The impact of knowledge inflows and outflows on NPD project performance

Recent research indicates that companies cannot rely exclusively on their own innovation power to achieve a competitive advantage, and open innovation (OI) represents the strategy for companies to share their innovation process with external partners through knowledge inflows and outflows. Several studies have sought to examine the background of OI and its contribution to firm-level performance. However, few studies have focused on the project team level. The objective of this research is to analyze the impact of two OI flows (inbound and outbound) concerning new product development (NPD) performance, and to study the mediator role of outbound OI in the relation between inbound OI and project performance. This study examines the Brazilian manufacturing industry, involving 242 projects from various industrial sectors, and employs the PLS-SEM method to analyze the research model. The results indicate that outbound OI has a positive relation with project performance, while inbound OI has a negative contribution. In addition, inbound OI has an indirect positive effect on project performance when its contribution is mediated by outbound OI. The mediation results indicate that while inbound OI "pushes" knowledge to project teams, outbound OI "pulls" knowledge originating from the first flow.