Purpose: The study aims to test the success of university-industry (U-I) collaboration in terms of innovation process efficiency. Then, this study explores the moderating role of a set of organizational routines in the U-I relationship, which can help in overcoming the issues undermining the collaboration success.

Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on an international Open Innovation (OI) survey. The survey investigated the items to build the main variables of the conceptual framework, measured through seven-point Likert scales. Steps to ensure the reliability and validity of the variables were conducted. Then, hypotheses were tested with an ordinary least squares regression.

Findings: Results show that the higher the collaboration intensity (depth) with universities, the higher the innovation process efficiency. Furthermore, organizational routines aimed at improving firms' assimilation absorptive capacity further strengthen the positive effects of intensive collaboration on innovation process efficiency.

Practical implications: Findings indicate that R&D managers should strive to build deep collaborations with universities to enhance process efficiency and invest in the quality of these relationships. Managers should create and maintain an internal environment that further enhances the positive effects of intensive collaboration on innovation process efficiency.

Originality/value: The OI literature has not reached a shared view on the positive contribution of universities toward industrial firms' innovation performance. The study adopts a process-efficiency view, rarely used by other OI studies usually focused on output indicators; this study unpacks, respectively, the role of the intensity of collaboration and the organizational routines, thus disclosing the benefit of U-I collaboration on innovation efficiency.

Despite the recent proliferation of research on blockchain, the existing literature is widely dispersed and lacks a comprehensive understanding of the integration of blockchain in impacting environmental and social sustainability. The purpose of our review is to synthesize previous research on the intersection of blockchain and sustainability. In our systematic review, we integrate and reconcile existing research on blockchain and sustainability by presenting antecedents and outcomes of blockchain integration and how blockchain is leveraged to achieve environmental and social impacts. We also propose a future research agenda to advance our knowledge of blockchain’s role in enhancing organizations’ sustainability efforts.

Industry 4.0 digital technologies are becoming indispensable for firms striving to enhance their supply chain capabilities and financial performance, but how these relationships play out in practice remains unclear. To address this issue, this study assesses the relationship between supply chain integration, supply chain agility, and financial performance from a dynamic capability perspective. Further analyses are conducted to establish whether Industry 4.0 digital technologies moderate the association between (a) supply chain integration and supply chain agility and (b) supply chain agility and financial performance. Findings based on the data pertaining to a sample of 274 Swedish manufacturing firms indicate that supply chain agility fully mediates the link between supply chain integration and financial performance. However, while Industry 4.0 digital technologies strengthen the effect of supply chain agility on financial performance, they do not moderate the relationship between supply chain integration and supply chain agility. These findings contribute to the ongoing debate regarding how digital technologies play a role in achieving competitive advantage in interplay with dynamic capabilities related to the supply chain. These findings are relevant for decision-makers, as they address the need for organisational adjustments beyond the mere introduction of Industry 4.0 technologies to fully reap their benefits.

Blockchain research has proliferated in recent years, attracting more attention from academics and practitioners. However, the current body of management literature is widely scattered and lacks a comprehensive view of how the use of blockchain in organisations impacts environmental and social sustainability. To bridge this gap, our review comprehensively examines 238 academic papers sourced from the Scopus database, synthesising previous research on the convergence of blockchain and sustainability. Employing a systematic approach and incorporating bibliometric analysis, our study provides an analysis of the current management research landscape concerning blockchain and sustainability. Our study yields a comprehensive model comprising the antecedents, blockchain mechanisms, and sustainability outcomes of the use of blockchain in organisations. Based on our literature review, we establish a future research agenda and provide practical implications. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

This study investigates the role of knowledge-sharing between supply chain actors in facilitating their adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies, identifying factors that hinder or promote such knowledge-sharing. Drawing on an in-depth single case study, including 19 interviews with a manufacturing firm in the German automotive industry and five of the suppliers and customers in the focal firm’s supply chain, the study identifies the following knowledge-sharing approaches that facilitate the adoption of Industry 4.0: 1) knowledge-sharing through principles; 2) upstream flow of knowledge; 3) strategic positioning; and 4) application-relatedness. These approaches are shown to be influenced both by company-related factors and relational factors. Applying a knowledge-based view of the firm, this study addresses a gap in current research by investigating the role of knowledge-sharing in adopting Industry 4.0 from the perspectives not only of a single focal firm but also of upstream and downstream suppliers and customers in the supply chain. In presenting approaches to knowledge-sharing that promote the implementation of Industry 4.0 based on a firm's existing resources, this study is also of direct relevance to practitioners.

The aim of this study is to examine the implications of knowledge collaboration in open innovation and the role of digital technology therein. The paper draws on a survey of manufacturing firms from Italy, Sweden, France and Spain. The results show that knowledge collaboration with external partners has a significant effect on innovation novelty but not on innovation efficiency. In addition, the results show that digital technology moderates the relationship between knowledge collaboration and innovation efficiency but not the relationship between knowledge collaboration and innovation novelty. Overall, this study contributes to the growing discussion about the benefits of adopting digital technologies in open innovation processes by investigating whether and under which conditions knowledge collaboration is beneficial.

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the relationship between supply integration and firm performance by first, investigating the mediating effects of manufacturing flexibility and mass customization; and second, exploring the moderating role of innovation orientation on the link between internal capabilities and performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Resource orchestration and contingency theories are used to address the mediating and moderating effects. A cross-sectional data set on 242 Swedish manufacturers is used to test for the hypotheses using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The findings provide support for the mediating roles of manufacturing flexibility and mass customization in the relationship between supply integration and firm performance. However, the results point to contrasting contingent effects of innovation orientation. While innovation orientation positively moderates the association between mass customization and firm performance, it shows a negative impact on the link between flexibility and performance.

Research limitations/implications

The study contributes to the literature on the integrative activities with upstream supply chain actors. Specifically, the authors highlight how specific capability configurations comprising of supply integration, manufacturing flexibility and mass customization lead to firm performance. Moreover, the authors provide insights on the contingency role of innovation, especially if firms consider flexibility or customization capabilities.

Originality/value

While the individual impacts of flexibility and customization on performance have been addressed previously, there is a paucity of research on how these two capabilities are integrated with supply integration. Moreover, there is little known regarding the role of innovation orientation on these integrated relationships.

Dynamic capabilities such as flexibility are considered influential in achieving superior performance, especially under uncertain circumstances. Among others, postponement is a well-established concept in operations and supply chain management (OSCM) and has been regarded as a key concept in managing supply and demand while increasing flexibility. This study investigates the effect of postponement on logistics flexibility, and that of the latter on retail firm performance. In addition, the moderating roles of logistics integration and demand uncertainty on these relationships are investigated. The study utilizes a quantitative survey and draws on a sample of 261 retailers in Sweden. Logistics flexibility proves to have a mediating role in the postponement–performance relationship. Furthermore, we provide support for the direct effect that postponement can have on logistics flexibility, and the subsequent effect of logistics flexibility on retail firm performance. We contribute by simultaneously studying postponement and logistics flexibility in the retailing context. We find conditional support for the moderating roles of logistics integration and demand uncertainty. The results show that for medium levels of uncertainty, the positive relationship between postponement and logistics flexibility, as well as logistics flexibility and firm performance, are intensified. From a practical standpoint, the findings underline that in the presence of high or low demand uncertainty, applying postponement may not always be beneficial in achieving logistics flexibility, and subsequently better performance. Moreover, if retailers prioritize logistics integration, they should not always expect superior performance gains from the flexibility benefits of postponement.