THE LINKAGE BETWEEN OPEN INNOVATION AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN VIETNAM

Abstract

This study investigates how open innovation contributes to digital transformation among publicly listed firms in Vietnam, a context characterized by limited resources and nascent digital capabilities. By enabling access to external knowledge and complementary assets, open innovation is expected to facilitate firms’ digital capability development and organizational adaptability. Drawing on an integrated theoretical framework that combines open innovation theory, the resource-based view, and dynamic capabilities theory, this  study analyzes survey data collected from 312 firms using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The data were collected over a 12-week period (October to December 2025) through online questionnaires distributed via Google Forms and Qualtrics. The findings provide robust empirical evidence that open innovation has a positive and significant effect on digital transformation. In contrast, firm size and industry type do not significantly moderate this relationship. This research contributes to literature by empirically bridging open innovation and digital transformation within a unified framework, while highlighting the strategic role of external knowledge in enhancing digital capabilities in emerging market contexts.