An exploratory study on how SMEs are open to external sources of information

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to draw on recent developments in the open innovation literature to explore whether the openness of SMEs to the four categories of external sources of information (ESI) is complementary, substitute or independent, while assessing the determinants of SMEs’ openness to these ESI. Design/methodology/approach - This research is based on data from a survey of 451 manufacturing SMEs in the province of Québec, Canada. Data have been elaborated through a multivariate probit model to empirically show that SMEs are considered to be simultaneously open to different ESI. The results of this study show significant heterogeneity in the determinants of SMEs’ openness to these ESI. Findings - The study found that the SMEs’ openness to different ESI seems to be complementary rather than substitute; and not all variables included in the model explain the SMEs’ openness to the different ESI. Practical implications - The paper provides practical implications for managers and policy makers including the SMEs’ managers’ role to recognize the consolidation of different ESI jointly instead of separately. Furthermore, managers and policy makers should attempt to provide a fair context to SMEs to manage their openness ecosystem. Originality/value - This study is virtually the first to investigate both the complementarity and the determinants of SMEs’ openness to different ESI using a sophisticated econometric model.