Sustainable open innovation interactions in industrial sector partnerships

The adoption of open innovation (OI) practices emerges as a key catalyst for sustainable innovation, generating multiple organizational advantages in industrial sectors.This study examines how OI outcomes derive from the configurational effects of interconnected OI interactions.Through fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) examining 48 European innovation partnerships in industrial sectors, the research identifies two distinct configurational pathways to achieve elevated sustainable innovation output: the Broad approach and Platform-targeted approach.Conversely, two configurations result in low innovation output: the Isolated and Platform-missing approaches.The study establishes that platform and complex systems engagement represents a fundamental condition for high sustainable OI output -though insufficient in isolation, the results suggest its robust connection with sustainable open innovation.The findings establish that OI outcomes depend on interaction configuration effects and present a framework for analyzing pathways to enhance OI effectiveness in industrial sectors.Additionally, the paper provides managerial guidance for optimizing sustainable innovation outputs based on distinct OI interaction strategies.