Introduction

Nowadays, the business environment is becoming more and more dynamic and uncertain requiring firms to continuously innovate within short periods of time. Further, technological products are requiring more and more distinct and numerous bodies of knowledge which increases the complexity of the production process. In order to gain competitive advantage, firms tend to outsource the innovation process strategically, as a whole or in part, to external players. Traditionally, the knowledge creation process was considered a firm's core capability to be kept internally, within its boundaries. However, due to the new rules of competition, firms have started to cooperate with external players in order to create new value and develop novel products. These emergent business tendencies have restructured different technology-oriented industries and reshaped the core capabilities of the firm. Indeed, the knowledge representing a critical input to the value creation process is becoming more dispersed over a network of interconnected organizations. Accordingly, a new governance structure has emerged to overcome the shortcomings raised by the wide-ranging multi-technological base of high-tech products. As a matter of fact, the extended enterprise (EE) is the result of an outsourcing strategy adopted by firms aiming mainly at reducing the complexity, increasing the creativeness, and lowering the cost of the innovation process. Thus, new core capabilities have emerged within the context of the EE, making the traditional core capabilities of a firm obsolete.