Abstract
This study adds to the previous literature on outbound open innovation (OI)—that is, external knowledge commercialization activities—by exploring the effects of “make and/or buy decisions” on outbound OI. Notwithstanding the critical role of out- bound OI in shaping firms' competitive advantages, there has been a notable gap in research regarding the drivers of outbound OI. Drawing on the knowledge- based view, this empirical paper addresses this research gap by exploring an array of identified determinates of outbound OI. Through analyzing 468 New Zealand firms, we found that larger and more established firms show a stronger connection between research and development (R&D) investment and outbound OI, whereas smaller firms benefit more from external knowledge sourcing. Additionally, inbound OI positively affects outbound OI, yet the effect diminishes with more international collaborations. Interestingly, small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) favor formal appropriation strategies, such as patents and contracts, while larger firms prioritize informal methods, such as secrecy.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | R&D Management |
| Early online date | 10 Mar 2025 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 10 Mar 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). R&D Management published by RADMA and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.Keywords
- external knowledge commercialization
- geographic breadth
- inbound
- open innovation
- outbound
- R&D intensity