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This paper examines the extent to which different sources of ideas for innovation are associated with novelty of innovation outcomes. We measure the novelty of product innovation using three well-established categories, ranging from highly novel new-to-world products to new-to-firm products that are essentially imitative, with products that are new-to-country (but not the world) being an intermediary category. In turn we investigate how knowledge derived from different external and internal (within-firm) sources of ideas can help firms increase innovation with different degrees of novelty. Our empirical analyses are conducted on a large sample of manufacturing firms from the South American emerging market of Colombia and show that many of the same sources of knowledge – such as scientific sources, production departments and managers – are associated with higher innovation in all three categories of novelty. However, some sources – notably external clients and internal interdisciplinary groups – are more significantly associated with more novel innovation than imitation. The implications of these findings for the literatures on innovation and imitation, and innovation by emerging market firms are discussed.

There is a dearth of empirical research on the impact of external knowledge search on innovation performance in different categories of service firms. This study explores the effectiveness of the breadth of external search on product and process innovations in German firms. In particular, the author modelled a non-linear relationship between the breadth of knowledge and product and process innovations.

Drawing on the Mannheim Innovation Panel (MIP) data for the German service firms in the period 2014–2016, the author reported findings from a bivariate probit model which took into account mutual interdependence between product and process innovations. Moreover, the model was separately estimated for knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) and other services. For comparative purposes, the author also estimated the model for manufacturing firms.

Empirical findings uniformly indicated an inverted U-shaped effect of the breadth of knowledge on both product and process innovations. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that using up to three knowledge sources increases the probability of a joint implementation of product and process innovations. These findings hold for both KIBS firms and other services. However, those service firms that focussed on a single type of innovation experienced diminishing returns to external knowledge when exploiting more than one source of knowledge. These results indicated that a simultaneous introduction of different types of innovation required diverse knowledge sources. In contrast, when focussing on a single type of innovation, service firms experienced diminishing returns when multiple sources were used. However, this finding was only partially found for manufacturing firms. Accordingly, this study’s findings provided support for the demarcation approach, insofar as the breadth of knowledge had a heterogenous impact on innovation in manufacturing relative to service firms.

Previous studies on the breadth of knowledge search mostly examined its influence on innovation performance without separately analysing manufacturing and service firms. The present study focussed on service firms that were further divided into KIBS and other service firms. By investigating potentially non-linear relationships between knowledge breadth and product and process innovations, it illustrated how different innovation strategies were affected by a diverse pool of external knowledge sources.

The combination of different knowledge sources has been considered conducive for innovation performance. While the literature has advanced regarding the combination of knowledge inputs as in internal and external research and development (R&D), the evolvement of knowledge blend from customers and competitors has also received substantial attention. The purpose of this paper is to delineate the sources of information from the customers into private and public and examine their direct effect on firm-level innovation. While the extant literature is mixed regarding this, no clear-cut results have emerged yet on the effect of knowledge combination from the private and public customers with internal R&D and human capital on innovation activities. This study, however, shed more lights on the inconclusiveness of the effect of knowledge diversity on firm-level innovation.

Using the microdata from the German Community Innovation Survey 2013, the authors employ a binary instrumental variable treatment model with Heckman selection, a suitable strategy to estimate binary variables to cope with a possible endogeneity issue.

The paper demonstrates that knowledge from customers in the private and public sector, and competitors are positively and significantly associated with innovation. The authors find evidence of a positive and significant effect of the combination of firm internal knowledge competencies with information from the public sector. In contrary, the blend of knowledge competencies with information from customers in the private sector and information from the competitors results in decline to innovation. The results also show that the blend of internal R&D with knowledge source from the customers in the public sector appears to have a stronger influence in the manufacturing sector than services. The results offer strong evidence of the positive link between knowledge diversity and firm-level innovation performance.

The results have significant managerial implications on the role of the blend of different sources of information in supporting a compelling internal knowledge development to optimise innovation performance.

This study is foremost to focus on knowledge sources from the customers in the public and private sector and its relationship with R&D and human capital in supporting a successful introduction of innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of internal and external sources of knowledge on frugal innovation (FI), and to what extent this relationship is strengthened/weakened, authors also analyzed the moderating role of market and technological turbulence.

This is an empirical research. Data were collected from 382 SMEs through questionnaire survey, applied SmartPLS technique to analyse the data.

Findings revealed the significant effects of internal and external sources of knowledge on FI. To what extent this relationship is strengthened/weakened, the moderating role of market and technological turbulence was analysed. Data revealed that the moderation of technological turbulence strengthens the effects internal and external sources of knowledge had on FI. Market turbulence strengthened the effects of external sources of knowledge but surprisingly weakens the effects of internal sources of knowledge on FI.

Findings provide valuable and timely insights for the modern managers as well. Managers who operate in SMEs will have to understand that how knowledge from internal and external sources can be gathered and utilized for producing frugal products. They also will have to weigh which source of knowledge is more important when there is market and technological turbulence.

Sustainable and social issues emerge mainly due to scarcity of available resources. Firms seek to solve such pressing issues through improvisation in resources. However, frugal products assist firms to significantly contribute in society and sustainability. Although prior research has discussed the importance of knowledge for innovation, yet the effects of sources of knowledge and role of contingencies mostly remain unexplained puzzle. This study contributes to knowledge-innovation literature by examining the missing link between different sources of knowledge and FI and how the moderation of technology and market turbulence strengthen/weaken this relationship. Authors believe that it also helps to comprehend FI’s enabling factors through which firms can capitalize upon, and solve the pressing sustainable and social issues.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

Given the importance of frugal innovation for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in developing countries, this study aims to explore the role of IT resources on frugal innovation through the mediating roles of knowledge sources and to what extent the relationship between sources of knowledge and frugal innovation is strengthened or weakened under the moderating effects of market turbulence.

This is an empirical study. Data were gathered from 355 SME employees of Pakistan through a questionnaire survey; the variance-based PLS-SEM approach was used to analyze the data.

Findings reveal the significant impacts of IT resources on different aspects of frugal innovation, namely, frugal functionality (FF), frugal cost (FC) and frugal ecosystem (FE). Moreover, the paper highlights the mediating roles of sources of knowledge in the relationship between IT resources and frugal innovation in frugal functionality and frugal cost. Findings also revealed that the moderation of market turbulence strengthens the effects of sources of knowledge on frugal functionality and ecosystem, but surprisingly weakens the relationship between sources of knowledge and frugal cost.

To bring a deeper understanding of the significant role of IT and knowledge sources, future research should examine the potential moderating role of environmental factors or perceived organizational support or mediating role of knowledge management processes in the relationship between IT resources and frugal innovation.

The paper provides a valuable understanding and novel approach for directors of SMEs in developing countries to improve their frugal innovation capability through IT and knowledge resources.

This study contributes to bridging research gaps in the literature and advances how IT resources, directly and indirectly, help firms improve frugal innovation capability via mediating roles of sources of knowledge.

This paper aims to explore the effects of multiple external sources of knowledge and of the use of winemaker consultants on innovation in the Canadian wine industry.

The data for the study are taken from an original survey of wine firms in Canada covering the 2007-2009 period. The survey was carried out by computer-assisted telephone interviews, and it was addressed to winery firms that are engaged in growing grapes and producing wine.

The results show that the use of winemaker consultants positively affects all forms of innovation. At the same, as far as external knowledge sources are concerned, marketing sources positively affect all types of innovation, while research sources and general sources have a positive influence on particular forms of innovation. The results also show that winemaker consultants interact with other knowledge sources. Nevertheless, there are important nuances with regard to which type of knowledge sources is more compatible with the use of winemaker consultants for which type of innovation.

To date, there is no empirical evidence of the extent to which the use of external winemaker consultants and external knowledge sources interact together and what are their impacts on the introduction of different forms of innovation.

The purpose of this study is to identify the role played by external knowledge sources and intra-organizational collaboration as determinants of innovation in hotel firms. It proposes that local knowledge sources and intra-organizational collaboration determine the probability of producing incremental innovations, and that non-local knowledge sources determine the introduction of radical innovations.

Descriptive statistics made it possible to evaluate the importance of each of the external sources as the origin of ideas for innovation. Principal component analysis was used to find homogeneous groups based on the different knowledge sources contemplated. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine which variables predict a hotel’s capacity to introduce innovations.

The findings suggest a dissociation between innovations adopted by directly incorporating the specific knowledge provided by external agents and innovations that require the mediation of intra-organizational collaboration for their development.

Future qualitative studies can provide data that would considerably improve the understanding of how innovation processes are produced in hotel companies based on the use of external knowledge and how hotel firms develop spaces to exchange and combine internal knowledge.

Hotel firms can adopt innovations by incorporating specific knowledge from external companies or by developing their own innovations based on information gathered from external agents or events (e.g. customers, attending trade fairs and professional conferences). The transformation of this information into innovations requires the establishment of internal communication channels that foment employees’ collaboration and exchange of information.

The study provides empirical evidence for the relevant role played by both external agents and intra-organizational relationships as sources of knowledge to foster innovation in hotel firms. External agents are classified as local and non-local sources, and their effect on innovation is analyzed, distinguishing between incremental and radical innovations.

The purpose of this paper is to simultaneously test the association between three different sources of knowledge (internal, collaborative and regional) and innovation. This study aims to expand the insights by assessing these associations in the context of a rapidly developing and liberalizing economy; Vietnam. By conducting this study with Vietnamese data, the authors can assess whether the association between different sources of knowledge and innovation shows systematic differences to those in advanced economies.

In this study, the authors utilize data from two main sources: The World Bank Enterprise Survey and the Innovation Capabilities Survey. These firm-level surveys comprise non-agricultural formal and private sector firms. For Vietnam, 300 manufacturing firms have been included in the sample. The authors use a series of binary logistic regression models to analyze the data.

The analyses reveal that internal R&D has a strong positive association with product innovation. In contrast to findings in Western economies, not all kinds of collaborative knowledge sources have a significant association with innovation. Only collaborative knowledge gained from inside the supply chain is positively related to product innovation. Unexpectedly, negative effects from using too much external knowledge were also found.

Due to the cross-sectional nature of the data causality could not be inferred from the study. Moreover, a relatively large number of the measures were dichotomous due the large number of missing observations for more detailed measurements of the variables.

When developing their innovation strategy firms in developing countries should take into account that collaborating with partners useful, but only if they collaborate within the supply chain. As such, firms should increase their interaction with suppliers and customers and put their efforts on the development of customized solutions for them.

The Vietnamese Government could implement policies that help to enhance the quality of universities and research institutes. In most developed countries, universities and research institutes are vital sources of knowledge for innovation whereas they are not in Vietnam.

This paper contributes to the growing body of literature on firm-level innovation in developing countries. It identifies several core differences between the drivers of innovation in developed and developing contexts. Surprisingly, a feature that was expected to differ, the negative effect of over-search of external knowledge on innovation, was also found in Vietnam.

Drawing on the knowledge-based view (KBV), the research examines the impact of knowledge sources (internal and external knowledge sources) on two aspects of innovation radical and incremental innovation. Additionally, the research seeks to provide deeper insight into the link between the variables by studying how information technology (IT) resources mediate the relationship between knowledge sources and innovation capability.

The study assessed the relationship between latent variables using a quantitative research approach and variance-based structural equation modelling on a sample of 380 individuals from 83 Pakistani manufacturing and service firms.

The study's results revealed a significant impact of knowledge sources (internal and external knowledge sources) on radical and incremental innovation. Further, the study examines the mediating role of IT resources in connecting knowledge sources and a firm's innovation capability.

Future studies should investigate the association among the constructs under the moderating roles of environmental turbulence to provide insight into the relationship between knowledge sources, IT resources, and innovation capability.

The paper provides evidence that knowledge sources and IT resources are the key driving factors of innovation capability. Managers and directors of firms in developing and emerging countries should establish firms' knowledge sources and IT resources to improve innovation capability.

There is a scarcity of studies that has explored the relationship between sources of knowledge, IT resources, and specific types of innovation, namely radical and incremental innovation. The paper helps fill research gaps in the literature and advances understanding of how knowledge sources, directly and indirectly, stimulate firms' innovation capabilities via the mediating role of IT resources.