Purpose: Firms operating in contemporary hypercompetitive environments have to seek series of temporary advantages, sometimes requiring them to move beyond their current knowledge domains. The existing knowledge‐ and capability‐based views have certain shortcomings in terms of explaining...

Purpose: Prior research has confirmed the usefulness of both formal and informal protection mechanisms for governing knowledge flows. However, there is lack of research on the motivation and needs driving firms in their choice of mechanisms for each situation. The aim of this paper is to examine...