The path for open innovation in manufacturing supply chains is formed by a management mindset that values the potential for innovation from external resources. This orientation is driven by awareness level of external resources and by willingness to engage those resources. When awareness and willingness are high, the resulting integrative orientation promotes connection between external knowledge and internal capabilities for process innovation. This research asked the question: What are the conditions that impact on forming a connection of external knowledge resources with internal capabilities for accomplishing process innovation in manufacturing supply chains? The evidence suggests that conditions that create awareness of external resources and willingness to engage external resources drive management orientations toward external knowledge and can influence connections between external resources and internal capabilities for process innovation. The orientations synthesized from this examination of manufacturing supply chains may be generalizable to other contexts, but more thorough study would be needed. Future Research Some possible future research areas include evaluating best practices for open innovation in manufacturing supply chains, exploring failures of open innovation in supply chains, understanding how knowledge flows are converted into actionable innovations, and discovering antecedents to the awareness and willingness conditions discussed in this paper.
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