Relational determinants of ambidextrous knowledge sharing in innovation networks of businesses

Collaboration activities in innovation networks enable actors to gain access to and share specialised knowledge. However, successful knowledge sharing requires specific mechanisms and interventions from managers. To study both the antecedents and effects of sharing ambidextrous knowledge in innovation networks, we conducted a survey among 100 mechanical engineering businesses engaged in such networks. Our results show that interaction supports ambidextrous knowledge sharing (i.e. a combination of exploitative and explorative knowledge sharing), whereas we merely find a significant effect of explorative knowledge sharing on joint innovation generation. In addition, the analysis reveals that interactions mediate the indirect effect of relational norms on exploitative and explorative knowledge sharing.