We build on and extend the literature in open innovation and absorptive capacity by showing that a firm’s functional areas are an important locus of innovation and learning, in contrast to most existing literature, which takes the firm as the unit of analysis. In particular, we argue that the...

We investigate the intra-organizational antecedents of firm-level absorptive capacity (AC). Specifically, we examine how the functional areas of R&D, manufacturing and marketing contribute to the absorption of knowledge coming from different external knowledge sources. The econometric results on...

In this paper, we explore the amount and impact of firms that can be considered being user innovators. Using the Swiss Innovation Survey, we identify a sample of innovative firms that we explore with regard to their commitment to R&D. We thereby create a measure for informal innovation—that...

In this paper we explore the concept of informal innovation by investigating it both on the input (activities) and output (impact) side of the innovation process. Informal innovation is defined as innovation that is not explicitly planned and budgeted and therefore remains largely hidden in...

We investigate the intra-organizational antecedents of firm-level absorptive capacity (AC). Specifically, we examine how the functional areas of R&D, manufacturing and marketing contribute to the absorption of knowledge coming from different external knowledge sources. The econometric results on...