Open Innovation in Ecuadorian SMEs: The Importance of Strategy and the Moderating Effect of Control

Abstract

ABSTRACT Open innovation (OI) has been appointed as a key factor to promote innovative performance, but some research gaps remain especially when it comes to SMEs in developing countries. This article deals with (1) the effect of formalization of innovation strategy on OI activities in SMEs, (2) the impact of OI activities on SMEs’ innovative performance, and (3) the moderating role played by control on the relationship between inbound and outbound activities and the innovative performance. OI encompasses a range of innovative methods and procedures in firms to stimulate internal innovation and widen the external use of innovation (inbound and outbound). In this work, an empirical study is carried out on 543 Ecuadorian SMEs. The results show that the formalization of the innovation strategy promotes OI activities, both inbound and outbound. While outbound activities carried out by SMEs enhance innovative performance, this positive effect is only identified for inbound open innovation activities when control exists and increases, acting this variable as a moderating factor. These results have important implications both for the management of companies and the development of public policies aimed at promoting OI in SMEs in developing countries. This research contributes to the literature as it deals with a developing country context and considers a wide range of OI activities. 摘要 虽然开放式创新被认为是提升企业创新绩效的关键因素，但很少有研究关注它对于发展中国家中小企业的影响。本文研究三个问题：（1）正式制定创新战略对中小企业开放式创新活动的效应，（2）开放式创新活动对于中小企业创新绩效的影响，（3）企业管控对于开放式创新活动与创新绩效的调节作用。开放式创新包含一系列的创新方法和程序，用以刺激企业内部创新和扩大的创新的外在使用。本文作者对厄瓜多尔的543家中小企业进行了实证研究。结果表明，正式制定创新战略对企业开放式创新活动（无论内外）都有积极影响。此外，企业的对创新的外在使用总是能促进其创新绩效，但内部开放式创新活动却只有在内部管控机制存在或增加的情景中才对企业的创新绩效有正面影响。