Français Open Innovation and Digital Transformation: The Mediating Role of Digital Capabilities in Organizational Renewal

Abstract

The digital transformation of firms can no longer be reduced to the adoption of technologies. It involves changes in processes, skills, coordination mechanisms, organizational structures, and value-creation mechanisms. In this context, access to external knowledge, technologies, and capabilities can constitute an important resource for organizations seeking to renew their capabilities. This article proposes a conceptual framework to explain how Open Innovation can contribute to digital transformation through digital capabilities. Drawing on the literature on Open Innovation, digital capabilities, digital transformation, and dynamic capabilities, the article views Open Innovation as an openness-based logic that enables firms to access and combine external resources, while digital capabilities constitute the organizational mechanism through which these resources are integrated and mobilized. Digital transformation is therefore considered the organizational outcome of this process. The proposed model establishes three direct relationships—Open Innovation → digital capabilities, digital capabilities → digital transformation, and Open Innovation → digital transformation—as well as a mediating relationship involving digital capabilities. Collaboration with startups is considered a specific mode of Open Innovation rather than a distinct structural construct. The main contribution therefore lies in conceptualizing digital capabilities as a conversion mechanism linking external openness to internal renewal. The proposed framework provides a basis for future empirical validation, particularly in SMEs and emerging economies.