Proximity and centrality in inter-organisational collaborations for innovation

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the different drivers of the establishment of innovation relationships in an aerospace cluster. In particular, the work investigates the impact of the various forms of proximity in the formation of inter-organisational collaborations for innovation. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is based on primary data collected through interviews and questionnaires on innovation collaborations, administered to all the firms operating in the aerospace cluster in Tuscany. The work applies social network analysis and Exponential Random Graph Models to analyse the forces that drive inter-organisational collaborations for innovation. Findings Results confirm the importance of geographical proximity in the formation of ties in the cluster, but social proximity is one of the main drivers for tie formation. Reciprocity shows that companies develop innovations in a reciprocal way and that most relationships are bidirectional. Triadic closure is also relevant, where the role played by trust and previous relationships is evident. Finally, hierarchy network processes are underlined, where the most central actors of the network are the most popular confirming a processes of preferential attachment. The central organisations gradually are more important, whereas the marginal ones are left in the periphery. Originality/value The work presents some novelties. First, it measures the different impacts of the various forms of proximity together with more advanced measures of network analysis. It allows pointing out the relevance of a firm’s network position in clusters and the fact that clusters assume hierarchical structures similar to centre-periphery networks, where most relevant nodes are in the inner core and marginal organisations are relegated.

Strategic business performance through network capability and structural flexibility

“…Walter et al (2006) portrayed network capabilities as a combination of four elements – coordination, relational skill, partner's knowledge and internal communication. These components help firms develop, utilize and maintain long-lasting relationships with other firms and achieve diverse resources (Capone and Zampi, 2019; Karami and Tang, 2019; Parida et al , 2016).…”

“…Previous research has been insightful by showing that network capability initiates the process of SBP (Acosta et al , 2018; Gelderman et al , 2016; Partanen et al ,2019; Walter et al , 2006). Prior work has also highlighted that networks can provide valuable information about market dynamics and extends knowledge about innovations (Böger et al , 2017; Capone and Zampi, 2019). Despite these valuable contributions, crucial omissions in the literature need to be addressed to advance this important area of knowledge.…”

“…Structural flexibility also diminishes resistance to change and allows firms to identify and seize new opportunities (Bock et al , 2012; Phillips et al , 2019). Moreover, networks positively shape a firm's structural flexibility through access to diverse resources and knowledge of the network members (Bock et al , 2012; Capone and Zampi, 2019; Usman et al , 2019). Therefore, we argue and show that structural flexibility can explain how different dimensions of network capability are positively related to SBP.…”

Open innovation and network dynamics. An analysis of openness of co-patenting collaborations in Florence, Italy

“…In analysing the adoption of OI practice, several authors have focussed on the study of networks and network dynamics Capone and Zampi, 2019). Network dynamics are a possible way of adopting an approach to OI, especially when it comes to outbound OI (Dahlander and Gann, 2010).…”

“…Numerous studies have underlined the relevance of networks in OI (Dittrich and Duysters, 2007;Belussi and Orsi, 2015;Enkel, 2010;Martinez-Torres, 2014; among others). However, the link between these two streams of research is still undervalued Capone and Zampi, 2019). The current work aims to contribute to this debate by investigating the opening up of invention processes through firms' network dynamics.…”