Collaborating for Organizational Innovation: Networking Across the City

Abstract

Open innovation ecosystems play an important role in corporate and product innovation and contribute to the success of economic development at the municipal level, yet there is little research on the factors driving innovative behavior within a municipal innovation ecosystem (MIE). This study explores how the interpersonal and intrapersonal resources of the individuals involved contribute to innovative behavior within a city’s innovation ecosystem.This study used a mixed-method approach to build a novel framework to examine innovative behavior in the Mobile, AL municipality. A moderated mediation model was tested using PLS-SEM. The findings presented in this study introduce new constructs and measurements related to assessing innovation at the individual level in a municipality. The results suggest that innovative behavior is impacted by personal resources and that social events where people and businesses interact contribute to both inter-organizational innovation and the municipal innovation ecosystem.