A cross‐industry research on the effects of the degree of open innovation on a firm’s adoption of sustainable process innovations
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2016-11-10
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en
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Abstract
What is remarkable in open innovation studies is that the consideration of sustainable development in open innovation research field remains somehow on the background. Reducing manufacturing companies’ energy demand is essential for sustainable development because energy usage and supply cause negative environmental effects
(e.g., greenhouse gas emissions, acidification, and extensive land use). However, energy is a non‐substitutable production factor. This is why reduction in energy demand is limited to a certain extent and is subject to the desired production output. Therefore, improving the ratio between energy input and the desired output of a production process—i.e., improving energy efficiency—is one of the central aspects of sustainable manufacturing. This is why the main question for this study investigated if the degree of open innovation contributes to improved sustainability (adoption of energy efficiency technologies). Using a negative binomial regression on a large scale survey sample of 149 firms across the Dutch manufacturing sector, empirical results reveal, in line with the expectations, that a higher degree of open innovation is statistically associated with a greater adoption of sustainable process innovations (H1). Contrary to expectations, no evidence was found for the moderating effect of partner type on the relationship between the degree of open innovation and the adoption of sustainable process innovations (H2).
In addition, post hoc analyses reveal that adopting sustainable process innovations results in an increase in the time to market a product, while there is a positive effect on the decrease in energy usage. Also, a distinction is made between inbound open innovation and outbound open innovation. Here, inbound open innovation is associated with a greater adoption of sustainable process innovations, while no evidence was found for an effect of outbound open innovation on the adoption of sustainable process innovations. This suggest that managers of Dutch manufacturing firms should not blindly invest in adopting sustainable process innovations to reduce energy, but also explore possible drawbacks for the firm first.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen