Containing the Not-Invented-Here Syndrome in external knowledge absorption and open innovation: The role of indirect countermeasures

This paper builds new theory and provides supporting evidence to contain the Not-Invented-Here Syndrome (NIHS) – a persistent decision-making error arising from an attitude-based bias against external knowledge. Conceptually, we draw on the 4i framework of organizational learning to develop a novel process perspective on NIHS. This allows us not only to unpack how and where NIHS impedes organizational learning, but also to identify the key requirements for effective NIHS countermeasures. Importantly, countermeasures fall into two categories: those that seek to change the negative attitude directly (direct NIHS countermeasures) and those that seek to attenuate the behavioral impact of negative attitudes without addressing the attitudes as such (indirect NIHS countermeasures). While the evidence base on direct NIHS countermeasures has grown over the last decade, indirect NIHS countermeasures have received little research attention. To address this gap, we adopt a mixed methods research design composed of two complementary empirical studies – the first qualitative and the second quantitative. Study 1 explores the prevalence of distinct NIHS countermeasures in collaborative R&D practice. Based on 32 interviews and three focus group meetings with R&D employees, we find that a broad array of primarily direct NIHS countermeasures is employed in R&D practice. Study 2 addresses the scarcity of scholarly and managerial insights on indirect NIHS countermeasures by testing the effectiveness of perspective taking as a debiasing technique to contain negative attitudes at the level of the individual. Based on quantitative survey data from 565 global R&D projects, it provides empirical evidence not only for the prevalence and negative effects of NIHS on project success as mediated by external knowledge absorption, but also for the effectiveness of perspective taking as an exemplary indirect NIHS countermeasure.