Beating around the bush over knowledge sabotage: the fatal flaw in increasing digital innovation ecosystem performance through innovation capability under technological turbulence

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this article is to analyze the mediating role of innovation capability—both radical and incremental—between technological turbulence and digital innovation ecosystem performance, considering the impact of cross-organizational knowledge sabotage. Despite the enthusiasm surrounding digitization, the high failure rate (80%) of digital transformation projects has received limited attention. This alarming statistic indicates a potential rise in opportunistic behaviors within organizations. We hypothesize that employees seeking to reduce the risk of being displaced by digital technologies, may not only hide knowledge, as previously observed, but also engage in knowledge sabotage by disseminating inaccurate information during the co-creation of digital innovations within the digital innovation ecosystem.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employed structural equation modeling to examine moderated mediation using survey data collected from 148 firms, mainly from sectors of high to medium levels of digital intensity.

Findings

The most significant finding indicates that cross-organizational knowledge sabotage considerably reduces the only mediating effect, namely that of incremental innovation capability.

Originality/value

Our study presents a novel perspective by investigating the phenomenon of cross-organizational knowledge sabotage. Unlike prior research, which primarily identified the existence of knowledge hiding, our findings suggest that employees are not only willing to withhold information but also to disseminate inaccurate information to external partners. Consequently, our research extends the boundaries of the existing knowledge field by demonstrating that cross-organizational knowledge sabotage has repercussions that extend beyond intra-organizational impacts, as previously recognized. It also adversely affects the outcomes of collaborative work within the digital innovation ecosystem.