TY - JOUR T1 - Problemsourcing: Local Open Innovation for R&D Organizations JF - Technology Innovation Management Review Y1 - 2013 A1 - Sally Davenport A1 - Stephen Cummings A1 - Urs Daellenbach A1 - Charles Campbell KW - crowdsourcing KW - local open innovation KW - Open innovation KW - problemsourcing KW - R&D AB - Open innovation and crowdsourcing are usually focused on using others external to the organization to solve your problems. How then do R&D organizations, who traditionally solve the problems of others, harness the benefits of open innovation and crowdsourcing yet maintain their mission and capabilities? "Problemsourcing" may provide the answer. In this mode of open innovation, the open call to the "crowd" of businesses is for them to suggest problems that, if solved by the R&D organization, could greatly enhance the business’ competitive advantage and therefore the nation’s economy. In this article, we describe a problemsourcing initiative developed by Industrial Research Ltd (IRL), a government-owned R&D organization in New Zealand. The "What’s Your Problem New Zealand?" competition promised NZ$1m worth of R&D services to the winning business. Using this case study, we map a range of benefits of crowdsourcing for R&D problems, including generating a potential pipeline of projects and clients as well as avoiding the challenge to the professional status of the organization’s research capability. A side-effect not initially taken account of was that, by demonstrating openness, accessibility, and helpfulness, the reputation of the research organization was greatly enhanced. The problemsourcing model provided by the "What’s Your Problem New Zealand?" competition represents a new strategic possibility for R&D organizations that complements their traditional business model by drawing on the openness that open innovation and crowdsourcing seek to leverage. As such, it can provide insights for other research organizations wishing to make use of the connectivity afforded by open innovation and crowdsourcing. PB - Talent First Network CY - Ottawa VL - 3 UR - http://timreview.ca/article/665 IS - 3 U1 - Victoria Business School Sally Davenport is Professor of Management at Victoria Business School in Wellington, New Zealand. Her PhD in Chemistry was obtained at IRL’s predecessor organization and she has maintained close research relationships based on her scientific background. Sally’s research interests include the strategic management of innovation, interaction between innovation stakeholders in the commercialization of research and the discourse of scientific organizations. She has published in a range of journals including Research Policy, Technovation, Journal of Technology Transfer, R&D Management, Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice, Science & Public Policy, and Technology Analysis & Strategic Management. U2 - Victoria Business School Stephen Cummings is Professor of Strategy at Victoria Business School in Wellington, New Zealand. His research interests include the history of management and creative approaches to strategy development. His publications have appeared in Academy of Management Executive, Academy of Management Learning & Education, Business Horizons, Long Range Planning, Organization, and Organization Studies. His recent books include Recreating Strategy, The Strategy Pathfinder, Creative Strategy: Reconnecting Business and Innovation, and the forthcoming Handbook of Management and Creativity. U3 - Victoria Business School Urs Daellenbach is a Reader in Management at Victoria Business School in Wellington, New Zealand. His research interests focus on the resource-based view of the firm with a specific focus on contexts associated with R&D and innovation and where multiple diverse stakeholders may create advantages cooperatively. His publications have appeared in Strategic Management Journal, Long Range Planning, Industrial & Corporate Change, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Technology Transfer, and R&D Management. U4 - Victoria Business School Charles Campbell is a researcher at Victoria Business School in Wellington, New Zealand. Charles has a PhD in History from the University Canterbury. He is also a novelist and is currently based in the Otago region of New Zealand. ER -