Does open innovation always work? The role of complementary assets

Antonio Carmona-Lavado, Gloria Cuevas-Rodríguez, Carmen Cabello-Medina and Eugenio M. Fedriani

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2021, vol. 162, issue C

Abstract: The aim of this research is twofold: first, to identify Open Innovation (OI) configurations, and second, to analyze which configurations are associated with a high, and which with a low, OI performance. Using a configurational approach (involving complementarity and equifinality), we propose that firms use different OI configurations, by combining three openness practices (high number of alliances, partner diversity, and external R&D) and four complementary organizational assets (human capital, alliance coordination capabilities, inter-organizational learning capabilities, and patenting orientation), and that such configurations affect OI performance. We conducted a survey study on the Spanish biotech industry. A sample of 75 companies was analyzed using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The results revealed seven high-performing configurations and six low-performing configurations. Configurations combining one or more OI practices and complementary organizational assets achieved a high OI performance, while open configurations lacking the necessary organizational assets were not successful. Closed configurations also performed poorly. The theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Keywords: Open innovation; R&D; Human capital; Alliance coordination capabilities; Inter-organizational learning capabilities; Patenting orientation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162520311422
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:162:y:2021:i:c:s0040162520311422

DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120316

Access Statistics for this article

Technological Forecasting and Social Change is currently edited by Fred Phillips

More articles in Technological Forecasting and Social Change from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().