Operating Successfully on a New Technological Path: The Effect of External Search

Stucki, Tobias; Woerter, Martin (2022). Operating Successfully on a New Technological Path: The Effect of External Search Sustainability, 14(2), p. 957. MDPI 10.3390/su14020957

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Switching to a new technological path is often a serious economic challenge for companies. Incumbents, in particular, are often led by their organizational routines, traditional technological orientation, and experience, and run the risk of losing contact with new technologies, which can decrease their competitiveness. We analyze whether opening up the innovation process to external knowledge partners can help to overcome such path dependence and enable firms to operate successfully on a new technological path. We develop a theoretical concept that shows the potential of external knowledge sources for operating successfully on a new technological path and test it empirically using the example of green technologies. Green technologies are not only relevant for addressing the current environmental problems, but they are also an example of a new technological path that is proving difficult for companies to switch to. Overall, we find strong direct effects of external (green) knowledge on green innovation success. The results even indicate that the direct effect of external knowledge tends to be larger for green than for non-green innovation.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	Business School > Institute for Sustainable Business Business School > Institute for Sustainable Business > Circular Economy Business School
Name:	Stucki, Tobias0000-0002-2400-0107 and Woerter, Martin
ISSN:	2071-1050
Publisher:	MDPI
Language:	English
Submitter:	Tobias Stucki
Date Deposited:	14 Jul 2023 16:56
Last Modified:	14 Jul 2023 16:56
Publisher DOI:	10.3390/su14020957
Uncontrolled Keywords:	energy technologies; green innovation; external search; open innovation; switching path; path dependence; technological path
ARBOR DOI:	10.24451/arbor.19644
URI:	https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/19644