Abstract

Chesbrough(2003, 2006) demonstrated that the motive power of growth and development of big enterprises, be it in hi-tech or low-tech industries of USA, is 'Open Innovation'. Among the studies that followed. Laursen and Salter(2003) examined the relationship between Open Innovation and industry performance focused on consierably developed industries which are the reserch subjects of OSLO Manual. Though they tried to analyze Open Innovation of medium and small firms, they did not analyze the specific status of Open Innovation of medium and small firms, and their analysis was limited to the statistical relationship between Open Innovation and industry performances. answering. Through interviews, this study examines the status of Open Innovation and performances of medium and small firms in the technological areas of IT Medical Care, IT Robot(Intelligent Robot), Solar Energy and Fuel Cell designated as new growth engines, in the Daegu Gyeongbuk district. The study confirmed that small and medium firms are very dynamically adopting Open Innovation in the process of changing their business lines to more prospective hi-tech areas for their existence. Also it was found that continuous growth and development could not be expected with Closed Innovation, and that the existence of small and medium I firms can be threatened during verification period because it takes considerable time to get approval or support form markets or science and technology business circle.

Key Words: Open Innovation, Technology Life Cycle, Emerging Stage, Growth Stage, New Growth Engine Industries, Innovation Performance of the Industry