Nina Hasche

Trust in open innovation – the case of a med-tech start-up

Purpose The literature has shown great interest in open innovation (OI), and also discussed its degree of openness based on, for example, the number of parties involved. Less is known, however, about what makes OI processes work. The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the importance of trust in OI, and the paper specifically focusses on a start-up company’s OI processes with collaboration parties. The paper points out how a lack of trust antecedents may disable such OI processes. Design/methodology/approach The empirical part of the paper consists of a case study on a medicine technology start-up. Interviews and analyses of secondary sources made up the main data capturing methods. Each collaboration between the start-up and another party is analysed through three trust antecedents: contractual, competence based, and goodwill. Findings The paper shows how either party may have chosen to discontinue the collaboration, based on the lack of competence or goodwill antecedents to trust. Specifically, the case indicates how the start-up discontinues the collaboration based on a perceived lack of goodwill, while the collaboration party bases its decision on competence deficits by the start-up. Originality/value The paper contributes to previous research through describing OI related to start-ups, and introducing trust antecedents as prerequisites for OI. To the literature on trust, trust mutuality makes a research contribution.

The value of failed relationships for the development of a Medtech start-up

A major drawback of start-ups is that they are known to have liability of newness and smallness. One way start-ups can overcome these liabilities is by forming relationships and building a network with other firms, where exchange of knowledge and resources can be facilitated. These relationships between firms can include a great deal of ambiguity, and it is not always known what type of value will come out of the relationship. This present study sets out to explore how start-ups pursue opportunities through networks, and more specifically through relationships with other firms, to co-create or co-destruct value. Based on the explorative nature of this study, a qualitative case-based research design has been developed. Contributions from the study are (1) that start-ups can gain value even from failed relationships; (2) the insight of the dynamic nature of the relationships and interaction episodes for start-ups; and (3) highlighting that interaction episodes can result in three different types of changes.

Ethical issues in e-commerce : A renewed analysis based on the multiplicity of customer relationships

Although ethical issues in e-commerce have received increased interest in recent years, the relational context between e-vendor and e-customer has remained relatively unproblematized. Rather than assuming an anonymous interface between e-vendor and e-customer, with specific ethical issues related to it, we examine a case of a hybrid organizational context where physical stores within the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector use an intermediary to sell goods via e-commerce. The co-existence of physical stores and Internet solutions creates multiple relationships to customers and, as we argue, ethical problems of partly different kind compared to the ones identified in the literature. In the article, both the nature of the relationships between e-vendor and e-customer is analysed and ethical issues related to these relationships identified. From a theoretical point of view, the article widens the discussion on e-commerce ethics from a relational perspective inspired by Martin Buber’s philosophy.