External sources of knowledge for innovation: effects of industry and organizational size

Abstract

Purpose: According to the open innovation literature, the main objective of this work is based in the analysis of the external knowledge sources usage in enterprises depending on the technology intensity, the organizational size and the sector nature (industrial or services). In order to shape how the use of external knowledge sources can be influenced by such contingent variables. Design / Methodology: To achieve the aim proposed, we use extracted data from the Innovation in Companies Survey performed by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) in 2014. Several descriptive analyses are executed as well as the application of the ANOVA analysis. Findings: The results show us that the contingent variables presented have an effect in the deployment of external knowledge sources. In such a way that the enterprises more intensive in I+D make a wider use of external sources for the innovation than those less intensive in I+D. We can also discern that SMEs resort more to the external knowledge sources use. Finally, we can observe two different patterns when it comes to companies that use external innovation sources in the manufacturing and in services sector, being the companies that operate in the manufacturing sector those which make a more intensive use of external sources.