Inbound open innovation in biopharmaceutical firms: unpacking the role of absorptive capacity

In this study, we extend recent attempts to clarify the role of antecedents of absorptive capacity in realising purposive inflows of external knowledge in the biopharmaceutical industry. By assuming that internal R&D resources contribute to absorptive capacity as a multidimensional concept, we propose a framework for the integrated analysis of the interactions between the different antecedents of absorptive capacity and inbound open innovation of biopharmaceutical firms. Our analysis relies on a set-theoretic approach and uses fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to study a set of selected Italian biopharmaceutical firms. The analysis reveals that biopharmaceutical companies with a diversified R&D business domain and an extended entrepreneurial scientific network are likely to adopt an inbound open innovation strategy.