The Impact of Institutional Pressure on Supply Chain Open Innovation in SMEs: The Mediating Role of Absorptive Capacity

This study analyses the mediating role of absorptive capacity and explores in depth the impact of institutional pressure on open innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Using structural equation modelling (SEM), based on 306 valid questionnaires, this study reveals that SMEs optimise knowledge acquisition, transformation and application through absorptive capacity. Research has shown that coercive and mimetic pressures can stimulate the knowledge management potential of SMEs and promote their open innovation activities, while normative pressures drive enterprises to focus more on compliance, limiting the possibility of knowledge being transformed into innovative results. This study expands the research on absorptive capacity and open innovation within the framework of knowledge management, providing a new perspective for enterprises to enhance their innovation capabilities through optimising knowledge management strategies in complex institutional environments. It also provides guidance for SMEs to design knowledge management practices based on absorptive capacity, helping them efficiently acquire, integrate and utilise knowledge resources in the face of external pressures to promote innovation and enhance competitiveness. This study will contribute in promoting industrial innovation and the integration and application of knowledge resources, thereby achieving SDG 9: industry, innovation and infrastructure, and SDG 17: partnerships for the goals.