Title: The effect of knowledge collaboration on innovation performance: the moderating role of digital technologies

Authors: Mohammad H. Eslami; Luisa Pellegrini; Valentina Lazzarotti; Gloria Puliga; Raffaella Manzini; Harry Boer

Addresses: Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping University, 55111, Jönköping, Sweden ' University of Pisa, 56126, Pisa, Italy ' Università Cattaneo – LIUC, 21053, Castellanza VA, Italy ' Università Cattaneo – LIUC, 21053, Castellanza VA, Italy ' Università Cattaneo – LIUC, 21053, Castellanza VA, Italy ' Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg East, Denmark; Corvinus University of Budapest, 1093, Budapest, Hungry

Abstract: The aim of this study is to examine the implications of knowledge collaboration in open innovation and the role of digital technology therein. The paper draws on a survey of manufacturing firms from Italy, Sweden, France and Spain. The results show that knowledge collaboration with external partners has a significant effect on innovation novelty but not on innovation efficiency. In addition, the results show that digital technology moderates the relationship between knowledge collaboration and innovation efficiency but not the relationship between knowledge collaboration and innovation novelty. Overall, this study contributes to the growing discussion about the benefits of adopting digital technologies in open innovation processes by investigating whether and under which conditions knowledge collaboration is beneficial.

Keywords: knowledge collaboration; digital technologies; innovation novelty; innovation efficiency.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2023.128800

International Journal of Technology Management, 2023 Vol.91 No.3/4, pp.162 - 189

Received: 01 Jul 2022
Accepted: 11 Jul 2022
Published online: 06 Feb 2023 *

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