Open Innovation (OI) has become a key part of corporate strategy, and many firms have adopted dedicated organizational functions to leverage OI. However, current literature lacks insights into how firms deploy dedicated OI functions and what they do. To address this issue, we draw insights from interviews with senior managers in dedicated OI functions in twenty different firms. Our findings reveal three different ways how firms can employ dedicated OI functions and the key practices for which they are responsible. Finally, we show how dedicated OI functions can change over time as the firms’ OI capabilities mature.
