Analysis of Barriers to Universities Moving toward Open Innovation (A Case Study: Razi University)

The importance of open innovation and its role in increasing the competitive advantage of organizations cannot be over-exaggerated. On the other hand, due to the lack of systematic study of open innovation in universities and the research gaps in this field, it is of great importance to explore the barriers of universities to transit from closed innovation to open innovation. The present study aims to identify barriers to moving toward open innovation at Razi University. The research is a mixed-methods (qualitative/quantitative) study in approach. In the qualitative stage, the theme analysis method was used to identify the obstacles through semi-structured interviews with 15 experts who were selected by the snowball method. The results in this phase were analyzed by coding (open coding, axial coding, and selective coding). In the next stage (the quantitative phase), a researcher-made questionnaire was used to examine and rank the barriers using a descriptive survey. The statistical population in this phase consisted of 110 faculty members who had a background in commercialization, teaching, or doing research in the field of entrepreneurship at Razi University. By stratified random sampling, 86 people were sampled. Data in the quantitative phase were analyzed by descriptive statistics. According to the results, eight main categories were identified as barriers, including supportive barriers, communication barriers, cultural barriers, structural barriers, macro government policies, educational barriers, motivational barriers, and personality barriers. The highest and lowest means were found to be related to supportive barriers (5.14) showing their high importance and personality barriers (3.82) showing their low importance, respectively.