Open innovation and organizational ambidexterity
European Journal of Innovation Management
ISSN: 1460-1060
Article publication date: 2 December 2021
Issue publication date: 4 April 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This 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/approach
The 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.
Findings
The 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/implications
This 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 implications
The 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/value
This 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.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of the Republic of China, Taiwan, under grant MOST 109-2410-H-415-013-MY2. The authors thank the anonymous reviewers, who helped to greatly enhance the quality of this article.
Citation
Hwang, B.-N., Lai, Y.-P. and Wang, C. (2023), "Open innovation and organizational ambidexterity", European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 862-884. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-06-2021-0303
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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