Managing inter-organizational dependencies operation for discovering digital business model innovation in corporate innovation ecosystem

The relevance of innovation ecosystems and digital technologies exerts pressures on the business operations management concerning inter-organizational collaboration and competition. Society pays great attention to digital business models while there is very little research bringing the fields of inter-organizational operations and digital business model innovation (BMI) together. To clarify how inter-organizational dependencies affect digital BMI in a corporate innovation ecosystem, this study conducted an empirical study of 210 companies from a corporate innovation ecosystem in China based on optimal distinctiveness theory. The results show that: (1) Joint dependence positively affects digital BMI, while asymmetry dependence negatively affects digital business model innovation; (2) Routine updating mediates the relationship between inter-organizational dependencies and digital BMI; (3) Cross-border management capabilities moderate the positive effect of routine updating on digital BMI. The study provides theoretical and practical guidelines for the management of inter-organizational dependencies operation between enterprises in the corporate innovation ecosystem.