Innovation ambidexterity of open firms. The role of internal relational social capital

ABSTRACT

The success of the open innovation (OI) paradigm is still debated and literature is searching for its determinants. Although firms’ internal social context is crucial to explain the success or failure of OI practices, such context is still poorly investigated. The aim of the paper is to analyse whether internal social capital (SC), intended as employees’ propensity to interact and work in groups in order to solve innovation issues, mediates the relationship between OI practices and innovation ambidexterity (IA). Results, based on a survey research developed in Finland, Italy and Sweden, suggest that collaborations with different typologies of partners (scientific and business) achieve good results in terms of IA, through the partial mediation of the internal SC.

KEYWORDS:

• Open innovation
• collaborations
• internal relational social capital
• innovation ambidexterity

Notes on contributors

Valentina Lazzarotti is associate Professor at Carlo Cattaneo University – LIUC (Italy). She teaches economics and management control. She obtained her Master’s in Business Administration from Bocconi University and PhD in Management Engineering from Politecnico di Milano. Her research interests concern R&D performance measurement and accounting for innovative activities. She has published papers in leading international journals.

Raffaella Manzini is full Professor at LIUC – Università Cattaneo (Italy). She teaches ‘Economics, Management and Organization’ and ‘Innovation and New Product development’ at LIUC. She is also lecturer of Innovation Management at ENI Corporate University. Her research interests are R&D and innovation management, technology strategy, management and organisation, innovation and intellectual property. In these fields of study she has around 50 international publications. Since 2010 she is Director of the LIUC IP Centre, involved in research, training and services on the topic of Innovation and Intellectual Property. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Management Engineering in 1994 at Politecnico di Milano.

Anna Nosella is associate professor of business strategy at the University of Padua, Department of Management and Engineering. Her research interests focus on innovation management, dynamic capabilities and strategies. Her papers have been published in Technovation, Long Range Planning, Management Decision, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Human Resource Management and Strategic Organization.

Luisa Pellegrini is associate Professor of Management Engineering at the University of Pisa where she teaches Finance and Business Economics and Organisation. She is actively involved in national and international research projects on Continuous and Open Innovation. She is a member of the Continuous Innovation Network (CINet) and author of numerous international publications.