Creativity and Innovation as Strategic Resources in International Business Markets

The objective of this study is to empirically validate the positive effect of collaborative process competence and the level of engagement on the operational and relational success of a collaborative effort. In the end we will show that collaborative process competence mediates the relationship between new technological processes and collaborative engagement, and positively influences both operational and relational outcomes. Building from two theoretical foundations, the knowledge-based (KBV) and relational views (RV) of the firms, we view collaboration as a mechanism to combine and deploy external and internal knowledge and skills, and examine how a specific capability – collaboration process competence – positively influences the operational and relational outcomes of such contractual collaborative initiatives. This research makes several empirical contributions to existing literature. Finally, we offer suggestions for managers to improve the effectiveness of inter-firm collaboration initiatives and discuss future research opportunities.