A social embeddedness perspective on open innovation: linking family, firm, and territory

Open innovation offers firms access to external knowledge but is difficult to implement and sustain, especially in family-controlled firms, where family influence can act simultaneously as an enabler and a constraint on collaborative innovation. This paper asks how the interaction among family, firm, and territory enables or constrains open innovation within an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Adopting a qualitative, theory-building approach centered on a single case study of a historic Italian family firm's open innovation unit, we combine semi-structured interviews, archival materials, and data from prior research on the same setting. Our preliminary analysis identifies five interrelated mechanisms, patient capital, managerial empowerment, family-territory credibility, family-firm shielding, and symbolic resource mobilization, that jointly mitigate key barriers to open innovation. The study integrates family business, open innovation, and entrepreneurial ecosystem research through a social embeddedness lens, offering a process model and practical guidance for family firms sustaining open innovation rooted in local ecosystems.