OPEN INNOVATION AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT IN STRATEGIC BUSINESS ALLIANCES

The purpose of the research was to investigate whether the comp5anies involved in strategic business alliances (henceforth referred to as the SBA) have a higher level of open innovation and better business results in the metal industry in the EU country, namely Slovenia. The survey was carried out in 115 companies, where the aforementioned relations and their influence were studied applying appropriate statistical methods (e.g. the Mann-Whitney Test, Chi-Square statistics, t-test, etc). The sample encompassed four clusters and R&D centres from metal-processing industry. The results showed that SBA have a significantly strong impact on companies' open innovation as well as more efficient cooperation with universities and research institutions. Among the companies involved in SBA, the portion of innovations generated in cooperation with their business partners accounted for 57.7%, while those, not involved in SBA, the same indicator amounts to 19%. In addition, the results showed that the majority of business results, in companies involved in SBA, were above average, compared to the industry sector average values. The value added per employee within companies involved in the SBA was significantly higher than the industry average, as well as the profits; difference was more than threefold. It may be concluded that SBA represent an important bridge in the transformation from a closed innovation model to a model of open innovation, resulting in better business performance. Important implication for companies is related to the message that cooperation with competitors may bring value added to all companies involved.