Outbound open innovation, project performance and knowledge absorption capacity

Purpose Open innovation (OI) is based on inbound and outbound flows, which exhibit imbalance in the literature, with few publications addressing outbound flow. This research aims to study the impacts of two outbound OI approaches (inventive capacity and desorptive capacity) on project technical and market performance and to examine the moderator role that absorptive capacity (ACAP) plays in this relation. Design/methodology/approach This study is focused on the automotive industry, which includes 126 projects from different companies, and uses the PLS-SEM method to analyze the research model. Findings The results indicate that desorptive capacity has a greater positive impact on the technical and market project performance, compared to inventive capacity, which in turn has a negative relationship with technical performance and a moderately positive relationship with market performance. Furthermore, we find that while RACAP (Realized ACAP) moderates both the relationship between desorptive capacity and technical and market performance, PACAP (Potential ACAP) moderates only the relationship between inventive capacity and market performance. Practical implications This study sheds light on the differences between OI at the firm level and the project level. It is natural for project teams to work in partnership with other stakeholders to achieve innovation goals. Project managers in the automotive industry should realize that the knowledge outflow becomes more intense given the shared nature of the product development process. Originality/value Few studies currently study open innovation (OI) from knowledge outflow, and one of the reasons for this is that research focuses on firms rather than project teams. This research is oriented toward studying outbound OI from the development of desorptive and inventive capacity within the context of project teams. Furthermore, this study evaluates the moderating role of ACAP on the relationships between inventive/desorptive capacity and technical and market project performance.