Open innovation, gender and the infiltration of masculine discourses

Purpose – This paper aims to illustrate how open innovation is implemented in practice in a large multinational corporation and to discuss how masculine discourses of rational control and competition are reinforced during such a process. Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory single case study approach has been employed. Qualitative empirical data (interviews and documents) are derived from a four year longitudinal research project on open and distributed innovation processes in the automotive industry. Findings – Masculinity enters the discourse of open innovation through prescribed classical management ideals in line with auditing and bureaucratisation. The paper illustrates how these masculine discourses are reproduced rather than challenged by open innovation. It also highlights how the preoccupation with control and conquest tends to silence alternative (feminine) discourses which could otherwise enrich the radical and creative features of the open innovation paradigm. Research limitations/implications – The paper is suggesting that the potential disruptive force in the open innovation paradigm tends to be watered down when appropriated by classical managerial ideals. It shows how difficult it is for managers to incorporate alternative (feminine) discourses when acting within a strong masculine hegemony. Practical implications – The open innovation paradigm leans on aspects such as “openness”, “collaboration”, “creativity” and “intuition” – much in line with feminine discursive connotations. But when masculine norms govern the company setting, these alternative modes of organising tend to be either marginalised or appropriated and transformed in ways that ensure they are compatible with discourses and practices of masculinity. Originality/value – This study provides insights into how discourses of masculinity play out and manifest themselves in the management of the firm. By doing so, it challenges the underlying and often uncritical assumptions of open innovation's disruptive force on contemporary managerial practice.