IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/infotm/v26y2025i2d10.1007_s10799-024-00420-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of open innovation on innovation performance: the chain mediating effect of knowledge field activity and knowledge transfer

Author

Listed:
  • Shuang Wang

    (Northeast Normal University)

  • Shukuan Zhao

    (Jilin University)

  • Xueyuan Fan

    (Jilin University)

  • Bochen Zhang

    (Jilin University)

  • Dong Shao

    (Northeast Normal University)

Abstract

In the era of innovation, the application of open innovation is gradually becoming the main source of innovation. This paper investigates how degrees of variation in the depth and breadth of open innovation affect firms’ innovation performance, in addition to the mechanism of the activity in the knowledge field and the chain mediating role of knowledge transfer in this process. This paper collects data from 283 Chinese firms using a questionnaire survey commissioned by Chinese industry associations, heads of relevant listed companies, and the Questionnaire Star platform, and develops a chain mediation model to test the hypotheses. The analysis results demonstrate that both the breadth and depth of open innovation have a significant positive impact on firms’ innovation performance. Additionally, knowledge field activity and knowledge transfer assume the role of chain mediators in this process. This paper investigates the different effects of the depth and breadth of open innovation on innovation performance, further analyzing the mechanism of the effect on innovation performance under the influence of chain mediation of knowledge field activity and knowledge transfer, providing valuable insights for both innovation management research and practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Shuang Wang & Shukuan Zhao & Xueyuan Fan & Bochen Zhang & Dong Shao, 2025. "The impact of open innovation on innovation performance: the chain mediating effect of knowledge field activity and knowledge transfer," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 139-161, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:infotm:v:26:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10799-024-00420-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10799-024-00420-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10799-024-00420-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10799-024-00420-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert M. Grant, 1996. "Prospering in Dynamically-Competitive Environments: Organizational Capability as Knowledge Integration," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(4), pages 375-387, August.
    2. Anthony Goerzen & Paul W. Beamish, 2005. "The effect of alliance network diversity on multinational enterprise performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 333-354, April.
    3. Pankaj C. Patel & James O. Fiet, 2011. "Knowledge Combination and the Potential Advantages of Family Firms in Searching for Opportunities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(6), pages 1179-1197, November.
    4. Ikujiro Nonaka, 1994. "A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(1), pages 14-37, February.
    5. Koen H. Heimeriks & Geert Duysters, 2007. "Alliance Capability as a Mediator Between Experience and Alliance Performance: An Empirical Investigation into the Alliance Capability Development Process," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 25-49, January.
    6. Kevin Boudreau, 2010. "Open Platform Strategies and Innovation: Granting Access vs. Devolving Control," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(10), pages 1849-1872, October.
    7. Birger Wernerfelt, 1984. "A resource‐based view of the firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(2), pages 171-180, April.
    8. Wen, Huwei & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Zhou, Fengxiu, 2022. "How does fiscal policy uncertainty affect corporate innovation investment? Evidence from China's new energy industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    9. Vincenzo Vignieri, 2021. "Crowdsourcing as a mode of open innovation: Exploring drivers of success of a multisided platform through system dynamics modelling," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 108-124, January.
    10. Hagedoorn, John & Cloodt, Myriam, 2003. "Measuring innovative performance: is there an advantage in using multiple indicators?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1365-1379, September.
    11. Usama Awan & Shazia Nauman & Robert Sroufe, 2021. "Exploring the effect of buyer engagement on green product innovation: Empirical evidence from manufacturers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 463-477, January.
    12. Xie, Xuemei & Fang, Liangxiu & Zeng, Saixing & Huo, Jiage, 2016. "How does knowledge inertia affect firms product innovation?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 1615-1620.
    13. Tripsas, Mary, 1997. "Surviving Radical Technological Change through Dynamic Capability: Evidence from the Typesetter Industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 6(2), pages 341-377, March.
    14. Singh, Sanjay Kumar & Gupta, Shivam & Busso, Donatella & Kamboj, Shampy, 2021. "Top management knowledge value, knowledge sharing practices, open innovation and organizational performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 788-798.
    15. Henkel, Joachim, 2006. "Selective revealing in open innovation processes: The case of embedded Linux," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 953-969, September.
    16. James H. Love & Stephen Roper & Priit Vahter, 2014. "Learning from openness: The dynamics of breadth in external innovation linkages," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(11), pages 1703-1716, November.
    17. Philip Cooke & Dafna Schwartz, 2007. "Key Drivers of Contemporary Innovation and Creativity," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(9), pages 1139-1141, October.
    18. Prashant Kale & Harbir Singh, 2007. "Building firm capabilities through learning: the role of the alliance learning process in alliance capability and firm‐level alliance success," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(10), pages 981-1000, October.
    19. Tsai, Kuen-Hung, 2009. "Collaborative networks and product innovation performance: Toward a contingency perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 765-778, June.
    20. Jeffrey H. Dyer & Kentaro Nobeoka, 2000. "Creating and managing a high‐performance knowledge‐sharing network: the Toyota case," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 345-367, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Patrizia Pastore & Antonio Ricciardi & Silvia Tommaso, 2020. "Contractual networks: an organizational model to reduce the competitive disadvantage of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Europe’s less developed regions. A survey in southern Italy," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 1503-1535, December.
    2. Shuman Zhang & Changhong Yuan & Chen Han, 2020. "Industry–university–research alliance portfolio size and firm performance: the contingent role of political connections," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(5), pages 1505-1534, October.
    3. Jacob, Jojo & Belderbos, René & Lokshin, Boris, 2023. "Entangled modes: Boundaries to effective international knowledge sourcing through technology alliances and technology-based acquisitions," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    4. Liu, Chia-Ling (Eunice) & Zhang, Yingying, 2014. "Learning process and capability formation in cross-border buyer–supplier relationships: A qualitative case study of Taiwanese technological firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 718-730.
    5. Mikami, Kentaro & Ikegami, Jusuke “JJ” & Bird, Allan, 2022. "Opportunism and trust in cross- national lateral collaboration: the Renault-Nissan Alliance and a theory of equity-trust," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(3).
    6. Francesco Chirico & Carlo Salvato, 2016. "Knowledge Internalization and Product Development in Family Firms: When Relational and Affective Factors Matter," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(1), pages 201-229, January.
    7. M. C. Guardo & K. R. Harrigan, 2016. "Shaping the path to inventive activity: the role of past experience in R&D alliances," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 250-269, April.
    8. Jianghua Zhou & Rui Wu & Jizhen Li, 2019. "More ties the merrier? Different social ties and firm innovation performance," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 445-471, June.
    9. Pettus, Michael L. & Kor, Yasemin Y. & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2007. "A Theory of Change in Turbulent Environments: The Sequencing of Dynamic Capabilities Following Industry Deregulation," Working Papers 07-0100, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    10. Schriber, Svante & Löwstedt, Jan, 2015. "Tangible resources and the development of organizational capabilities," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 54-68.
    11. Yu Liu & T. Ravichandran, 2015. "Alliance Experience, IT-Enabled Knowledge Integration, and Ex Ante Value Gains," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(2), pages 511-530, April.
    12. J. Nils Foege & Erk P. Piening & Torsten-Oliver Salge, 2017. "Don’T Get Caught On The Wrong Foot: A Resource-Based Perspective On Imitation Threats In Innovation Partnerships," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 21(03), pages 1-42, April.
    13. Lee, Cheng-Yu & Wang, Ming-Chao & Huang, Yen-Chih, 2015. "The double-edged sword of technological diversity in R&D alliances: Network position and learning speed as moderators," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 450-461.
    14. Manis, K.T. & Madhavaram, Sreedhar, 2023. "AI-Enabled marketing capabilities and the hierarchy of capabilities: Conceptualization, proposition development, and research avenues," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    15. Kafouros, Marios & Love, James H & Ganotakis, Panagiotis & Konara, Palitha, 2020. "Experience in R&D collaborations, innovative performance and the moderating effect of different dimensions of absorptive capacity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    16. Shi, Linda Hui & Brandl, Kristin & Song, Jing & Zou, Shaoming, 2024. "Global account management: Knowledge resources and capabilities for relationship management," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(5).
    17. SLUYTS, Kim & MARTENS, Rudy & MATTHYSSENS, Paul, 2008. "Towards a dynamic concept of alliance capability," Working Papers 2008019, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    18. Martínez-Noya, Andrea & García-Canal, Esteban, 2021. "Innovation performance feedback and technological alliance portfolio diversity: The moderating role of firms’ R&D intensity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    19. Gillis, William E. & Combs, James G. & Yin, Xiaoli, 2020. "Franchise management capabilities and franchisor performance under alternative franchise ownership strategies," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(1).
    20. Li, Lei & Li, Dan & Goerzen, Anthony & Shi, Weilei (Stone), 2018. "What and how do SMEs gain by going international? A longitudinal investigation of financial and intellectual resource growth," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(6), pages 817-834.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:infotm:v:26:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10799-024-00420-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.