Collaborative Search Strategies for Green Innovation

Anders Ørding Olsen, Wolfgang Sofka, Christoph Grimpe

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperResearchpeer-review

    Abstract

    Recent innovation and strategy research emphasizes the importance of firm’s search for external knowledge to improve innovation performance. We focus on such search strategies within the domain of sustainable innovation in which problems are inherently complex and the relevant knowledge is widely dispersed. Hence, firms need to collaborate. We shed new light on collaborative search strategies led by firms in general and for solving environmental problems in particular. Both topics are largely absent
    in the extant open innovation literature. Using data from the European Seventh Framework Program for
    Research and Technological Development (FP7), our results indicate that the problem-solving potential of a search strategy increases with the diversity of existing knowledge of the partners in a consortium and with the experience of the partners involved. Moreover, we identify a substantial negative effect from involving partners in a search consortium who collaborate for the first time. Our findings have implications for both the literature on firms’ search and the creation of sustainable innovation.
    Original languageEnglish
    Publication date2016
    Number of pages45
    Publication statusPublished - 2016
    EventThe DRUID 20th Anniversary Conference 2016: Innovation and the Dynamics of Change - Copenhagen Business School, København, Denmark
    Duration: 13 Jun 201615 Jun 2016
    Conference number: 38
    http://druid8.sit.aau.dk/druid/registrant/index/login/cid/20

    Conference

    ConferenceThe DRUID 20th Anniversary Conference 2016
    Number38
    LocationCopenhagen Business School
    Country/TerritoryDenmark
    CityKøbenhavn
    Period13/06/201615/06/2016
    OtherThe DRUID Society Conference 2016
    SponsorCopenhagen Business School
    Internet address

    Keywords

    • Innovation search
    • Problem solving
    • Sustainable innovation

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