Partners' knowledge utilization and exploratory innovation: the moderating effect of competitive and collaborative relationships
International Journal of Operations & Production Management
ISSN: 0144-3577
Article publication date: 13 July 2022
Issue publication date: 12 August 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Partners' knowledge is an essential source of knowledge for organizations in the collaborative innovation. Exploratory innovation is an innovation strategy that is significant to the organization and is characterized by learning and absorbing new knowledge for new products and technology. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of partners' knowledge utilization on exploratory innovation and to analyze further the moderating effect of previous competitive and collaborative relationships between organizations on the above relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the patent data of 1,636 organizations in the nano-biopharmaceutical field collaboratively from 1998 to 2020 are used as a sample. The knowledge networks and collaboration networks are constructed through the patent data. A negative binomial regression method is used to conduct the empirical study.
Findings
The results indicate that partners' knowledge utilization has an inverted U-shaped effect on exploratory innovation. The competitive relationship steepens the inverted U-shape effect of partners' knowledge utilization on exploratory innovation and makes the turning point to the left. The collaborative relationship steepens the inverted U-shape effect of partners' knowledge utilization on exploratory innovation and makes the turning point to the right.
Originality/value
This study is the first to examine the impact of partners' knowledge utilization on exploratory innovation and to explore the role of the competitive and collaborative relationships between organizations. It extends current research in organizational innovation and knowledge management by providing insight into partners' knowledge utilization.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for the editorial team and three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and dedication.
Funding: This manuscript is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 71772088 and 71702076).
Citation
Xiao, J. and Bao, Y. (2022), "Partners' knowledge utilization and exploratory innovation: the moderating effect of competitive and collaborative relationships", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 42 No. 9, pp. 1356-1383. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-08-2021-0517
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited