Gone fishing for knowledge? : The effect of strategic orientations on the scope of open knowledge search

Purpose – Firms need to reach out for external knowledge in order to keep up with the pace of the markets and to renew themselves. Although research on open innovation and open knowledge search strategies is continuously accumulating, there are as yet only few studies examining the antecedents of the decision to use various external knowledge sources for R&D and innovation. The purpose of this paper is to narrow this gap by examining the effects of firms' strategic orientations on the scope of their open knowledge search. Design/methodology/approach – This study builds on a cross‐industrial survey of Finnish firms in exploring the effects of three types of strategic orientations (customer relationship orientation, entrepreneurial orientation, and technology orientation) on the use of open knowledge search strategies. Findings – The results show that the customer relationship orientation is associated with the tendency of a firm to use a market‐driven knowledge search strategy. The technology orientation, on the other hand, is associated with science and generic knowledge‐driven strategies, whereas the entrepreneurial orientation is associated with the utilization of all the search strategies identified in the study. Practical implications – The value of various sources of external knowledge depends on the firm's strategic goals and the nature of the industry. Practising managers utilizing the results of this study should be better able to align their organizations in the desired direction in terms of open knowledge search. Originality/value – The results provide new evidence on firm‐specific heterogeneity in the use of external knowledge sources.