go on developing ways to reach consumers through social technologies and gathering insights for product development, marketing, and customer service. Yet the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) finds that twice as much potential value lies in using social tools to enhance communications, knowledge sharing, and collaboration within and across enterprises.”

Download here.

Harnessing the Global Talent Pool to Accelerate Innovation by Braden Kelley

This is what you learn by reading this paper:

• Why having an external talent strategy is becoming increasingly important. 
• How leading organizations manage their open innovation and crowdsourcing efforts. 
• Strategies for attracting talent to your organization’s innovation efforts.

Download here.

BONUS: Tim Kastelle's eBook, Thirty Great Free eBooks for Innovators

Originally posted on Stefan Lindegaard's blog, 15inno. Re-posted with permission.