Open Innovation and KIBS Start-Ups: Technology- and Market-Based Alliance Portfolio Configurations

Firms are increasingly relying on combining internal resources with external knowledge to sustain firm renewal, which has led to open innovation being considered critical to a firm’s competitive advantage (Chesbrough, 2003). Successful open innovation produces first-mover advantages, superior financial returns, market growth, and market share (Lichtenhaler, 2011). In particular, knowledgeintensive business services (KIBS) start-ups—defined as “[new] expert companies that provide services to other companies and organizations” (Toivonen, 2006, 2)—rely on open innovation, as it is their primary knowledge input and output (Gallouj, 2002). However, KIBS start-ups are exposed to extant uncertainty because they face risk in the form of liability of newness, liability of smallness, and fundamental uncertainty. This uncertainty can be mitigated via a firm’s portfolio of alliance relationships (Ozcan and Eisenhardt, 2009).