Call for Papers: The Role of Performance Measurement in Collaborative Organisations and Open Innovation

A special issue of International Journal of Transitions and Innovation Systems

It is now widely accepted that, by breaking down traditional organisational boundaries, inter-organisational collaborations allow intellectual property, ideas and people to flow freely between organisations, promoting increased levels of innovation while reducing risks. The question regarding collaboration is no longer about whether to collaborate; rather, it is about the need to understand and choose the suitable collaboration options.

It is argued that opening the source enables a self-enhancing diversity of production routes, communication paths and interactive communities to emerge. In contrast with more centralised models of innovation, the main principle of open innovation is peer production and collaboration, with the end product and source material available to anyone, sometimes at no cost.

Despite the undoubted importance of these issues, the majority of the performance measurement research relating to collaborative organisations and open innovation seems to focus on traditional centralised structures with little focus on how to measure knowledge and intellectual property in this completely new and unfamiliar territory.

This special issue aims to promote the understanding of the role of performance measurement in collaborative and open organisations. A recent literature review carried out by Bititci et al. (2011) will be taken as the main reference, as authors will supply an integrated synthesis of performance measurement literature along with a holistic research framework focused on the context of the research challenges of this special issue. The emerging trends and the research questions are summarised here.

This special issue welcomes both qualitative and quantitative empirical studies that explore the role of performance measurement in collaborative open organisations and networks. Theoretical works that extend existing knowledge in this area are also welcome. Potential readers of the issue are not only academics but also policymakers and practitioners across the globe. Therefore submitted manuscripts should clearly demonstrate both theoretical, practical and policy implications.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Performance measurement as a learning system that enables greater levels of collaboration and sharing in collaborative organisations and open networks
• The practices of performance measurement for multicultural collaborations and networks
• The role of performance measurement in knowledge-based organisations and networks
• The measurement and management of intellectual property in collaborative organisations and open innovation
• Social factors and the effect of power relationships on performance measurement/evaluation in open collaborative networks
• The impact of the different network types on performance measurement
• Performance measurement in SMEs in the context of collaborative organisations and open networks

Important Date
Paper submission deadline: 31 December, 2011