دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی جستجوی دانش خارجی، ظرفیت جذب و نوآوری رادیکال در شرکت های با فن آوری بالا - الزویر 2018

abstract

Open innovation and absorptive capacity are two concepts based on the idea that companies can leverage the knowledge generated externally to improve their innovation performance. The aim of this paper is to analyse the joint effect of open innovation and absorptive capacity on a firm's radical innovation. Open innovation is expressed in terms of external search breadth and depth strategies and absorptive capacity is described by distinguishing between potential and realized absorptive capacity. In order to test our hypotheses, we carried out empirical research in firms operating in high-technology industries. The results indicate that internal routines and processes for absorbing external knowledge help explain radical innovation as they show a significant effect of potential and realized absorptive capacity. Also, there is a moderating effect of absorptive capacity on open innovation. Specifically, potential absorptive capacity exerts a positive effect on the relationship between external search breadth and depth and radical innovation. Realized absorptive capacity moderates the influence of external search breadth. These findings confirm the complementary nature of absorptive capacity and open innovation search strategies on radical innovation.

Conclusions

This study analyses the influence of open external search strategies and AC on radical innovation in high-technology firms. Also, the moderating effect of AC is examined by focusing on the relationships between potential and realized AC and external breadth and depth strategies. Regarding the relationship between open breadth and depth and radical innovation, our findings did not find a significant direct effect and do not corroborate the results of previous research where a positive effect on radical innovation of external breadth (e.g., Chiang & Hung, 2010) and external depth (e.g. Ferreras-Mendez
et al., 2015) has been found. These results can be justified in the context of the type of firms being analysed, i.e., high-technology firms. Thus, although searching widely and deeply across external sources can provide ideas and resources which help firms gain and exploit innovative opportunities, in these kinds of industries it can be considered a requirement to compete, but on its own, it is not sufficient to achieve a competitive advantage through radical innovation. We found that both potential and realized AC exert an influence on radical innovation. Our findings suggest the value of devoting resources and efforts to intensify awareness of potential partners and developing capabilities that facilitate the transformation and exploitation of external knowledge as the role of both components of AC, i.e. search-based capabilities related to knowledge acquisition and assimilation, and knowledgeapplication capabilities, are shown to foster innovation radicalness. Although there is previous empirical research that studied and verified the effect of AC, it mostly used proxy variables to represent AC, with no identification of the processes and abilities that form AC. Therefore, the way AC is conceptualized in this research should be highlighted, as the distinction between both components of AC, based on Zahra and George’s (2002), allows a deeper understanding of the role of AC.