TY - JOUR

T1 - Harnessing the value of open innovation

T2 - The moderating role of innovation management

AU - Salge, Torsten Oliver

AU - BohnÉ, Thomas Marc

AU - Farchi, Tomas

AU - Piening, Erk Peter

N1 - Funding Information: We would like to thank Siah Hwee Ang, Steffen Conn, Eelko Huizingh, Kenneth Husted and Joe Tidd for their helpful comments. We also thank seminar participants at The University of Auckland Business School and ISPIM Symposium in Wellington, where a previous version of this paper won the Knut Holt Award for the best conference paper. We are also grateful to the ZEW in Mannheim, Germany, for providing access to the data. Finally, Tomas Farchi would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford.

PY - 2012/6

Y1 - 2012/6

N2 - In this paper, we develop and test a firm-level contingency model of inbound open innovation in an attempt to contribute to explaining the substantial disparities in open innovation payoff that exist between firms. Integrating elements from the resource-and knowledge-based views and the absorptive capacity literature, we propose that specific innovation management activities can play an important moderating role as they are likely to enhance firms' capacity to identify, assimilate and utilise external knowledge inputs. Drawing on longitudinal data from 1,170 German manufacturing and service firms, econometric analyses reveal that returns from open innovation are greatest when firms maintain their internal research capacity, employ a dedicated incentive system for innovation and advocate strong cross-functional collaboration. Decision-makers are thus well advised not to take positive returns from open innovation for granted. Rather, they need to achieve excellence in key innovation management activities, if their firm is to fully harness the value of openness.

AB - In this paper, we develop and test a firm-level contingency model of inbound open innovation in an attempt to contribute to explaining the substantial disparities in open innovation payoff that exist between firms. Integrating elements from the resource-and knowledge-based views and the absorptive capacity literature, we propose that specific innovation management activities can play an important moderating role as they are likely to enhance firms' capacity to identify, assimilate and utilise external knowledge inputs. Drawing on longitudinal data from 1,170 German manufacturing and service firms, econometric analyses reveal that returns from open innovation are greatest when firms maintain their internal research capacity, employ a dedicated incentive system for innovation and advocate strong cross-functional collaboration. Decision-makers are thus well advised not to take positive returns from open innovation for granted. Rather, they need to achieve excellence in key innovation management activities, if their firm is to fully harness the value of openness.

KW - absorptive capacity

KW - contingency theory

KW - innovation management

KW - Open innovation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84862215151&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1142/S1363919612400051

DO - 10.1142/S1363919612400051

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84862215151

VL - 16

JO - International Journal of Innovation Management

JF - International Journal of Innovation Management

SN - 1363-9196

IS - 3

M1 - 1240005

ER -