Innovation broker approach
In any case, barriers in connection with the initiation and realisation of inter-organisational innovation processes need to be taken into account. Transaction and coordination failures accrue especially at interfaces between participating actors. These failures might be minimised by a third party taking over coordinating tasks. When integrating a third party into inter-organisational innovation activities, this party should focus on the reduction of transaction and coordination barriers. “Such intermediary activities include: helping to provide information about potential collaborators; brokering a transaction between two or more parties; acting as a mediator, or go-between, bodies or organiszations that are already collaborating; and helping find advice, funding and support for the innovation outcomes of such collaborations” (Howells, 2006). According to Howells (2006) this third party might be “an organization or body that acts [as] an agent or broker in any aspect of the innovation process between two or more” actors. Beside that definition the literature describes many diverse terminologies regarding third parties with different functions. Most of them act as an innovation broker or intermediary in an innovation network. One can differentiate between two main and differing kinds of third parties: Some concentrate solely on the intermediation between actors. They work as a supporter in innovation systems aiming to facilitate collaborative innovation processes and innovation activities. Others additionally provide content and knowledge. They function as well as an innovation source (Chesbrough, 2006; Hargadon and Sutton, 1997; Hertog, 2000; Howells, 2006; Klerkx, 2008; Klerkx and Leeuwis, 2009; Winch and Courtney, 2007). The terminology is very varied. While Hargadon and Sutton (1997) for example define the term “knowledge or technology broker”, this study follows rather the definition of Winch and Courtney (2007) by using the term “innovation broker”: “An innovation broker is an organization acting as a member of a network of actors in an industrial sector that is focused neither on the generation nor the implementation of innovations, but on enabling other organizations to innovate.” The innovation broker does not participate directly in the generation of new knowledge during the innovation process. Assuming, by the integration of a third party supporting another organisation to innovate, inter-organisational innovation consortia would be more efficient and effective since the actors within the consortium would be able to concentrate solely on the content of an innovation activity – the generation, adaptation and exploitation of new knowledge.
Service provider and service recipients in inter-organisational innovation processes
Offering management support during the initiation and implementation of inter-organisational innovation processes is a service. The term services are used in the literature and in general language usage in many ways (Schütz, 2009). Schütz (2009) highlights, by a combination of certain characteristics, a range of acceptable definitions. Following Evanschitzky (2003) services can be defined as a combination of internal and external production factors. Furthermore, a service is the result of at least a temporal, but also temporal and spatial interaction between the service provider and service recipients. The result of the combination of production factors is a tradeable service pursuing the aim of achieving a value effect. Schütz (2009) summaries the following characteristics of services:
- Intangibility
- Integration of at least one external factor (e.g. customer integration)
- Simultaneousness of production and consumption (uno-actu principle)
- Impossibility of storage
- High level of individuality
In the case of management support services offered in the frame of inter-organisational innovation processes (e.g. the Q-PorkChains project) innovation brokers or innovation intermediaries function as service providers. By the use of services that support the initiation and implementation of innovation activities, the innovation strengths of the service recipients should be improved and the innovation performance should be strengthened. This can be achieved by reducing transaction and coordination failures (see above). The function of an innovation broker as a service provider is mostly taken over by organisations in charge of the coordination and management of innovation networks (in this case by GIQS). An innovation broker can offer single management support service elements or a whole service bundle. During the planning process of customer oriented services, the service provider needs to consider on the one hand their own available resources and competences and on the other hand, the demand and the service accomplishment quality (Schütz, 2009).
Service recipients are actors within innovation networks who concentrate on the innovation content – like the generation, adaptation and exploitation of new knowledge. These are:
- Scientific actors as knowledge and / or technology provider
- Business actors as knowledge and / or technology provider,
- Business actors as knowledge and / or technology user,
- Public authorities etc.