Selective Openness as a Sustainable Strategy: How Culinary MSMEs Organize Collaboration Across the Value Chain in an Emerging Economy

Culinary micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) play a critical role in socio-economic sustainability, yet operate under heightened risks related to product quality, food safety, and business reputation. Although research on collaboration and co-creation often portrays openness as a desirable organizational orientation, limited attention has been paid to how MSMEs strategically regulate openness across their value-chain activities. This study explores how culinary MSMEs organize collaboration and negotiate boundaries between openness and closure. Using a qualitative multi-case approach, the findings show that openness is not uniformly applied but governed by a logic of selective openness shaped by risk exposure, accountability demands, and organizational capacity constraints. Core production activities function as protected zones characterized by strong closure, whereas market-facing functions allow more curated forms of external involvement. By reframing openness as a risk-based governance practice rather than a default collaboration strategy, this study provides a process-level explanation of how MSMEs sustain collaboration without compromising quality control, accountability, and organizational viability. The findings contribute to theorizing boundary governance in small enterprises and offer practical insights for designing collaborative strategies under conditions of risk and constraint.