Search results

This study aims to examine the combinations of internal and external knowledge flows between research and development (R&D) incumbents and start-ups in the context of open innovation. While there is a growing body of knowledge that has examined how, in a knowledge economy, a firm’s knowledge and innovation activities are closely linked, there is no systematic review available of the key antecedents, perspectives, phenomenon and outcomes of knowledge spillovers.

The authors have conducted dual-stage research. First, the authors conducted a systematic review of literature (97 research articles) by following the theories–contexts–methods framework and the antecedent-phenomenon-outcomes logic. The authors identified the key theories, contexts, methods, antecedents, phenomenon and outcomes of knowledge spillovers between R&D-driven incumbents and start-ups in the open innovation context. In the second stage, the findings of stage one were leveraged to advance a nomological network that depicts the strength of the relationship between the observable constructs that emerged from the review.

The findings demonstrate how knowledge spillovers can help incumbent organisations and start-ups to achieve improved innovation capabilities, R&D capacity, competitive advantage and the creation of knowledge ecosystems leading to improved firm performance. This study has important implications for practitioners and managers – it provides managers with important antecedents of knowledge spillover (knowledge capacities and knowledge types), which directly impact the R&D intensity and digitalisation driving open innovation. The emerging network showed that the antecedents of knowledge spillovers have a direct relationship with the creation of a knowledge ecosystem orchestrated by incumbents and that there is a very strong influence of knowledge capacities and knowledge types on the selection of external knowledge partners/sources.

This study has important implications for practitioners and managers. In particular, it provides managers with important antecedents of knowledge spillover (knowledge capacities and knowledge types), which directly impact the R&D intensity and digitalisation driving open innovation. This will enable managers to take important decisions about what knowledge capacities are required to achieve innovation outcomes. The findings suggest that managers of incumbent firms should be cautious when deciding to invest in knowledge sourcing from external partners. This choice may be driven by the absorptive capacity of the incumbent firm, market competition, protection of intellectual property and public policy supporting innovation and entrepreneurship.

Identification of the key antecedents, phenomenon and outcomes of knowledge spillovers between R&D-driven incumbents and start-ups in the open innovation context. The findings from Stage 1 helped us to advance a nomological network in Stage 2, which identifies the strength and influence of the various observable constructs (identified from the review) on each other. No prior study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, has advanced a nomological network in the context of knowledge spillovers between R&D-driven incumbents and start-ups in the open innovation context.

Decision-makers often struggle to combine advice with their own intuition. This study examines how advice-giver traits and decision-makers’ intuition influence advice uptake. We present a novel typology based on decision-makers’ trust in advice-givers and their perceived expertise.

This qualitative study uses a sample of publicly available interview data with 51 elite performers. Using inductive and content analysis, we explore the mediation between decision-makers’ intuitive competence (ability to effectively deploy intuition in interface with advice) and their autonomy (self-endorsement from past performance).

We identify four sources of advice: mentor advice, specialist advice, confidant advice and commentator advice. Drawing on instances of different sources of advice along varying degrees of trust and expertise, we propose a framework for interaction between intuitional competence and advice characteristics.

We offer a novel way of contextualising nuanced forms of advice and provide a structured typology of sources, characterised by trust and expertise. This typology and our findings help reconcile contradictions in decision-making research. Finally, we offer practical guidance for the uptake of advice.