Purpose This paper aims to seek to explain the influence of power asymmetry and the moderating role of an organization’s absorptive and desorptive capacity on enhancing supply chain competence from its orientation to open innovation with its supply network. Design/methodology/approach To perform this study, the authors use data collected from 262 European firms. They apply regression analysis to test the moderating role of an organization’s absorptive and desorptive capacity on enhancing its supply chain competence from its orientation to open innovation. Findings The results confirm both the influence of power asymmetry and absorptive capacity on obtaining benefits that derive from an organization’s orientation to open innovation. The results do not, however, support the moderating effect of an organization’s desorptive capacity. Subsequent analyses performed in the study show that organizations that achieve complementarity among their own absorptive capacity and the capacities of its supply network manage to obtain greater benefits from its orientation to open innovation. Originality/value This paper responds to the need to study innovation in the context of a supply network and respond to calls in the literature on open innovation and supply chain management for the need to study the moderating role of absorptive and desorptive capacity.

The extant literature has highlighted the importance of knowledge transfer between a buyer and its supply network for strengthening supply chain competence. This is a bi-directional exchange where the buyer and supply network each act as the sender and receiver of knowledge. Prior research has however largely focused on the knowledge recipient only. We consider both sender and recipient using two key dynamic capabilities related to knowledge transfer: (i) desorptive capacity, which enables the safe transfer of knowledge from the sender; and, (ii) absorptive capacity, which enables the acquisition and assimilation of external knowledge by the recipient. Using the concept of 'fit', we investigate whether organizations strengthen supply chain competence when their desorptive capacity exceeds that of their supply network´s (positive misfit) and consider the moderating role of the organization's and supply network's absorptive capacity. Multiple regression analysis of survey data from 250 firms identifies an inverted U-shaped relationship between positive desorptive capacity misfit and supply chain competence. Further, this relationship is shown to be moderated by the supply network's absorptive capacity level. The paper furthers our understanding of supply chain knowledge management enabling buyers and their supply networks to achieve more successful knowledge transfer outcomes.

Purpose This study aims to use expectation disconfirmation theory (EDT) to investigate how an organization’s satisfaction with its supply network’s behavior influences its intention to open innovation with that network. This paper proposes that an organization’s orientation to open innovation is influenced by confirmation of previously held expectations of trust and commitment and level of perceived procedural justice in its open innovation partner. This paper also examines the effect of this orientation on the organization’s supply chain competence. Design/methodology/approach Using data from a survey of 286 European firms, the study proposes and evaluates a structural equation model. Findings The results show that a positive disconfirmation of trust (where perceived trust exceeds expectations) plays a crucial role in shaping organizations’ intentions to continue open innovation with their supply networks. These results show that disconfirmation is a good predictor of overall satisfaction with open innovation. This paper also confirms the positive effect of orientation to open innovation on supply chain competence. Finally, this paper obtained evidence for the positive effect of supply chain competence on firm performance. Originality/value This study shows the importance of managing expectations in open innovation under the EDT. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous research has analyzed the consistency between the trust and commitment an organization expects from its open innovation partner and the trust and commitment it ultimately perceives as a factor explaining its degree of orientation to open innovation. Therefore, this research contributes to a better understanding of open innovation enablers and also its consequences.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explain how a buying organization’s desorptive capacity relative to its supply network enhances the organization’s supply chain competence. The research also analyzes the contingent role of the balanced and combined dimensions of ambidexterity in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach Empirical results are obtained through analysis of survey data from a sample of 270 European firms. Hierarchical regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results confirm, first, the positive and significant relationship between the buying organization’s desorptive capacity and supply chain competence; and, second, the key moderating role of organizational ambidexterity, especially in its combined dimension, in this relationship. Practical implications The study suggests that desorptive capacity is key to the organization’s contribution to supply chain competitiveness. The authors also provide practitioners with better understanding of the extent to which they should attempt to balance exploration and exploitation or/and to maximize both simultaneously when seeking greater benefit from desorptive capacity. Originality/value This study extends desorptive capacity research to supply chain management. It responds to calls in the desorptive capacity literature for deeper understanding of the benefits of desorptive capacity and of the role organizational ambidexterity plays in the success of desorptive capacity. By analyzing the independent effects of the combined and balanced dimensions of ambidexterity, the authors advance conceptual and operational understanding of the role of ambidexterity needed in the literature.

No abstract