Measuring revealing: An instrument for non-pecuniary outbound open innovation

Open innovation (OI) refers to the in- and out-bound flows of knowledge for financial gain or non-pecuniary reasons. Investigation into pecuniary and especially inbound innovation types has advanced rapidly and the relationships between these types of OI, organizational factors and innovation performance are now well understood. Non-pecuniary outbound OI has received less attention, perhaps because it is contrary to the expectation of capturing rents from innovation. Yet, knowledge sharing is critical to innovation and future value capture because it improves organizational learning through interaction with the external environment. In this paper we address this gap by following a four-step process to propose and validate a reliable scale of non-pecuniary outbound OI (revealing). Our findings indicate that revealing is reflected by five factors, namely complementary capabilities, diffusion, generosity, enhancement, and co-creation with other firms. We conclude by discussing how this scale can be used to a...