Leaders and Managers Key Characteristics and Open Innovation Adoption in SMEs: Systematic Review and Future Directions

Existing literature provides limited insights into the role of individual actors and the human side of Open Innovation (OI) adoption in SMEs. Additionally, there is a lack of studies that systematically consolidate and analyze the publications addressing this specific topic. This research aims to fill this gap by pursuing three main objectives: firstly, to review the influence of SME leaders and manager's characteristics on the adoption of OI; secondly, to identify the characteristics of leaders and managers of SMEs and their leadership styles when adopting OI; and lastly, to explain their role in promoting OI. A total of 43 peer-reviewed articles published in reputable scientific journals from 2003 to 2022 were examined. This study classifies manager's characteristics that contribute to the effective implementation of OI within SMEs into three categories: demographic characteristics, personal characteristics, and managerial characteristics. This review contributes to prior research by outlining a leader and manager profile that leads to the successful implementation of OI in SMEs. The article concludes with theoretical and practical contributions and suggestions for potential directions for future research.