Open Innovation in SMEs: Potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity for Interorganizational Learning in Dyad Collaborations with Academia

Due to a variety of barriers to develop innovation, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) find it necessary to collaborate with external sources of knowledge. The current study analyses the collaboration between SMEs and academia over an open innovation setting in Mexico. An absorptive capacity (ACAP)...

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Main Authors: Grover Alfredo Avalos-Quispe, Luis Manuel Hernández-Simón
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-09-01
Series:Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market and Complexity
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2199-8531/5/3/72
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spelling doaj-d59f21c5b8ba4aeab5abd397282b2bdc2020-11-25T01:25:44ZengMDPI AGJournal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market and Complexity2199-85312019-09-01537210.3390/joitmc5030072joitmc5030072Open Innovation in SMEs: Potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity for Interorganizational Learning in Dyad Collaborations with AcademiaGrover Alfredo Avalos-Quispe0Luis Manuel Hernández-Simón1Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Sección de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación (ESIME-Z), Ciudad de México 07738, MexicoInstituto Politécnico Nacional, Sección de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación (ESIME-Z), Ciudad de México 07738, MexicoDue to a variety of barriers to develop innovation, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) find it necessary to collaborate with external sources of knowledge. The current study analyses the collaboration between SMEs and academia over an open innovation setting in Mexico. An absorptive capacity (ACAP) approach has been applied to understanding the process of developing new knowledge for achieving innovation. A two-part questionnaire was developed with the aim of assessing the ACAP of a new joint research unit. Data was collected from a local group of SMEs that collaborated as dyads with academia supported by a government program of innovation in Mexico. The result shows that there was a moderate potential and realized ACAP in the sample; these results are mutually related with both parts of the questionnaire which supports our findings. In conclusion, exploitation of new knowledge is a complex dimension for creating value from collaboration, which makes the outcome difficult to measure using traditional means. It can be argued that exploiting new knowledge for innovation is an iterative process of learning when exploring new sources of knowledge from academia.https://www.mdpi.com/2199-8531/5/3/72open innovationabsorptive capacitycollaborationjoint research unitexploitationSMEs
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Grover Alfredo Avalos-Quispe
Luis Manuel Hernández-Simón
spellingShingle Grover Alfredo Avalos-Quispe
Luis Manuel Hernández-Simón
Open Innovation in SMEs: Potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity for Interorganizational Learning in Dyad Collaborations with Academia
Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market and Complexity
open innovation
absorptive capacity
collaboration
joint research unit
exploitation
SMEs
author_facet Grover Alfredo Avalos-Quispe
Luis Manuel Hernández-Simón
author_sort Grover Alfredo Avalos-Quispe
title Open Innovation in SMEs: Potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity for Interorganizational Learning in Dyad Collaborations with Academia
title_short Open Innovation in SMEs: Potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity for Interorganizational Learning in Dyad Collaborations with Academia
title_full Open Innovation in SMEs: Potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity for Interorganizational Learning in Dyad Collaborations with Academia
title_fullStr Open Innovation in SMEs: Potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity for Interorganizational Learning in Dyad Collaborations with Academia
title_full_unstemmed Open Innovation in SMEs: Potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity for Interorganizational Learning in Dyad Collaborations with Academia
title_sort open innovation in smes: potential and realized absorptive capacity for interorganizational learning in dyad collaborations with academia
publisher MDPI AG
series Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market and Complexity
issn 2199-8531
publishDate 2019-09-01
description Due to a variety of barriers to develop innovation, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) find it necessary to collaborate with external sources of knowledge. The current study analyses the collaboration between SMEs and academia over an open innovation setting in Mexico. An absorptive capacity (ACAP) approach has been applied to understanding the process of developing new knowledge for achieving innovation. A two-part questionnaire was developed with the aim of assessing the ACAP of a new joint research unit. Data was collected from a local group of SMEs that collaborated as dyads with academia supported by a government program of innovation in Mexico. The result shows that there was a moderate potential and realized ACAP in the sample; these results are mutually related with both parts of the questionnaire which supports our findings. In conclusion, exploitation of new knowledge is a complex dimension for creating value from collaboration, which makes the outcome difficult to measure using traditional means. It can be argued that exploiting new knowledge for innovation is an iterative process of learning when exploring new sources of knowledge from academia.
topic open innovation
absorptive capacity
collaboration
joint research unit
exploitation
SMEs
url https://www.mdpi.com/2199-8531/5/3/72
work_keys_str_mv AT groveralfredoavalosquispe openinnovationinsmespotentialandrealizedabsorptivecapacityforinterorganizationallearningindyadcollaborationswithacademia
AT luismanuelhernandezsimon openinnovationinsmespotentialandrealizedabsorptivecapacityforinterorganizationallearningindyadcollaborationswithacademia
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