Abstract
Existing academic and popular literature suggests that unsolicited ideas, the non-contractual and
voluntary submission of innovation-related information from external sources to the firm, offer
the promise of a bountiful and low-cost tool to sustain and extend firms’ R&D efforts. Yet, in
practice, many organizations find it difficult to deal with unsolicited ideas because of their high
volume, low quality, and the need to transfer IP ownership. This article identifies a range of
practices that allow organizations to meet these challenges and therefore realize some of the
potential of unsolicited ideas for R&D.