Exploring the Logics of Openness and Appropriability in Innovation - Investigating how Firms Manage Value Processes

Innovation today is a multi-actor, multi-technology process in which diverse stakeholders exchange knowledge to jointly—or in distributed ways—pursue research, development, production, commercialization, and market creation. At its core lies the paradox of openness: value creation requires firms to open boundaries for collaboration, while value capture requires appropriation mechanisms to secure returns. Yet the meaning of openness remains fragmented across research streams—open innovation, open platforms, open architecture, open source, open business models, and open strategy—making it difficult to develop a unified view of what openness entails. The interplay between openness and appropriability also remains underexplored, particularly how openness shapes value capture and how appropriation mechanisms limit or enable openness. This thesis addresses these gaps by asking: How do organizations balance openness and appropriability to create and capture value in collaborative innovation? It answers through three studies: (1) a systematic review integrating fragmented insights on value creation and appropriation; (2) a comparative analysis of AI leaders showing how firms in interdependent ecosystems deploy layered appropriation mechanisms; and (3) an empirical study of 18 open innovation leaders in North America and Europe to analyze differences in open innovation enactment. The studies generate three outcomes, respectively: (a) a conceptual model linking value creation and value appropriation in collaborative innovation; (b) an expanded view of appropriability that identifies appropriation functions and shows how governing interdependencies across actors is crucial, not merely preventing imitation; and (c) a framework of open innovation archetypes demonstrating that managing openness–appropriability tension is a design issue, with each archetype producing distinct outcomes and requiring different capabilities aligned with strategic intent and integration needs. Theoretically, the thesis clarifies that openness is a strategic configuration shaped by intent and internal integration. It reveals appropriability as dynamic and ecosystem-dependent, enacted through generative, constitutive bundles of mechanisms deployed across structural layers. Finally, it explains how firms build and reconfigure capabilities that balance openness and control over time. Practically, the thesis provides managers a prescriptive lens for designing open innovation efforts. The archetypes guide approach selection, while the appropriation functions link strategic objectives to mechanisms that support and safeguard collaborative innovation.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Management

Grantor dc:publisher

Carleton University

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Sharma, Arushi

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright © 2026 the author(s). Theses may be used for non-commercial research, educational, or related academic purposes only. Such uses include personal study, distribution to students, research and scholarship. Theses may only be shared by linking to the Carleton University Institutional Repository and no part may be copied without proper attribution to the author; no part may be used for commercial purposes directly or indirectly via a for-profit platform; no adaptation or derivative works are permitted without consent from the copyright owner.

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

10.22215/etd/2026-17075

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:carleton.scholaris.ca:20.500.14718/45232