Technological knowledge co-creation strategies in the world of open innovation

Abstract

This paper explores the role, patterns, and characteristics of technological knowledge co-creation in a cross-organizational setting and examines the relationship between ownership structure and the value of co-created technological knowledge. The empirical results reveal an upward trend in the share of co-created technological knowledge from 1976 to 2008 and show that co-created technological knowledge is more exploratory and pioneering and has shorter technology cycle times (TCTs) than solely created knowledge. Our findings also indicate that the technological knowledge that firms co-create with other firms or with universities is significantly correlated with shorter TCTs and higher numbers of forward citations. Overall, this paper provides new evidence regarding the importance of cross-organizational technological knowledge co-creation.