Innovation and Inter-organizational Network: Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

This article presents a systematic review and bibliometric analysis of research linking the inter-organizational business network and innovation research. It also discusses previous research on the subject and identify gaps for future studies. A review was done using the dimensions database. This was undertaken using specific keywords search in the title, abstract, and keywords of papers. The review revealed that the research in the field is growing fast. In fact, the paper has established that the UK, the US, and Italy respectively, have dominated publications in terms of the most influential countries for research in the field of inter-organizational business networks. The content review of papers showed that the papers were mainly trying to address the phenomena (the antecedents, management of the network, and network performance outcomes). These categories are not mutually exclusive but would help us to organize the fragmented literature on the topic. This article reviews and discusses the empirical literature on inter-organizational innovation networks and shows that the field is highly fragmented. While some areas have gained considerable research attention, others have experienced a relative paucity of research, and thus topics for future research are discussed.