Open Innovation Environments as Knowledge Sharing Enablers: the case of STIM Consortium

Purpose: This study aims at understanding how OI environments can help organizations in implement knowledge sharing practices defusing knowledge sharing barriers. Design/methodology/approach: An in-depth case study analysis on the Strategic Technology & Innovation Management (STIM) Consortium at the Institute of Manufacturing of the University of Cambridge was performed during the 2019 and 2020 STIM Programme editions. To analyze data, we employed the interpretive structural model on a sample of 20 managers belonging to the STIM consortium and we followed an exploratory in-depth case study analysis to validate the results. Findings: Our findings shed light on the role of OI environment in defusing knowledge sharing barriers in the process of inter-organizational knowledge sharing. Originality/value: Notwithstanding the importance of knowledge sharing practice among organizations, only a few studies have recognized and investigated how the role played by OI arrangement in enhancing knowledge sharing practices.