Institutional pressure and open innovation: the moderating effect of digital knowledge and experience-based knowledge

Purpose When considering the influence of external social, technical and political environments on organizations’ open innovation behavior, especially in emerging markets, institutional theory is especially salient. This study aims to answer the question of how to integrate organizations’ external institutional pressures and internal knowledge structure to mitigate the challenges in the open innovation process. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a sample of 2,126 observations from the 2012 World Bank Enterprise Survey. A multivariate regression model is designed to explore the impact of external institutional pressure (i.e. coercive pressure, mimetic pressure and normative pressure) on open innovation, as well as the moderating effect of digital knowledge and experience-based knowledge. Findings The results show that institutional pressure has a positive role in promoting open innovation; digital knowledge weakens the positive relationship between institutional pressure and open innovation; experience-based knowledge strengthens the positive relationship between institutional pressure (especially coercive pressure) and open innovation. Originality/value This study combines institutional theory and knowledge management to enriches insights into open innovation in emerging markets. Beyond recognizing the inherent multidimensionality of the concept of institutional pressure, this study creates an integrated path for the legitimacy acquiring of enterprises through the knowledge structure design (i.e. digital knowledge and experience-based knowledge). It also deepens the institutional pressure to enable the implementation of digital knowledge to manage open innovation processes.