Several streams of recent literature emphasize the advantages of involving external sources of innovation in the process of developing complex products (Powell et al., 1996; Helper et al., 2000; Sturgeon, 2002; Chesbrough, 2003). The question we tackle in the present article is 'What are the key micro...

Firms that develop complex products have a strong incentive to leverage the suppliers’ specialized knowledge. On the other hand, firms are often confronted with a trade-off between the benefits of leveraging external sources of innovation and the benefits of competence accumulation provided by...