Openness of Technological and Nontechnological Innovations

Abstract

Research on open innovation has mainly focused on the management of flows of knowledge sources across organizational boundaries and its effect on technological (product and process) innovations. This article aims to extend the study of open innovation to nontechnological (organizational and marketing) innovations. We argue that extending the study of open innovation to nontechnological innovations gives an opportunity to create a theoretical bridge between the emerging open innovation literature and the expansive literature on organizational innovation, with useful implications for managerial practice. Empirical models are estimated using 3,977 firms from three consecutive panels of Chilean’s Community Innovation Survey, 2009-2014. The findings suggest that external sources have a u-shape relationship with technological innovations but a direct relationship with nontechnological innovations, showing that the limits of external knowledge sources on innovation outcome depend on the type of innovation organizations pursue. We discuss the implications of the findings and propose a conceptual model for future research.