Constant development of new technologies in a rapidly changing and globalized world decreases product life cycles. Time-to-market is crucial for commercial success. This development requires resources to create new knowledge and skills within organizations and together in networks with other firms. Open innovation is an alternative for developing innovative products and services that takes advantage of external knowledge and give access to new market channels. Even though services is vital for economic growth and fits well with the open innovation model, there is little research on open service innovation.

The purpose of the thesis is to extend knowledge on how service innovations emerge and evolve in open innovation nets in industrial networks. It also aims to follow the development from idea to a commercial service. The thesis describes organization for service innovations to emerge and develop in open service innovation nets. It also explains the actors involved and their different innovator roles in the development from idea to commercial services.

The present research provide insights how the organization of the development work might differ between incremental and radical service innovation. there is a range of organizing templates (archetypes) that fit different types of development work. Where previous research on open service innovation has focused on radical service innovation present research suggests that open service innovation also can be a strategy for incremental service innovation.

Present research shows how actors take on multiple innovator roles in the innovation process of open service innovation. The more radical changes, the more roles each actor takes on. Present research add a new innovator role to previous research, The Constitutional Monarch. The Constitutional Monarch has a central position in all archetypes, but as the name implies, has no decision power. The research also sheds light on how the hub firm deploys not one but a portfolio of network orchestration processes dependent on the archetype used for open service innovation.

The development of new technologies in a rapidly changing and globalized world decreases product life cycles, time to market is crucial. Firms can no longer rely solely on internal knowledge in new product-/service development. They require external resources to create new knowledge and skills within their organizations. Developing innovative products and services that takes advantage of external knowledge and give access to new market channels is labeled open innovation. Even though the open innovation model is well known and widely spread, there is little research on open service innovation.

The aim of the thesis is to understand and describe how service innovations emerge and evolve in open innovation nets (groups) in industrial networks, and to follow the development from idea to a commercial service. The thesis describes organization for service innovations to emerge and develop in open service innovation nets. It also explains the actors involved and their different innovation roles in the development of service innovations in open service innovation nets.

The present research provide insights how the organization of the development work might differ between incremental and radical service innovation. It suggests that open service innovation can be a strategy not only for radical but also for incremental service innovation.

The thesis also present a new innovator role to add to existing research, The Constitutional Monarch. The Constitutional Monarch has a central position as third-party facilitator catalyzing the innovation process but has no decision power.