Open innovation in SMEs: The mediating role between human capital and firm performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 100391
Author(s):  
Hajer Chabbouh ◽  
Younès Boujelbene
2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 1167-1182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Hernandez-Espallardo ◽  
Fabian Osorio-Tinoco ◽  
Augusto Rodriguez-Orejuela

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to add to the existing knowledge about how firm performance is influenced by their involvement in collaborative innovation. The contextual resource-based dimensions improve the participating firm’s performance through its impact on the job-related attitudes of the firm’s personnel. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses were tested using structural equation model to analyze a set of data collected through surveys among a sample of Colombian manufacturers. Findings This study provides empirical evidence that contributes to the scarce research in the open innovation arena about how human resources influence performance in the inter-organizational collaborative innovations. In particular, it offers strong support for the key mediating role of the employees’ job-related attitudes in the relationship between complementary capabilities and innovation culture as value-creating conditions, and the participating firm’s ultimate sales and financial performance. Research limitations/implications The results may be affected by the context of the data set. Further studies considering the influence of specific contextual variables, such as the type of innovation, the national culture or the type of partner, could yield richer insights that would help validate the results of this study. Practical implications This study provides useful information for managers. As well as creating the required conditions to add value in the collaborative innovation, they should work to guarantee the better job-related outcomes for the employees involved in collaborative innovation projects. Originality/value This research contributes to the open innovation literature. It posits the employee’s attitudes toward collaborative innovations as a factor of the utmost importance in determining how the external collaboration affects internal performance.


2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Rass ◽  
Martin Dumbach ◽  
Frank Danzinger ◽  
Angelika C. Bullinger ◽  
Kathrin M. Moeslein

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asta Pundziene ◽  
Shahrokh Nikou ◽  
Harry Bouwman

PurposePrior research has reported the indirect implications of firm's dynamic capabilities on their competitive firm performance. Our attention now turns to open innovation since it has been confirmed to be an influential factor contributing to the superior performance of technological firms. So far there has been little research on assessing the relationship between a firm's dynamic capabilities as an antecedent of the competitive performance of the firm or investigations into the mediating role of open innovation in this relationship.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the theory of dynamic capabilities, we developed a framework as a way to better understand the role of open innovation, which could then help to better explain the relationship between firms' dynamics capabilities and their competitive firm performance. Based on the empirical data of 465 firms operating in innovative and non-innovative industries, we employed structural equation modelling (SEM) to examine the research hypotheses and the path relationships in the proposed model.FindingsThe SEM analysis revealed that a firm's dynamic capabilities significantly impact its open innovation performance and that open innovation, consequently, impacts the competitive performance of the firm. Moreover, the results show that the path between dynamic capabilities and competitive firm performance is partially mediated through open innovation.Practical implicationsThe findings provide practical implications and draw managerial attention to the importance of: (1) investing in innovation, (2) engaging customers in the innovation process and (3) maintaining innovation management excellence as significant antecedent factors in increasing competitive firm performance.Originality/valueConsidering the lack of empirical research in the literature on the links between dynamic capabilities and open innovation, this paper contributes to the dynamic capabilities and open innovation literature by confirming that open innovation not only mediates the relationship between these two aspects but also strengthens the effect the dynamic capabilities have on competitive firm performance. Besides, due to the significant impact of dynamic capabilities on open innovation, dynamic capabilities might be regarded as an antecedent of open innovation.


Author(s):  
HAJER CHABBOUH ◽  
YOUNÈS BOUJELBÈNE

This research proposes to shed light on the antecedents and outcomes of coupled open innovation in the specific context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Drawing on the open innovation paradigm, knowledge-based view (KBV), and contingency theory, the paper constructs and tests a research model that investigates the effect of coupled open innovation on firm performance; the impact of knowledge management capability, knowledge appropriation capability, and environmental dynamism on coupled open innovation; and also the mediating role of collaborative open innovation practices. Using a sample of 228 SMEs operating in the Tunisian manufacturing industry, our results based on structural equation modeling (SEM) demonstrate that coupled open innovation positively and significantly influences firm performance. Furthermore, our findings confirm the crucial impact of knowledge management capacity and knowledge appropriation capacity in the implementation of coupled open innovation approach. The role of environmental dynamism in the adoption of collaborative practices is also proven in the SME context. Moreover, the results of our study add to the existing literature by empirically demonstrating the potential mediating role of coupled open innovation in the relationships that link knowledge management capacity, knowledge appropriation capacity, and environmental dynamism with SME performance, respectively. In this sense, this paper goes even further in the research on open innovation, as one of the first to fill an interesting gap regarding the antecedents of coupled open innovation and its implication on performance in the specific context of SMEs. In doing so, our research, through its results, provides interesting suggestions for SME managers who implement or intend to implement coupled open innovation to improve the performance of their company.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bang-Ning Hwang ◽  
Yi-Ping Lai ◽  
Chunhsien Wang

PurposeThis study aims to examine the relationships among open innovation, organizational ambidexterity and firm performance. One important aspect of open innovation is that it enables a firm to develop its organizational ambidexterity capability and become more efficient in using this capability to improve its performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors introduce a moderated mediation theoretical framework to reveal the bridging role of organizational ambidexterity in the effect of open innovation on firm performance. The theoretical model is empirically validated using survey data from 215 high-tech firms.FindingsThe authors find that open innovation plays a moderating role in the relationship between organizational ambidexterity and firm performance. Furthermore, organizational ambidexterity plays a significant mediating role in the relationship between open innovation and firm performance, and open innovation has a nonlinear, inverse U-shaped moderation effect on the relationship between organizational ambidexterity and firm performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis is one of the first studies to undertake a moderated mediation analysis by highlighting the mediating role of organizational ambidexterity and the moderating role of open innovation in influencing firm performance. The authors make a theoretical contribution to the field of open innovation and organizational behavior, and the authors provide concrete and feasible decision-making suggestions to decision makers adopting open innovation.Practical implicationsThe empirical results can help high-tech firm managers ascertain the organizational ambidexterity practices that can be employed and determine the level of open innovation to enhance firm performance.Originality/valueThis research provides new insights into whether and how firms can grasp the benefits of organizational ambidexterity to undertake open innovation activities. The findings not only contribute to advancing the mediating effect of organizational ambidexterity but also verify the inverse U-shaped moderation of open innovation in the relationship between organizational ambidexterity and firm performance.


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