Abstract
In this world so dynamic and full of opportunities, firms need to face challenges in markets and technologies. One of the main assets that firms can use to address these challenges is innovation and one important aspect of innovation management is choosing between insourcing (make) or outsourcing (buy) innovation. Not only the historical and dichotomous make-or-buy perspective should be taken into account by firms, but also hybrid and plural sourcing views as well as the creation of strategic alliances. Thus, in the dilemma, there is a third opportunity for firms, i.e. collaboration. In this work, the joint impact that "making" (alone or opening to collaborations with other companies) or "buying" innovation may have on companies' performance has been investigated. For this study, an agent-based model and simulator characterized by heterogeneous firms that are organized as a directed random graph has been developed. Results show that the most convenient strategy for economic performance is the buying innovation strategy. The adoption of an agent-based model allows an understanding of emerging dynamics and their effect on performance. For managers and policy-makers, it suggests the need to see the innovation process with a comprehensive view, including the understanding not only of the technical knowledge of the product or process produced but also the resources that need to be used or acquired to make it.