Do managerial ties support or stifle open innovation?

Purpose - Research investigating the role of factors affecting open innovation remains scarce. This paper thus examines the role of managerial ties in facilitating the two types of open innovation - inbound and outbound.Design/Methodology/Approach - Data are collected using the questionnaire survey method from 339 middle and top managers working in four high-tech industries in Malaysia.Findings - Results show that in most high-tech industries in Malaysia, managerial ties with universities and with government officials facilitate in-bound open innovation, while ties with managers at other firms do not significantly relate to it in any high-tech industry. Further, managerial ties are not found to relate significantly to out-bound open innovation in any high-tech industry except in the aerospace and electronics industries wherein ties with government officials relate negatively and positively to out-bound innovation, respectively.Practical Implications - This study provides empirical evidence about the managerial ties practitioners should and should not forge to succeed in the open innovation paradigm.Originality/Value - This study is probably the only study so far that gauges the impact of managerial ties on open innovation. The results of this study fill a major gap in the current open innovation theory besides providing insights for practitioners.

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