Purpose This study aims to examine the effects of external knowledge sourcing breadth and depth and explore whether there exists a complementary effect of breadth (or depth) and knowledge management (KM) capacity on firms’ innovation performance. Specifically, this study investigates the direct effects of breadth, depth and KM capacity on product and process innovation outcomes and tests whether complementary effects exist between breadth and KM capacity and between depth and KM capacity. Design/methodology/approach This study uses the survey data of 302 manufacturing firms in Thailand and uses ordinal regression analysis to test the hypotheses empirically. Findings Regression results reveal that breadth and KM capacity are essential for enhancing firms' innovation performance, while depth is not significant. However, the authors do not find a significance of complementary effects between breadth and KM capacity and depth and KM capacity on firms’ innovation performance. Originality/value This study provides additional evidence to contribute to an ongoing debate on what knowledge sourcing strategies (breadth or depth) are significant for enhancing firms’ innovations. Moreover, it explores whether complementary effects between KM capacity and breadth/depth exist in determining firms' innovation performance, which is a neglected issue in the existing literature.

Purpose This study aims to examine the effect on firms’ new product development (NPD) and significant product modification of knowledge interaction with local and non-local knowledge actors. Design/methodology/approach This study draws insights from the literature on external knowledge sources. The negative binomial regression is used to analyse the data of 245 sample food-processing establishments in Thailand. Findings Local knowledge actors play only limited roles in enhancing food-processing establishments’ product innovations. Only knowledge interaction with local universities and public research organisations helps enhance establishments’ ability to modify their products. For the NPD, significant sources of knowledge are non-local industrial actors. Originality/value This study adds new empirical evidence on knowledge sources for innovation of low-tech firms in less developed countries. It contributes new findings to an on-going debate on the importance of local vs non-local knowledge sources on firms’ innovativeness. It also contributes some implications for the Thai Government’s cluster-based innovation strategy.

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