Firm's openness and innovation in Industry 4.0

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of firms' features on innovation performance in Industry 4.0, focusing on the concepts of breadth and depth of openness in the innovation process.Design/methodology/approachUsing data gathered from 96 firms active in Industry 4.0 (I4.0) in Italy, a Poisson regression analysis is conducted to investigate the relationship between the openness of firms' innovation processes at the level of knowledge sources and their innovation performance in I4.0.FindingsThe results highlight the relationship between the level of openness and innovative performance in I4.0. In particular, the breadth of the openness of the innovation process of enterprises is curvilinearly related to innovation in I4.0, taking an inverted U-shape.Practical implicationsManagers of firms operating in I4.0 should consider openness as a strategic response to the knowledge requirements and risks associated with the innovation process in complex technologies.Originality/valueThrough the questionnaires administered mainly to highly qualified individuals, an original and unique database has been created with information on the openness of the innovative process and the innovation performances in I4.0.