INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL NETWORKS FOR INNOVATIONS AND SUSTAINABILITY

The present Thesis is structured as a collection of three essays linked by one core idea: contributing to research knowledge on inter-organizational network dynamics in the context of innovation and the promotion of sustainability. In this Thesis, the author takes a systemic perspective and analyses the interactions between diverse groups of stakeholders, aiming to identify and interpret the logic underlying the formation of inter-organizational partnerships to promote innovation and sustainability. The dynamics of inter-organizational networks are influenced by several internal and external factors, such as strategic cooperation with stakeholders, structural changes (such as an R&I policy change), and exogenous shocks (such as COVID-19). The present work’s value is developing research inputs and providing empirical ground and methodological support for innovation management framed by inter-organizational networks and mission-oriented public policy evolution. The present work is divided into three main chapters, and their abstracts are presented below. Finally, the Thesis ends with conclusions that summarize the outputs of the empirical works. CHAPTER 1 An appropriate starting point to comprehend the inter-organizational networks for sustainability is to deepen the research knowledge on stakeholders’ role in sustainable innovation and disentangle the antecedents, management, and potential sustainable innovation outcomes. Using the Scopus database, we collected papers that represent works carried out in the field of sustainable innovation and stakeholders’ involvement in organizational practices for these innovations. Based on the data process selection method, we carry out a literature review of the 59 selected papers. This literature review aims to describe the sustainable innovation phenomena and offer a comprehensive overview of the knowledge produced on the theme to practitioners and policymakers So, this chapter presents an interpretative framework of extant literature and discuss the following questions related to the inter-organizational resource-management of sustainable innovation: (a) with whom to work; (b) when to work; (c) how to work together; (d) what challenges should organizations learn to face. Theoretical and practical business implications of the proposed framework are discussed. CHAPTER 2 This chapter aims to analyze the inter-organizational R&I collaboration network dynamics at a mesoscopic level as a consequence of an external environment change. In particular, the study’s empirical setting is the policy change that occurred when passing from the EU 7th Framework program (FP7) to the HORIZON 2020 program (H2020). This change’s effect on the patterns of evolution of the inter-organizational networks between financed actors is stressed. In such R&I context, inter-organizational networks play a particularly critical role as innovation catalysts. Using a dataset of more than 22,228 unique projects in FP7 and 22,153 in H2020, we constructed two collaboration networks. We apply network analysis as a research instrument to identify and measure the fundamental structural properties of networks. At the mesoscopic level, the resulting communities for both networks have been analyzed and compared. Results show that under a policy change, the Horizon 2020 network becomes more assortative than the FP7 network. Preferential attachment (reach-club phenomenon) between leading R&I institutions is demonstrated within the system. The network is supported by the sporadic participation of (many) new actors. Also, the work outcomes demonstrate three different architectures of inter-organizational connections that can define network dynamics: (i) persistent stability or knowledge concentration, (ii) expansion of clusters or knowledge spread, and (iii) merging effect or knowledge aggregation. With these results, we contribute to organizational and network theories by detecting and identifying structural patterns for innovation links in such a complex system as the EU framework program stressing the policy’s impact on them as a dynamics booster. CHAPTER 3 The last chapter examines the impact of an exogenous shock on an inter-organizational R&I network. We concentrate on healthcare public-private partnerships and investigate the history dependencies within them and how an exogenous shock such as COVID-19 fosters an evolution of the complex R&I network. In total, data of 2087 funded projects (FP7, HORIZON 2020, and Innovative Medicines Initiative) are involved in this study to understand the evolution process(es) these types of networks manifest under emergency conditions. The results demonstrate that the present crisis’s urgency shifts the healthcare sector to test new working paths. Two opposite behaviors of the actors in these networks are observable: (i) highly innovative partnerships and (ii) strong lock-in effects. Additionally, we state that non-EU countries demonstrated strong cooperation and co-creation openness under this exogenous shock. Furthermore, the urgency conditions in COVID-19 push policymakers to demonstrate vital flexibility and adaptability of the EU R&I call to the societal needs. Finally, it is possible to underline that network analysis is a powerful research tool for developing new knowledge regarding R&I cooperation evolution under external factors. Accordingly, this work provides a theoretical and an empirical framework for managing the inter-organizational innovation network based on a dynamic complex system theory perspective (Simon 1996; Sawyer, 2005). In particular, it is possible to mention the newly developed insight capable of describing the network’s dynamics through the meso and micro levels of analysis.