Knowledge infrastructure capability, absorptive capacity and inbound open innovation: evidence from SMEs in France

Abstract

Inbound open innovation (IOI) has become a potentially valuable means of gaining competitive advantage and enhancing organizational performance. This article explores how knowledge infrastructure capability (KIC) affects IOI through the moderating role of absorptive capacity. This research conceptualizes and develops three dimensions of KIC (technological, structural and cultural), and tests the relationships between KIC, absorptive capacity and IOI. Data for the study were collected from 125 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) based in France, and the relationships proposed in the framework were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicate that higher levels of KIC can lead to enhanced absorptive capacity and improved IOI. That is, KIC can have a direct, positive impact on absorptive capacity and IOI. Moreover, absorptive capacity partially mediates the linkage between KIC and IOI. The article contributes to the conceptualization of the impact of KIC on IOI, by emphasizing a firm’s absorptive capacity. It offers a validated instrument to measure KIC, and provides an empirical evidence of the impact of KIC on absorptive capacity and IOI. This article also extends the extant literature by focusing on KIC and absorptive capacity simultaneously in a model to understand the notion of IOI in the SMEs based in France. This study offers useful guidance for measuring and implementing KIC in a SME context and encourages further research in this area.

Keywords:

• Inbound open innovation
• knowledge infrastructure capability
• knowledge management
• absorptive capacity
• small and medium enterprises
• structural equation modeling

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sajjad M. Jasimuddin

Dr. Sajjad M. Jasimuddin is Professor (Professeur senior) at the Kedge Business School, France. Previously, he taught at Aberystwyth University (UK), University of Southampton (UK), King Abdulaziz University (Saudi Arabia), and University of Dhaka (Bangladesh). He received MCom from Dhaka University, MPhil from Judge Business School at Cambridge University (Trinity College), and PhD from Southampton University. Sajjad has authored a textbook, fifteen chapters, and 80 articles – appeared in International Business Review, European Journal of Operational Research, Annals of Regional Science, Thunderbird International Business Review, Information Systems Journal, European Management Journal, Journal of Operational Research Society, Management Decision, Journal of Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management Research & Practice, Production Planning & Control, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, International Journal of Organizational Analysis. Sajjad can be reached at [email protected].

M. Muzamil Naqshbandi

Dr. M Muzamil Naqshbandi is an Assistant Professor of Management at the University of Dubai in the UAE. Previously, he worked as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow and an instructor at the University of Malaya in Malaysia. Before joining academia, he worked in several capacities in diverse industries such as outsourcing and media. His current research is mainly focused on open innovation. His recent works have appeared in leading journals, such as Technological Forecasting & Social Change, Industrial Management & Data Systems, International Business Review, Journal of General Management, Management Decision, among others. Dr. Naqshbandi can be emailed at: [email protected].