IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v31y2022i5p2315-2336.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable development and incumbents' open innovation strategies for a greener competence‐destroying technology: The case of electric vehicles

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Cabigiosu

Abstract

Given that entire industries face sustainable development challenges, it is important to understand the dynamics that lead incumbents to develop competence‐destroying sustainable product innovations. This paper provides a longitudinal analysis of automobile incumbents' open innovation strategies during the era of shift from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles by describing the process through which they leverage open innovation for the provision and development of electric batteries, the most distinct component of electric vehicles. The paper analyses the strategies of 13 carmakers over a period of 26 years and identifies a path‐based open innovation framework for green technology characterised by an inverse U‐shaped breadth and depth of partnerships correlated to different levels of technological uncertainty until carmakers start moving from market to hierarchy by producing in‐house electric batteries.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Cabigiosu, 2022. "Sustainable development and incumbents' open innovation strategies for a greener competence‐destroying technology: The case of electric vehicles," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2315-2336, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:31:y:2022:i:5:p:2315-2336
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.3023
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3023
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.3023?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anne Parmigiani, 2007. "Why do firms both make and buy? An investigation of concurrent sourcing," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 285-311, March.
    2. Lihong Qian & Rajshree Agarwal & Glenn Hoetker, 2012. "Configuration of Value Chain Activities: The Effect of Pre-Entry Capabilities, Transaction Hazards, and Industry Evolution on Decisions to Internalize," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(5), pages 1330-1349, October.
    3. Wang, Chun-Hsien & Chang, Ching-Hsing & Shen, George C., 2015. "The effect of inbound open innovation on firm performance: Evidence from high-tech industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 222-230.
    4. Prencipe, Andrea, 2000. "Breadth and depth of technological capabilities in CoPS: the case of the aircraft engine control system," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(7-8), pages 895-911, August.
    5. Clark, William C. & Anastas, Paul T. & Zimmerman, Julie B. & Matus, Kira Jen Mendelsohn, 2012. "Barriers to the Implementation of Green Chemistry in the United States," Scholarly Articles 9639957, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    6. Robert M. Grant & Charles Baden‐Fuller, 2004. "A Knowledge Accessing Theory of Strategic Alliances," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 61-84, January.
    7. Mark Smith & Jo Crotty, 2008. "Environmental regulation and innovation driving ecological design in the UK automotive industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(6), pages 341-349, September.
    8. M. Lourdes Sosa, 2011. "From Old Competence Destruction to New Competence Access: Evidence from the Comparison of Two Discontinuities in Anticancer Drug Discovery," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(6), pages 1500-1516, December.
    9. Bergek, Anna & Berggren, Christian & Magnusson, Thomas & Hobday, Michael, 2013. "Technological discontinuities and the challenge for incumbent firms: Destruction, disruption or creative accumulation?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 1210-1224.
    10. Anand Nair & Tingting Yan & Young K. Ro & Adegoke Oke & Todd H. Chiles & Su-Yol Lee, 2016. "How Environmental Innovations Emerge and Proliferate in Supply Networks: A Complex Adaptive Systems Perspective," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 52(2), pages 66-86, April.
    11. Teece, David J., 2018. "Tesla and the Reshaping of the Auto Industry," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 501-512, September.
    12. Lisa Melander, 2017. "Achieving Sustainable Development by Collaborating in Green Product Innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1095-1109, December.
    13. Cabigiosu, Anna & Zirpoli, Francesco & Camuffo, Arnaldo, 2013. "Modularity, interfaces definition and the integration of external sources of innovation in the automotive industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 662-675.
    14. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Claudia Bird Schoonhoven, 1996. "Resource-based View of Strategic Alliance Formation: Strategic and Social Effects in Entrepreneurial Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(2), pages 136-150, April.
    15. Brem, Alexander & Nylund, Petra A. & Schuster, Gerd, 2016. "Innovation and de facto standardization: The influence of dominant design on innovative performance, radical innovation, and process innovation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 50, pages 79-88.
    16. William F. Hamilton & Harbir Singh, 1992. "The Evolution of Corporate Capabilities in Emerging Technologies," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 13-23, August.
    17. Park, Woo-Yong & Ro, Young K. & Kim, Namwoon, 2018. "Architectural innovation and the emergence of a dominant design: The effects of strategic sourcing on performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 326-341.
    18. Felipe A. Csaszar & Nicolaj Siggelkow, 2010. "How Much to Copy? Determinants of Effective Imitation Breadth," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(3), pages 661-676, June.
    19. Poole, Marshall Scott & Van de Ven, Andrew H. & Dooley, Kevin & Holmes, Michael E., 2000. "Organizational Change and Innovation Processes: Theory and Methods for Research," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195131987, Decembrie.
    20. Anja Schulze & John Paul MacDuffie & Florian A. Täube, 2015. "Introduction: knowledge generation and innovation diffusion in the global automotive industry—change and stability during turbulent times," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 24(3), pages 603-611.
    21. Roper, Stephen & Tapinos, Efstathios, 2016. "Taking risks in the face of uncertainty: An exploratory analysis of green innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 357-363.
    22. René Bohnsack & Ans Kolk & Jonatan Pinkse & Christina M. Bidmon, 2020. "Driving the electric bandwagon: The dynamics of incumbents' sustainable innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 727-743, February.
    23. Constance E. Helfat & Miguel A. Campo-Rembado, 2016. "Integrative Capabilities, Vertical Integration, and Innovation Over Successive Technology Lifecycles," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 249-264, April.
    24. Zachary P. Cano & Dustin Banham & Siyu Ye & Andreas Hintennach & Jun Lu & Michael Fowler & Zhongwei Chen, 2018. "Batteries and fuel cells for emerging electric vehicle markets," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(4), pages 279-289, April.
    25. Melissa A. Schilling, 2009. "Understanding the alliance data," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 233-260, March.
    26. Schilling, Melissa, 1999. "Winning the standards race: : Building installed base and the availability of complementary goods," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 265-274, June.
    27. Samuel Wicki & Erik G. Hansen, 2019. "Green technology innovation: Anatomy of exploration processes from a learning perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 970-988, September.
    28. Yunhui Zhao & Taiwen Feng & Hongbo Shi, 2018. "External involvement and green product innovation: The moderating role of environmental uncertainty," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1167-1180, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Runbo Zhao & Huiying Zhang & Marina Yue Zhang & Fei Qu & Yunlong Xu, 2023. "Competitor-Weighted Centrality and Small-World Clusters in Competition Networks on Firms’ Innovation Ambidexterity: Evidence from the Wind Energy Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Chiang, Chang-Tang, 2024. "A systematic literature network analysis of green information technology for sustainability: Toward smart and sustainable livelihoods," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stienstra, Miranda, 2020. "The determinants and performance implications of alliance partner acquisition," Other publications TiSEM 7fdee0c2-d4d2-4f5b-95e3-2, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    2. Brian T. McCann & Jeffrey J. Reuer & Nandini Lahiri, 2016. "Agglomeration and the choice between acquisitions and alliances: An information economics perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(6), pages 1085-1106, June.
    3. Joseph J. Cabral & Chaoqun Deng & M. V. Shyam Kumar, 2020. "Internal Resource Allocation and External Alliance Activity of Diversified Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(8), pages 1690-1717, December.
    4. Slavova, Kremena & Jong, Simcha, 2021. "University alliances and firm exploratory innovation: Evidence from therapeutic product development," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    5. Ignė Stalmokaitė & Tommy Larsson Segerlind & Johanna Yliskylä‐Peuralahti, 2023. "Revival of wind‐powered shipping: Comparing the early‐stage innovation process of an incumbent and a newcomer firm," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 958-975, February.
    6. Tianxu Chen & Lihong Qian & Vadake Narayanan, 2017. "Battle on the Wrong Field? Entrant Type, Dominant Designs, and Technology Exit," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(13), pages 2579-2598, December.
    7. Anna Cabigiosu, 2018. "When do modular dominant designs emerge? A theoretical framework," Working Papers 05, Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    8. Mahka Moeen, 2017. "Entry into Nascent Industries: Disentangling a Firm's Capability Portfolio at the Time of Investment Versus Market Entry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(10), pages 1986-2004, October.
    9. Ashton Hawk & Jeffrey J. Reuer & Andrew Garofolo, 2021. "The Impact of Firm Speed Capabilities on the Decision to Partner or Go It Alone," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(3), pages 191-208, September.
    10. Melissa A. Schilling, 2015. "Technology Shocks, Technological Collaboration, and Innovation Outcomes," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 668-686, June.
    11. Kudic, Muhamed & Pyka, Andreas & Günther, Jutta, 2012. "Determinants of Evolutionary Change Processes in Innovation Networks – Empirical Evidence from the German Laser Industry," IWH Discussion Papers 7/2012, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    12. Gianluigi Giustiziero & Tobias Kretschmer & Deepak Somaya & Brian Wu, 2023. "Hyperspecialization and hyperscaling: A resource‐based theory of the digital firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(6), pages 1391-1424, June.
    13. Geels, Frank W. & Ayoub, Martina, 2023. "A socio-technical transition perspective on positive tipping points in climate change mitigation: Analysing seven interacting feedback loops in offshore wind and electric vehicles acceleration," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    14. Hyeon Chang Kim & Woojin Yoon, 2019. "Study On Types Of Technology Cooperation Partner And Innovation Performance: Focusing On Incremental And Radical Innovation," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(01), pages 1-25, January.
    15. Rahul Kapoor & Ron Adner, 2012. "What Firms Make vs. What They Know: How Firms' Production and Knowledge Boundaries Affect Competitive Advantage in the Face of Technological Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(5), pages 1227-1248, October.
    16. Devarakonda, Ramakrishna & Reuer, Jeffrey J. & Tadikonda, Harsha, 2022. "Founder social capital and value appropriation in R&D alliance agreements," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(4).
    17. Lorenzo Ardito & Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli & Federica Pascucci & Enzo Peruffo, 2019. "Inter‐firm R&D collaborations and green innovation value: The role of family firms' involvement and the moderating effects of proximity dimensions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 185-197, January.
    18. Lisa Balzarin & Francesco Zirpoli, 2022. "Facing technological change: addressing competence shift in a routines and identity perspective," Working Papers 03, Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    19. Bei, Xiaoshu, 2019. "Trademarks, specialized complementary assets, and the external sourcing of innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    20. Turanay Caner & Susan K. Cohen & Frits Pil, 2017. "Firm heterogeneity in complex problem solving: A knowledge-based look at invention," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(9), pages 1791-1811, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:31:y:2022:i:5:p:2315-2336. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.