The underlying mechanisms of online open innovation intermediaries

The popularity of open innovation as a methodology for sourcing innovation opens a novel perspective on the increasing value of accessing and competing in innovation. When practicing open innovation, organisations face the challenges of identifying useful solutions and partners in a universe that is not confined to the boundaries of the firm. To address these challenges, online open innovation intermediaries have grown in number and achieved a global presence in recent years and this has led to an increasing interest in research that explores their roles and functions. Intermediaries employ a variety of mechanisms to leverage the motivations of intermediary platform participants (solvers and search agents) and influence their behaviour. There is, however, limited research that specifically explores these matching mechanisms and consequent outcomes. Accordingly, this analysis develops a classification of mechanism archetypes and a formal analysis through algorithmic mechanism design descriptions. We analyse these mechanisms in terms of incentive compatibility and reveal the underlying tensions, pitfalls, and limitations of existing mechanisms -while providing managerial insights on their appropriate use.