Directions of external knowledge search: investigating their different impact on firm performance in high-technology industries

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to identify the different directions of external knowledge search and to investigate their individual effect on performance at the firm level. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical study is based on survey data gathered from two distinct informants of 248 large- and medium-sized high-tech manufacturing Spanish firms. In dealing with concerns on simultaneity and reverse causality, perceived time-lags among dependent and independent variables were introduced. Quantitative methods based on questionnaire answers were used. Findings – Findings reveal six distinct external search patterns and indicate that, while market sources such as customers and competitors are positively associated with performance, knowledge acquired from general information sources, other firms beyond the core business and patents and databases have no significant effect. Moreover, knowledge obtained from science and technology organizations and from suppliers displays an inversed U-shaped effect on firm performance. Research limitations/implications – Conclusions can only be generalized to high-tech manufacturing firms from developed countries and, although well-established methodological procedures were followed, the nature of the study remains cross-sectional. Yet, an important implication emerges from this work: more openness to external knowledge is not always better. It is necessary to carefully evaluate the potential gains and pains of each type of partner and source. Practical implications – This research provides guidance to managers about how to shape their companies’ inter-organizational networks, i.e. the specific external agents on which they should focus, as well as the efforts they should devote to each of these key partners. Originality/value – By considering distinct directions of external knowledge search instead of a single dimension, the paper contributes to shed some more light to the mixed results reported by the scarce empirical studies that have investigated the effect of openness towards external knowledge on performance at the firm level.

Boundary‐spanning search and firms' green innovation: The moderating role of resource orchestration capability

“…Firms then have less energy to utilize external knowledge and result in decreasing creativity. Moreover, compared with similar knowledge, external diversified knowledge is difficult to access and integrate (Cruz‐González, López‐Sáez, Emilio Navas‐López, & Delgado‐Verde, ). Thus, knowledge coming from a wide range will incur many constraints and limitations for the innovation (Zhang & Hu, ).…”

“…On the one hand, when the degree of search breadth is moderate, exploitative and exploratory green innovations are more likely to take place. The moderate degree of search breadth provides the firm more opportunities to acquire diverse knowledge; the broader knowledge provides firms chances to flexibly adapt to environmental change (Cruz‐González et al, ; Huang & Li, ) and finally promotes green innovation. On the other hand, when the degree of a firm's search breadth is too low or too high, green innovation will be reduced.…”

“…Second, organization will become rigid when search depth exceeds a certain level. For example, in order to maintain status quo, employees may hide the problem caused by existing knowledge, and the firm can become more and more rigid by keeping searching for similar knowledge (Cruz‐González et al, ; Leonard‐Barton, ). As Laursen and Salter () found, excessively deep knowledge can be a disadvantage to innovation for firms.…”

Assessment of Business Conditions Benevolence: Case of Occupational Safety and Health Services

“…Business direction may depend on the circumstances in the market and, in some situations, on policy pursued by the government (Chell 2013). According to Cruz-González et al (2014), environmental factors make the greatest influence for the selection of business direction. They can be assessed by behavioral analysis of customers, suppliers, competitors and research organizations, other companies, experts and consultants, professional associations, fairs, by information from exhibitions, conferences, scientific and trade/technical publications, patents.…”

Acquiring External Knowledge: How Much Overlap is Best?

“…In response, systematic knowledge-seeking processes can assist organizations in identifying and averting knowledge gaps (Löfsten, 2014;Ragsdell et al, 2014). Additionally, external knowledge sources vary in type and value (Cappelli et al, 2014) such that an organization that seeks knowledge from sources that are more complementary to their internal knowledge may benefit more than those that seek knowledge from other sources (Cruz-González et al, 2014). Furthermore, accessing knowledge from different types of external sources can necessitate different types of organizational capabilities and practices (Laursen and Salter, 2006) that can result in some organizations being relatively less effective at obtaining particular types of external knowledge.…”