Establishing a typology of open innovation strategies and their differential impacts on innovation success in an Asia-Pacific developed economy

Firms use open innovation strategy to explore external knowledge or exploit internal knowledge to benefit their product/service innovations, and thus enhance their innovation performance. However, a lack of relational mechanisms makes it more difficult for collaborative partners to share their knowledge assets. Existing literature lacks a clear explanation of how knowledge and relational mechanisms simultaneously function for innovation success. In response, this study attempts to answer: (1) Can archetypes of open innovation strategies be identified by knowledge and relational mechanisms simultaneously? And, (2) Do they differ in their ability to predict innovation success under the condition of innovation process characteristics? An exploratory study of 78 open innovation firms reflects four archetypes of open innovation strategies. A subsequent cross-industry survey of 248 open innovation firms in Taiwan reveals that the four archetypes of open innovation strategies result in varying degrees of innovation success, and innovation process characteristics positively moderate such associations.