The asymmetric impact of management controls at the front end of open innovation: a case studyof Unilever

Purpose This paper aims to enhance the understanding of how management controls influence the breadth and depth of the innovation scope at the front end of open innovation. Design/methodology/approach The research objective is achieved through a case study of an open innovation project between Unilever and multiple strategic partners. In line with the research purpose, this study focuses on the front end of this open innovation project – approximately the first 18 months of the project. Findings This study finds that project participants relied heavily on belief and interactive controls, while boundary and diagnostic controls were almost excluded during the front end. This management control configuration had an asymmetrical effect on innovation scope during the front end of open innovation. Specifically, this study finds that it simultaneously retrenched the breadth of innovation while expanding its depth. Originality/value This study contributes to the management control literature by focusing on the role of management controls at the front end of open innovation, a context that has been largely overlooked in previous research. This allows to obtain findings that break with the dichotomous perspective on how management controls support creativity, knowledge exploration and ideation, for example, enabling versus hampering them. This study argues that the effects of controls at the front end of open innovation are more ambiguous in that they have asymmetrical effects on innovation: controls simultaneously retrench the breadth of innovation but also increase its depth.