Collaborative innovation capability in IT-enabled inter-firm collaboration
| Date | 04 December 2017 |
| Published date | 04 December 2017 |
| Pages | 2364-2380 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-09-2016-0392 |
| Author | Fei Wang,Jing Zhao,Maomao Chi,Yajing Li |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems,Data management systems,Knowledge management,Knowledge sharing,Management science & operations,Supply chain management,Supply chain information systems,Logistics,Quality management/systems |
Collaborative innovation
capability in IT-enabled inter-firm
collaboration
Fei Wang and Jing Zhao
Research Center for Digital Business Management,
School of Economics and Management,
China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China
Maomao Chi
School of Information Management,
Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China, and
Yajing Li
Research Center for Digital Business Management,
School of Economics and Management,
China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China
Abstract
Purpose –With the increasingly collaborative nature of innovation and the expanding role of digital
platforms on inter-firm collaboration, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of
digital platforms on collaborative innovation capability (CIC) under conditions of two distinctive governance
mechanisms. Furthermore, the competitive benefits of CIC at different levels of environmentaluncertainty are
examined to clarify the performance of collaborative innovation.
Design/methodology/approach –The research model is proposed based on dynamic capabilities theory,
information technology (IT)-enabled organizational capability and governance mechanisms literature, and
then validated by using partial least squares with data collected from 200 Chinese firms that engage indigital
collaboration with their major channel distributors.
Findings –Empirical results show that the enabling effect of digital platforms capability on CIC is positively
moderated by relational governance while negatively moderated by formal governance, and both governance
mechanisms directly and positively influence CIC; the positive relationship between CIC and competitive
performance is stronger for higher level of environmental uncertainty; and CIC is the key mediator converting
digital platforms capability into competitive performance.
Originality/value –This study enriches the existing literatures in IT-innovation relationship by not only
surfacing the interplay of digital platforms capability with two distinctive governance mechanisms in
building CIC, but also clarifying the competitive benefits of CIC in an uncertain environment. Moreover, this
study helps explain the controversial issue of the businessvalue of IT capability by discovering the mediating
role of CIC.
Keywords Environmental uncertainty, Collaborative innovation capability, Digital platforms,
Governance mechanisms, IT and innovation, IT-enabled inter-firm collaboration
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Collaborative innovation refers to a novel solution derived from the inter-firm
environment that has social or economic value (Bucic and Ngo, 2012). A marked
increase in environmental uncertainty due to volatile customer needs and rapid product
obsolescence, has led firms to consider their ability to generate innovation from inter-firm
collaboration context (i.e. collaborative innovation capability (hereafter CIC)) (Zhang and
Yang, 2016; Wang et al., 2016; Feng and Wang, 2013; Fawcett et al., 2012; Agarwal and
Selen, 2009; Swink, 2006). Meanwhile, digital platforms, which refer to emerging
information technologies (ITs) such as mobile computing, social media platforms and
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 117 No. 10, 2017
pp. 2364-2380
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/IMDS-09-2016-0392
Received 24 September 2016
Revised 9 March 2017
Accepted 26 March 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm
2364
IMDS
117,10
e-commerce platforms (Sedera et al., 2016), have increasingly opened up firms’boundaries
and enabled firms to build digitally inter-firm collaboration with their partners. With easy
connectivity with other technologies, digital platforms can bring various and
heterogeneous external knowledge resources and serve as a great opportunity to
develop CIC. However, once the boundaries are opened up by digital platforms, firms have
to face with relational challenges from their partners, such as relational uncertainty,
exchange hazards and risks, which potentially influence the innovation outcomes of
employing digital platforms in inter-firm collaboration context. Therefore, it is imperative
to understand how firms can effectively employ digital platforms in inter-firm
collaboration to build CIC for adapting to uncertain environment.
The relationship between IT and innovation has attracted increasing attention in
practice and academia (Carcary et al., 2015; Nambisan, 2013). Prior literature on information
systems (IS) examined the effect of IT on traditional closed innovation (Nambisan, 2003).
Lately, with the increasingly collaborative nature of innovation and the expanding role of IT
on inter-firm collaboration, IS scholars have begun to investigate the role of IT on
generating innovation in IT-enabled inter-firm collaboration (Rai and Tang, 2010;
Fernandez-Mesa et al., 2014). Nambisan (2013) reviewed related literature and assessed that
most of studies had focused on issues that were of primary concern to IT managers, such as
the impact of IT and adoption of specific technologies, while less so on topics that had
engaged mainstream innovation management researchers, such as governance and
value-creation in innovation ecosystems.
Although previous research has advanced our unders tanding of IT-innovation
relationship in inter-firm collaboration context, there are still some limitations. First,
as Nambisan (2013) mentioned, prior IS studies mostly explored IT-innovation relationship
from the perspective of IT managers rather than innovation managers. Thus, they mainly
focused on the impacts of IT characteristics on inter-firm innovation from a technical
standpoint, such as the impacts of IT integration and flexibility (Rai and Tang, 2010), while
paid less attention on other non-technical issues in innovation management, such as
relational uncertainty, exchange hazards and risks (Swink, 2006). One of the most important
issues in inter-firm innovation context is how focal firms choose appropriate governance
mechanisms to address these relational challenges, especially when the boundaries are
opened up for knowledge resources sharing through digital platforms (Liu et al., 2017).
Generally, two distinctive governance mechanisms are relational governance and formal
governance (Goo et al., 2009; Bstieler and Hemmert, 2015). More importantly, digital
platforms and governance mechanisms are not independent but interdependent in
IT-enabled inter-firm collaboration context (Grover and Kohli, 2012). The espoused benefits
of IT may change in different governance context (Storey and Kocabasoglu-Hillmer, 2013).
Thus, there remains an obvious need to investigate how digital platforms impact CIC under
conditions of two different types of governance mechanisms.
Second, innovation management literature regarding to the relationship between
collaborative innovation and firm performance offers conflicting results (West and
Bogers, 2014). The literature suggests their relationship is not a foregone conclusion but is
context specific ( Jean et al., 2014). Prior studies have examined the contextual factors,
including relational capability (Sisodiya et al., 2013) and legal and institutional hostility
(Jean et al., 2014). Additionally, external environment characteristics have been
considered as an important contextual factor in the link between organizational
capabilities and performance outcomes (Rai and Tang, 2010). Therefore, to clarify the
performance implications of CIC in uncertain environment, we need to examine how CIC
influences competitive performance under different levels of environmental uncertainty.
To fill the gaps in extant literature, drawing on dynamic capabilities theory, IT-enabled
organizational capabilities and governance mechanisms literature, this study considers CIC
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CIC in
IT-enabled
inter-firm
collaboration
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