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Toward an aspiration-level theory of open innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Oliver Alexy
  • Elif Bascavusoglu-Moreau
  • Ammon J. Salter

Abstract

Although open innovation has become increasingly established in the management literature, comprehensive theoretical explanations of what drives firms to be open are sparse. Taking the perspective of the behavioral theory of the firm, we conceive of open innovation as a form of nonlocal search, arguing that firms will turn to open innovation when substantially under- or over-performing relative to their aspirations. We further enquire how this relationship is moderated by firm-specific innovation-related resources: human capital, research and development investment, and patents. Employing a representative survey of UK firms, we find some evidence of moderation, allowing us to present explanations of search through open innovation and contribute to the behavioral theory of the firm itself.

Suggested Citation

  • Oliver Alexy & Elif Bascavusoglu-Moreau & Ammon J. Salter, 2016. "Toward an aspiration-level theory of open innovation," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 25(2), pages 289-306.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:indcch:v:25:y:2016:i:2:p:289-306.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/icc/dtw003
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Suhada, Thontowi A. & Ford, Jerad A. & Verreynne, Martie-Louise & Indulska, Marta, 2021. "Motivating individuals to contribute to firms’ non-pecuniary open innovation goals," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    2. Gkypali, Areti & Filiou, Despoina & Tsekouras, Kostas, 2017. "R&D collaborations: Is diversity enhancing innovation performance?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 143-152.
    3. Chapman, Gary & Lucena, Abel & Afcha, Sergio, 2018. "R&D subsidies & external collaborative breadth: Differential gains and the role of collaboration experience," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 623-636.
    4. Samuel C MacAulay & John Steen & Tim Kastelle, 2020. "The search environment is not (always) benign: reassessing the risks of organizational search," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 29(1), pages 1-23.
    5. Lu Cheng, 2022. "The Effects of Open Innovation at the Network Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-23, November.
    6. Torres de Oliveira, Rui & Verreynne, Martie-Louise & Steen, John & Indulska, Marta, 2021. "Creating value by giving away: A typology of different innovation revealing strategies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 137-150.
    7. Martie-Louise Verreynne & Rui Torres de Oliveira & John Steen & Marta Indulska & Jerad A. Ford, 2020. "What motivates ‘free’ revealing? Measuring outbound non-pecuniary openness, innovation types and expectations of future profit growth," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(1), pages 271-301, July.
    8. Di Vaio, Assunta & Palladino, Rosa & Pezzi, Alberto & Kalisz, David E., 2021. "The role of digital innovation in knowledge management systems: A systematic literature review," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 220-231.
    9. Diwei Lv, David & Zhu, Hang & Chen, Weihong & Lan, Hailin, 2021. "Negative performance feedback and firm cooperation: How multiple upward social comparisons affect firm cooperative R&D," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 872-883.
    10. Zhenqian He & Ming Xu, 2017. "Research on the Dynamic Mechanism of Enterprise Synergy Innovation: A Literature Review," Asian Social Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(1), pages 141-141, January.

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