The impact of ICT and knowledge management on open innovation: Empirical evidence from Mexico

Abstract

In the last few decades in the business environment, a shift from closed innovation to open innovation has been identified in organizations. The objective of the study is to explain some antecedents of open innovation (OI) by analyzing two relevant constructs in the current context of the environmental dynamism of organizations. One of the primary purpose of this study to enable the manufacturing industry to understand what strategies are required to foster open innovation within their organizations. A research model that integrates sociodemographic data, corporate information and measuring scales to evaluate the relationships raised through multivariate analysis in 290 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is incorporated. The model uses an instrument with 23 items on the Likert scale. For data analysis, it was applied to managers or owners who have firsthand knowledge of the company. The structural equation technique was used with the Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) software. The results indicate that ICT operations have a positive and significant impact on KM. Evidence exists that there is a positive and significant relationship between KM and OI. The study contributes to the background knowledge that impacts OI in a sector such as manufacturing SMEs in an emerging country (Mexico). It concludes the need to use ICT in the company's value chain operations to have the necessary information input for KM that allows the development of OI inbound and outbound practices.