External Knowledge Sourcing and Firm Innovation Efficiency

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between external knowledge sourcing and firm innovation efficiency. We build on the organizational learning theory to propose that such relationship follows an inverted U-shape: as the level of external knowledge sourcing increases from low to moderate, firm innovation efficiency increases; as the level of external knowledge sourcing increases from moderate to high, firm innovation efficiency declines.Further, we explore the moderating role of different contextual factors and contend that this inverted U-shaped relationship is flattened in firms that operate in high-tech sectors and in firms that face high internal constraints for innovation. Our empirical analysis is based on a sample of 3,204 Spanish firms over the period 2004-2015, and our results provide support to these contentions. We used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology to estimate firm innovation efficiency relative to the industry best performers, and truncated regression models for panel data with bootstrapped confidence intervals to test our hypotheses.

What determine the innovation performance of Sports SMEs in Thailand?

“…The ability to discover and acquire related external information is referred as acquisition. The knowledge of an organization about the location of potential information sources is defined by acquisition (Asimakopoulos, Revilla, & Slavova, 2019). The processes and routines of an organization, which allow for determining, processing, and interpreting the acquired information from external sources is referred as assimilation dimension.…”

“…PACAP involves the first two dimensions and the last two dimensions are involved in RACAP. The positive association between performance of product innovation and ACAP has been addressed by the extant literature (Asimakopoulos et al, 2019). A basic assumption is provided by different product and performance of service innovation antecedents that performance of service innovation is the result of ACAP.…”

“…In order to recognize, gather, and process the external related knowledge, there is need for acquisition and assimilation to improve the innovations of service. However, the competitive advantage can be gained by ACAP only when the knowledge is transformed and utilized (Asimakopoulos et al, 2019). The RACAP of an organization is formed by these two processes (Broersma et al, 2016).…”

“…The development, sharing, and utilization of knowledge can be enhanced through inter-firm associations. Therefore, it becomes the ACAP's antecedent (Asimakopoulos et al, 2019;Broersma et al, 2016;Brunswicker & Vanhaverbeke, 2015). The important antecedents of ACAP, which are interorganizational, include the learning from partners and knowledge acquisition from external sources (Lee & Chen, 2019).…”

“…The organization accumulates experiential learning when it has diverse relations with the sources of external knowledge. This enables the process of assimilation easier (Asimakopoulos et al, 2019). The organization also becomes able to recognize and gain ideas from the external environment through openness and it increases the available opportunities.…”