In the context of expanding globalization and international trade, pressure on world-wide operating companies increases to find innovate products and services, which meet the market needs. To increase companies’ innovativeness, the literatures and empirical research have concluded that openness of organizational structures in R&D environments fosters innovative performance. But how far should a company open up their R&D process? By looking at the collaboration within the R&D process in companies with different partners on the one hand and the risks and changes in the opening process on the other hand, this paper deducts relevant recommendations. Recommendations which will help companies define their own strategy in the transformation process from close to open. This will be done by using a newly developed model, which makes it possible to calculate gaps between a directly measured real openness and a calculated virtual openness using risks and chances occurring when transforming the companies from close to open.     «

In the context of expanding globalization and international trade, pressure on world-wide operating companies increases to find innovate products and services, which meet the market needs. To increase companies’ innovativeness, the literatures and empirical research have concluded that openness of organizational structures in R&D; environments fosters innovative performance. But how far should a company open up their R&D; process? By looking at the collaboration within the R&D; process in companies wi...     »