Knowledge network embeddedness, absorptive capacity and disruptive innovation performance: A comparative case study in open innovation arena

Knowledge network embeddedness describes the external institutional arrangement of a firm´s relationship with other firms to draw knowledge from external sources. Disruptive innovation has been a critical strategy to achieve indigenous technological innovations and catching-up in developing countries. The central tenet of our argument is that how well a disrupter performs is contingent upon the extent to which it is embedded in an inter-firm knowledge network. This present study try to unravel three dimensions of knowledge network embeddedness in order to understand in what specific ways it contributes to a firm´s disruptive innovation performance. We find that the embeddedness of the knowledge networks promotes disruptive innovation performance through absorptive capacity. Specifically, centrality in a knowledge network, trust between knowledge network partners and sharing goal & culture with knowledge network members do promote disruptive innovation performance through recognizing capacity. Based on four companies´ comparative case study results, some relationship hypothesis are proposed for deeper research, implications for management are discussed.