Inside-out and outside-in orientations: A meta-analysis of orientation's effects on innovation and firm performance

Abstract

The inside-out and outside-in orientations place differing levels of emphasis on internal versus external resources and capabilities as sources of competitive advantage. While the inside-out orientation primarily considers organizational resources, followed by competitors and customers (implicitly), the outside-in orientation appears to reverse the order by first examining customers and competitors and then the degree to which the firm responds to them, implicitly addressing organizational resources. Existing empirical evidence does not clarify the comparative effects of inside-out and out-side in orientations on innovation performance. This paper draws on 232 independent studies (N=. 38,051..