The role of learning capability in market-oriented firms in the context of open innovation-based technology acquisition: empirical evidence from the Korean manufacturing sector

Abstract

Open innovation (OI) is becoming an increasingly important paradigm for successful technological innovation. Although many studies have explored how firms' learning capability and market orientation individually enable technological innovation, few have examined them together in the context of OI-based technology acquisition (OITA). To address this important issue, this study investigates the causal relationships among firms' learning capability, market orientation, and OITA, and explores how these relationships influence firms' technological innovation. The study tests its proposed conceptual model through a survey of Korean manufacturing firms. The results indicate that OITA influences firms' technological innovation, that market orientation is a precondition for establishing learning capability, and that market orientation influences OITA through that learning capability. This study contributes to the OI literature by providing empirical evidence of how firms can enhance their innovation potential through their learning capability and market orientation.