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Information technology plays a critical role in the open innovation process. The purpose of this study is to explore the inner mechanism of external information technology (IT) capability that affects open innovation performance.

In this paper, responses to 232 questionnaires from different firms were collected in China. Then, the proposed hypotheses were tested using regression analysis by statistical product and service solutions (SPSS).

The results indicate that external knowledge integration plays a mediating role in the relationship between external IT capability and open innovation performance, openness breadth positively moderates the influence of external IT capability on external knowledge integration and openness depth negatively moderates the relationship between external IT capability and external knowledge integration.

The results, which are based on Chinese responses, provide useful suggestions for firms in China. To use external IT capability to improve open innovation performance, firms should not only stress the role of external knowledge integration but also consider their search strategy.

Both researchers and practitioners are interested in the relationship between information technology and open innovation. However, the way in which the inner mechanism of external IT capability affects open innovation performance has not been thoroughly researched. Based on knowledge integration theory, the authors construct a model that includes external IT capability, external knowledge integration, search strategy and open innovation performance. The results of this paper confirm the mediating and moderating roles of external knowledge integration and search strategy, respectively.

Building on the resource- and knowledge-based views, this paper aims to explore how coopetition affects radical innovation and the roles of knowledge structure and external knowledge integration in the relationship between coopetition and radical innovation.

This study proposes a research model to examine the mediating role of external knowledge integration on the coopetition-radical innovation link, where the mediation is moderated by the firm’s knowledge structure (including component knowledge and architectural knowledge). The authors use regression and bootstrapping to test the proposed model with survey data from 241 Chinese technology firms.

This study finds that coopetition positively affects radical innovation and the effect is fully mediated by external knowledge integration. Additionally, component knowledge negatively moderates the coopetition-external knowledge integration link and architectural knowledge positively moderates this relationship. Further, the mediating effect of external knowledge integration is also moderated by component knowledge and architectural knowledge.

Firms should engage in coopetition to promote radical innovation. Further, it is necessary for firms to appropriately manage coopetition according to their internal knowledge structure.

This study explains why scholars have different ideas about the relationship between coopetition and radical innovation by exploring the mediating role of external knowledge integration and the moderating effect of knowledge structure. Firms possess increased possibilities for knowledge leakage and partner opportunism with high levels of component knowledge, which will reduce the positive effect coopetition on external knowledge integration; thus, they are less likely to realize radical innovation. Instead, firms possess increased opportunities for resource sharing with high levels of architectural knowledge, thus improving the positive effect coopetition on external knowledge integration and they are more likely to achieve radical innovation.

The purpose of the study is to examine the influence of internal integration and external integration on three types of shared knowledge (shared knowledge of internal capabilities, customers, and suppliers) and whether more leads to superior firm innovation capability and product competitive advantage.

The paper draws on results from a large‐scale survey. The empirical data used in the study comprises of 245 high technology firms in Taiwan. This study applies the confirmatory factor analysis to examine the reliability and validity of the measurement model, and the structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the hypotheses and research model.

The results show that internal integration and external integration significantly influence shared knowledge of internal capabilities, customers and suppliers among new product development (NPD) team members. The results also indicate that team members' shared knowledge enable the firm to improve innovation capability and new product competitive advantage.

As the data used in the study was cross‐sectional, the causal relationships and the sustainability of firm and product innovative performance cannot be easily captured. Future research can examine how factors of individual traits, organizational characteristics, and external environmental factors may influence the shared knowledge and product competitive advantage.

This study emphasizes the importance of the firm's integration to utilize and share knowledge of internal capabilities, customers and suppliers effectively. Besides, the relationships among internal/external integration, shared knowledge, firm innovation capability and product competitive advantage may provide a clue regarding how firms can manage integrations and promote knowledge‐sharing culture to sustain their firm innovation capability and product competitive advantage.

As only little empirical research has been conducted on the impact of internal/external integration on the firm's innovative capability and product competitive advantage through shared knowledge, the empirical evidence reported here makes a valuable contribution in this highly important area.

The aim of this paper is to adopt a study framework of network embeddedness and social capital perspective, and to explore the relationship among relationship strength, knowledge integration capability and the efficiency of knowledge transfer among technology alliance.

Empirical data were acquired through a recent survey of electrical and mechanical, biopharmaceutical and chemical industries. LISREL analysis was employed to examine the impact of relationship strength and integration capability on the efficiency of knowledge transfer.

The results verify that relationship strength has a significant positive impact on cooperative knowledge transfer and external integration capability, but it cannot influence innovative knowledge and internal integration capability. The internal knowledge integration capacity has a positive influence on the external integration capacity, but the external knowledge integration does not have significant impact on the internal integration capacity. Combined with the external integration capability, relationship strength's indirect influence on cooperative knowledge transfer is greater than the direct one.

Strengthening knowledge integration capacity is the key to improve the efficiency of knowledge transfer by taking advantage of partnerships. The enterprise should adjust the relationship strength according to the function matching of the knowledge.

This paper is one of very few that provide empirical evidence of the impact of relationship strength and integration capability on the performance of knowledge transfer. It provides necessary basis for the enterprise to lay out and establish the technology alliance, which the enterprise should adjust the type of union according to the characteristic of the knowledge during the process of planning the technology alliance. This paper also suggests that the enterprises should make full use of technology alliance to enhance the external integration ability.

Post-merger integration (PMI) is driven by coevolving processes. By integrating the literature on acquisitions with that of knowledge networks, this paper highlights different reconstruction mechanisms for dual knowledge networks during PMI – namely, internal knowledge network coupling and external knowledge network embeddedness. This paper aims to examine their coevolutionary relationships with PMI.

A coevolutionary framework is tested using a latent growth model and cross-lagged models. The analysis is based on longitudinal data collected from 116 Chinese technology-sourcing overseas merger and acquisition firms.

This paper unearths a novel idea that variations in post-merger reconstruction of dual knowledge networks can explain why some acquirers increase the degree of integration faster than the others. The results show that the internal knowledge network coupling leads to more knowledge similarity and, in turn, causes a higher degree of integration. The external knowledge network embeddedness also causes higher relative network status of the acquirer, which consequently leads to a higher degree of integration. Furthermore, results from cross-lagged models confirm that an increase in the degree of integration positively influences subsequent changes in the internal knowledge network coupling and external knowledge network embeddedness, thus forming a coevolutionary relationship over time.

This paper responds to recent calls for more insights into the dynamics of PMI. By highlighting different reconstruction mechanisms for internal and external knowledge networks during PMI, this paper explains why it is important to understand PMI dynamics from a dual knowledge network perspective. This paper is the first to adopt a coevolutionary perspective and provide a more comprehensive dynamic framework between PMI and reconstruction of dual knowledge networks. Besides, this paper contributes to the research on emerging market multinational corporations’ cross-border merger and acquisition integration from a dynamic perspective, revealing the time effects of traditionally favored light-touch integration.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the differential effects of two external search strategies on radical innovation (RI) and incremental innovation (II) and explore the mediating role of knowledge integration capability (KIC).

The paper is based on the data collected from a sample of 241 firms from Chinese electronic information industry. The author conducted a hierarchical regression analysis using SPSS and PROCESS to test the proposed hypotheses.

The results showed that both external search breadth and depth have positive effects on RI/II performance. The author also found that the effect of search breadth on RI is greater than that on II, and the effect of search depth on RI is less than that on II. Moreover, the author discovered that KIC fully or partially mediates the relationship between external search strategies and RI/II.

The paper provides a finer grained understanding concerning the difference in the impacts of the two external search strategies on RI/II performance. The paper also adds to the existing literature by explaining the path in which external knowledge search influences RI/II through the mediation effect of KIC.

In the field of innovation, there is growing interest in exploring the factors that determine the extent to which firms can learn from external sources. However, most previous studies neglect the role of human factors. Little is known about which employee behaviors are desirable for boundary-spanning learning activities and which human resource management (HRM) practices are appropriate to respond to external knowledge transfer across boundaries. To fill this gap, the authors investigate the role of empowerment-focused HRM in interfirm learning and explore the integration of external inputs from the perspective of employees.

Based on empirical survey data collected from different countries, the authors test the proposed model with structural equation modeling.

The authors’ findings indicate that empowerment-focused HRM practices, including job enrichment, job autonomy, teamwork and cross-functional communication, are positively associated with relationship learning.

In this study, the authors present a theoretical explanation for how empowerment-focused HRM may influence firm's innovation through relationship learning process and provide empirical evidence regarding the specific HRM practices that can have different effects on the different phases of relationship learning.

Developing multigenerational products through iteration helps enterprises cope with environmental uncertainty and maintain lasting competitive advantages in a globally competitive environment. From the knowledge integration perspective, this study aims explore how enterprises achieve multigenerational product innovation.

An exploratory case study design is used to explore the multigenerational product innovation process.

This study proposes a model of the multigenerational product innovation process and shows that knowledge integration includes two important parts: the internalization of external knowledge and intergenerational knowledge integration. This study further conclude that multigenerational innovation has three main channels: rapid iteration, continuous reflection and coordination.

First, this study presents a theoretical model of the process of multigenerational product innovation, including triggers, knowledge integration, learning systems and outcomes, and further enhances our understanding from product innovation to multigenerational product innovation. Second, this study contributes to the literature on the multigenerational product innovation process by revealing the knowledge integration process of the internalization of external knowledge and intergenerational knowledge integration.

As a company that has continuously achieved business innovation, Apple in the United States has successfully applied strategic knowledge creation to produce a series of products that integrate various digital devices as well as diverse contents and applications, such as the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, based on a corporate vision of a digital hub concept. At the same time, the redefining of corporate boundaries that expanded Apple’s business in a horizontal direction from the Macintosh PC business to the delivery of music, smartphones, and tablets is also an indication of the evolution of a corporate vision involving Apple’s strategic transformation. This chapter presents the strategic and creative processes that enabled practitioners, including the late Steve Jobs, to demonstrate “strategic innovation capability” by “holistic leadership” at every level of management at Apple and successfully achieve a business ecosystem strategy through “creative collaboration” across diverse boundaries within and outside the company.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of supply chain integration (SCI) in terms of supplier integration, customer integration, and internal integration on knowledge management (KM) and technical innovation (TI). The study also investigates the effect of KM on TI. Furthermore, the mediating effect of KM on the relationship between SCI and TI is investigated.

Study model and hypotheses were developed based on literature review. The study is based on survey data collected from 217 Jordanian manufacturing companies in electrical, electronics, machinery, and mechanical appliances industries. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were applied to assess construct validity. Direct and indirect effects were tested using structural equation modeling and bootstrap re-sampling technique.

The results reveal that supplier integration and customer integration have positive effects on KM and TI, while internal integration has not. Also, KM has a positive effect on TI. In addition, KM mediates supplier integration-TI and customer integration-TI relationships, while does not mediate internal integration-TI relationship.

Most existing studies examined the effect of KM on SCI and supply chain management. This study argues and empirically demonstrates that SCI contributes to KM capability of manufacturing companies. Moreover, this is one of the first studies to investigate the mediating role of KM on SCI-TI relationship. The paper provides evidence that external integration is superior to internal integration in enhancing KM and TI.