The Internet of Things: Building a knowledge management system for open innovation and knowledge management capacity

New disruptive technologies in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT), especially, are changing the manner in which knowledge is managed within organizations, calling for a new and inventive knowledge management system and an open approach, to foster knowledge flows. This pattern expectedly should also enhance the development of internal knowledge management capacity, which in turn is a prerequisite of firm's innovativeness. In this context, the main goal of this research is to investigate the relationship among knowledge management system, open innovation, knowledge management capacity and innovation capacity. To reach this goal, the research employs structural equation modelling on a sample of 298 Italian firms from different sectors. The findings indicate that knowledge management system facilitates the creation of open and collaborative ecosystems, and the exploitation of internal and external flows of knowledge, through the development of internal knowledge management capacity, which in turn increases innovation capacity. The research further draws on its findings to identify significant scholarly and managerial implications, and to prescribe future research directions. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.