Whom to Ask for What knowledge? A Comparison of Exchange Partners and Their Impact on Knowledge Types

From which sources does a firm acquire its knowledge? One of the most important key assets of a firm is its knowledge stock, which can be distinguished into different types of knowledge (e.g., market knowledge). This knowledge stock results from internal and/or from external sources such as exchange partners (e.g., customers). Our paper focuses on these external partners and investigates how the social capital residing in the relationships to these exchange partners is related to the creation of different types of knowledge. Thereby, this research generates practical guidelines for investing in a firm's network. Using data from 161 firms, the results show that (1) customers are the most important source for market knowledge, (2) regarding process, technological and organizational knowledge the combination of R&D partners and customers contributes the most, and (3) for product knowledge no single source being the most important knowledge contributor can be identified.