This article identifies barriers that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) encounter when they openly innovate, according to the open innovation (OI) mode used (inbound, outbound, coupled). A qualitative analysis—involving seven case studies of SMEs active in digital (high-tech) or social economy (low-tech) sectors—reveals that they face more internal than external OI barriers. Overall, the nature of the barriers does not vary across OI modes, but their intensity does. With regard to external barriers, the results reveal a “tribe syndrome,” such that SMEs resist opening up to other firms that do not share the same values.

中文翻译：

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中小企业的开放式创新：应用壁垒法

本文根据所使用的开放式创新 (OI) 模式（入站、出站、耦合）确定了中小型企业 (SME) 在进行公开创新时遇到的障碍。一项涉及活跃在数字（高科技）或社会经济（低技术）部门的中小企业的七个案例研究的定性分析表明，它们面临更多的内部而非外部 OI 障碍。总的来说，障碍的性质在不同的 OI 模式中没有变化，但它们的强度不同。关于外部障碍，结果揭示了一种“部落综合症”，即中小企业拒绝向其他价值观不同的公司开放。