External Technology Acquisition and External Technology Exploitation: The Difference of Open Innovation Effects

Abstract

To sustain in today’s ever-changing and competitive landscape, firms must work within and outside of their organizations’ boundaries. Open innovation (OI) strategies such as external technology acquisition (ETA), and external technology exploitation (ETE), can effectively improve the innovation performance of the organizations. Technologies like social media can help organizations to scout for appropriate technology, and source for ideas and knowledge from external sources to support their innovations. Moreover, digitalization can hasten business operations and enhance the innovation process of the firm. Focusing on open innovation (OI), this study takes an integrated approach towards investigating the impact of OI strategies, technology scouting through social media, and digitalization vision on innovation and firm performance. Data were drawn from 153 organizations in Malaysia, and the partial least squares (PLS) method was used to analyze data. The findings revealed that ETE, technology scouting through social media, and digitalization vision have a significant relationship with innovation performance. This, in turn, shows a positive relationship with firm performance. However, ETA does not have a significant relationship with innovation performance in the Malaysia context. This study extends the current literature on OI through the use of specific technology variables, such as technology scouting through social media and digitalization vision to support organizations’ innovation.

The Impact of Open Innovation Preparation on Organizational Performance: A Systematic Literature Review

“…The example of outbound open innovation is presented in Table VII. [13], [26], [32], [49], [55] Spin-off [13], [26], [32], [50], [53] Open sourcing [13], [26], [45], [48],…”

“…Reference Inbound Open Innovation [13], [26] [27], [28], [33], [34], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [44]. [46], [47], [48], [49], [50],…”

“…[51], [52], [54], [55], [56] Coupled Open Innovation [17], [26], [38], [37], [43], [45] Outbound Open Innovation [26], [27], [37], [38], [34], [33] [37], [42], [44], [48], [49], [50],…”

“…[51], [55] Open Innovation Practice [26], [29], [44] Open Innovation Process [31], [30], [33], [38] Open Innovation Proclivity [35] Open Innovation Adoption [14] Open Innovation [15], [30], [31], [34], [35], [36] [14], [15], [27], [31], [32], [34], [37], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43], [48], [49], [50] [29], [30], [31], [33], [35], [38], [45], [47] Financial Performance [26], [38], [44], [46] This research offers several references from reputable journals explaining the relationship between open innovation and organizational performance. Table II and III also shows that the relationship between open innovation and organizational performance could also occur specifically within the organizational performance dimension itself, i.e., financial performance, operational performance, and technological performance.…”

The influence of open innovation on firm performance

“…A strategy to access OI is the use of social media. 62 Firms can use social media to gather information on customer needs and unknown technological solutions. Roberts et al 63 indicate that utilisation of information from social media channels can lead to higher firm performance, though this activity is influenced by the formalisation of new product development processes.…”