Open Innovation and Social Network Analysis

In this work we propose the use of Social Network Analysis to understand the positioning of the concept of Open Innovation in the literature, offering thereby a complementary approach to existing literature review up to now. The main motivation of this network analysis is to contribute to the understanding of the concept of Open Innovation, with its spread to different areas of knowledge over the years and its relationship with other concepts in the literature. Some 403 articles published in the database of the Science Direct during the years 2003 to 2011 were analyzed. The data was collected separately by year, considering the following information: journals in which the articles were published; countries of origin of the articles’ authors, keywords of these articles and year of publication. The results reveal the intense growth of the use of the words "Open Innovation" in articles from different areas of knowledge, as well as its increasing interconnection with other concepts, allowing the understanding of its diffusion in the literature.