Exploring the relationship between network position and innovation performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-111
Author(s):  
Min Li ◽  
Fangbin Xiao ◽  
Yang Cheng ◽  
Bi-Jun Xie ◽  
Chen-Yun Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Innovation Performance ◽  
Jiangxi Province ◽  
Central Position ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Structural Holes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Network Position ◽  
The One ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This paper aims to attempt to explore the influence of network position on innovation performance, specifically for companies from a less-developed area in China. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a social network analysis method based on the data of high and new tech companies from Jiangxi province, China. It relies on Ucinet 6.212 software for data processing. Findings The present work, on the one hand, reveals that a high and new tech company from Jiangxi province tends to achieve better innovation performances if it is in the central position of its social network. On the other hand, it indicates that the same type of company from the same area does not always accomplish better innovation performance, even it possesses more structural holes. Originality/value The conclusions of this paper suggest that a high and new tech company from a less-developed area in China should build up its position closer to the center when constructing a social network. Meanwhile, the company should also exert more effort into managing its networks, as only building structural holes offers little help with operations besides showing that it has a broad social network.

How does network position influence project performance in Chinese megaprojects? An inter-organizational conflict-based perspective

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cong Liu ◽  
Jiming Cao ◽  
Guangdong Wu ◽  
Xianbo Zhao ◽  
Jian Zuo
Keyword(s):  
Project Performance ◽  
Network Governance ◽  
Task Conflict ◽  
Relationship Conflict ◽  
Organizational Conflict ◽  
Structural Holes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Network Position ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This study aims to explore the relationship between network position, various types of inter-organizational conflicts and project performance in the context of megaprojects. Design/methodology/approach Centrality and structural holes were used to represent network position. A theoretical model was developed, and a structured questionnaire survey was conducted with construction professionals involved in megaprojects. A total of 291 valid responses were obtained, which were analyzed via structural equation modeling. Findings The results showed that centrality negatively impacts project performance, while structural holes do not significantly impact project performance. Centrality negatively affects task conflicts, but positively affects process conflicts and relationship conflicts. Structural holes positively impact task conflicts, but negatively impact both process conflicts and relationship conflicts. Task conflict and relationship conflict exert constructive and destructive effects on project performance, respectively, while process conflict does not significantly impact project performance. Task conflict and relationship conflict play mediating roles. Task conflict weakens while relationship conflict strengthens the relationship between centrality and project performance. Task conflict strengthens while relationship conflict weakens the relationship between structure hole and project performance. Research limitations/implications This study provides a reference for the implementation of network governance, inter-organizational conflict management and project performance management in megaprojects. However, the impact of dynamic changes of inter-organizational conflicts and network position on project performance has not been discussed in the context of megaprojects. Future research may explore the impact of dynamic changes of conflicts and network position on project implementation. Originality/value This study increases the current understanding of the impact of network position on project performance. Moreover, a new direction for network governance in the context of megaprojects is provided. This study also verified both the constructive and destructive effects of conflicts and the mediating role they play, thus supplementing the literature on inter-organizational conflict management in the construction field.

Why “they” occupies the critical network positions?

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Hsing (Sam) Liu ◽  
Bernard Gan ◽  
Yucheng Eason Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Business Management ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Network Position ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to draw on social network theory to develop a new theoretical model to explain how experience and leadership influence critical network position. Broad analyses of the mediating role of leadership between experience and critical network position calls attention to the need to investigate the direct relationship between leadership and critical network position. Empirical examinations of the roles of leadership and experience within the social network context are lacking. The authors seeks to fill this gap by constructing a new theoretical model and testing it in the knowledge-intensive sector. Design/methodology/approach – The authors made 3,356 observations involving 427 faculty members in business and management departments in Taiwanese universities. To test the model, the authors performed two different regression models using the Baron and Kenny (1986) procedure and the Sobel test. Findings – The results that the authors obtained lead to three conclusions. First, scholars’ experience positively relates to leadership in grouping the followers toward the common goal and to their publications. Second, scholars’ leadership predicts occupying the critical network position, which, in turn, facilitates acquiring more information and resources. Third, experience relates to critical network position through influence on personal leadership. Research limitations/implications – Although the insights gained from the study are important in theoretical and empirical implications, this study has its limitations. The research examined the professional interaction networks of business management scholars of Taiwanese universities. Although the authors believe that the findings are generalizable to other fields of similar phenomena settings, there are also settings where the generalizability of the study is probably quite limited. Future research could study samples in other fields, such as biomedical research and chemical research, and samples in other knowledge-intensive industries. Practical implications – The results imply that managers can reap the benefits of their leadership either informal or informal organizations by occupying a critical position to control the flow of resources and information. In other words, the results indicate that leadership can be developed through experience. As well, leadership plays an important mediating role between experience and critical network positions. This may seem to contradict the evidence from research on network concepts and resources control, which primarily draws attention to leadership being a helpful quality for those in critical network positions. Originality/value – This research extends beyond previous studies that focussed on the value of critical network positions. Furthermore, the paper also examines how the relationship between prior relevant experience and leadership plays a role in academic network settings. To the authors’ knowledge, no studies explore this perspective. Finally, studies that examine the relationship between business management academic networks and different methodology used to measures the network position are few in number, and those that use such longitudinal empirical work are particularly lacking. This study addresses these issues.

HRM practices and innovation performance: a panel-data approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 354-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirta Diaz-Fernandez ◽  
Mar Bornay-Barrachina ◽  
Alvaro Lopez-Cabrales
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Behavior ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Innovation Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Hrm Practices ◽  
Longitudinal Study Design ◽  
The One ◽  
Hr Managers ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and innovation performance in Spanish manufacturing firms. The paper focuses on the number of existing patents, analyzing the extent to which this variable is favored by HRM practices. It will also assess the extent to which patents explain the firm performance and mediate in the relationship between the latter and HRM practices. Design/methodology/approach The objective is to assess these relationships using the Spanish Survey of Industrial Strategic Behavior. The longitudinal analysis focuses on the years between 2001 and 2008, a period of great economic growth in Spain. Findings The findings show that the most innovative firms were also the most competitive ones. Furthermore, employment security positively affects innovations over time and training on new technologies is associated with the number of patents, when overall compensation practices are high. Practical implications This study demonstrated the existence of two objectives that HR managers should be aiming at. On the one hand, the development of patents should be a priority for obtaining better results over time. On the other hand, management should invest in HRM practices because they favor innovation and are neither a waste of time nor resources. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature, surpassing the limitations of previous research, by assessing the role of HRM practices in innovation and company outcomes and by using a longitudinal study design.

Constructing the social network prediction model based on data mining and link prediction analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 320-333
Author(s):  
Yuxian Gao
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Link Prediction ◽  
Prediction Method ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Community Mining ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to apply link prediction to community mining and to clarify the role of link prediction in improving the performance of social network analysis. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the 2009 version of Enron e-mail data set provided by Carnegie Mellon University was selected as the research object first, and bibliometric analysis method and citation analysis method were adopted to compare the differences between various studies. Second, based on the impact of various interpersonal relationships, the link model was adopted to analyze the relationship among people. Finally, the factorization of the matrix was further adopted to obtain the characteristics of the research object, so as to predict the unknown relationship. Findings The experimental results show that the prediction results obtained by considering multiple relationships are more accurate than those obtained by considering only one relationship. Research limitations/implications Due to the limited number of objects in the data set, the link prediction method has not been tested on the large-scale data set, and the validity and correctness of the method need to be further verified with larger data. In addition, the research on algorithm complexity and algorithm optimization, including the storage of sparse matrix, also need to be further studied. At the same time, in the case of extremely sparse data, the accuracy of the link prediction method will decline a lot, and further research and discussion should be carried out on the sparse data. Practical implications The focus of this research is on link prediction in social network analysis. The traditional prediction model is based on a certain relationship between the objects to predict and analyze, but in real life, the relationship between people is diverse, and different relationships are interactive. Therefore, in this study, the graph model is used to express different kinds of relations, and the influence between different kinds of relations is considered in the actual prediction process. Finally, experiments on real data sets prove the effectiveness and accuracy of this method. In addition, link prediction, as an important part of social network analysis, is also of great significance for other applications of social network analysis. This study attempts to prove that link prediction is helpful to the improvement of performance analysis of social network by applying link prediction to community mining. Originality/value This study adopts a variety of methods, such as link prediction, data mining, literature analysis and citation analysis. The research direction is relatively new, and the experimental results obtained have a certain degree of credibility, which is of certain reference value for the following related research.

External technology acquisition, exploitation and process innovation performance in emerging market small and medium sized enterprises: the moderating role of organizational slack

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thammanoon Charmjuree ◽  
Yuosre F. Badir ◽  
Umar Safdar
Keyword(s):  
Open Innovation ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Innovation Performance ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Technology Acquisition ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Unabsorbed Slack ◽  
Positive Effect

PurposeThis study is among the very few to examine the firm's simultaneous use of both dimensions of open innovation and its influences on the firm's process innovation performance (PIP). Specifically, the authors consider the relationship between firm's external technology acquisition (ETA) and external technology exploitation (ETE) and examine their direct, indirect and mediating effect on the firm's PIP. The authors also examine the moderating effect of the organizations' unabsorbed slack (UASL) on the relationship between ETA and ETE.Design/methodology/approachAnalyzing data collected from 311 small- and medium-sized software development firms in emerging market; Thailand, we show that both ETA and ETE have a positive effect on PIP and that ETE fully mediates the relationship between ETA and PIP.FindingsThe authors show that both ETA and ETE have a positive effect on PIP and that ETE fully mediates the relationship between ETA and PIP. Moreover, the relationship between ETA and ETE is positively moderated by the firms' unabsorbed slack (UASL) and that the influence of ETA on PIP through ETE is stronger under higher unabsorbed slack.Originality/valueThe authors extend the “traditional” performance outcome of outbound dimension of open innovation concept, which focuses exclusively on commercialization and market (Chesbrough, 2003b), by showing that ETE positively influences the firm's PIP. Moreover, the study explains the mechanism through which ETA influence the firm's PIP by proposing that ETE fully mediates the relationship between ETA and PIP.

Regional government R&D investment and innovation performance: the moderating effect of geographical and organizational proximities

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongyun Zhu ◽  
Bingfen Xu
Keyword(s):  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Innovation Performance ◽  
Regional Government ◽  
Multilevel Regression ◽  
Regional Innovation ◽  
Government Investment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Proximity ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
D Investment

Purpose This study aims to measure the moderating effect of geographical and organizational proximity by focusing on readily available Chinese regional economic data over a five-year period. Design/methodology/approach The authors used multilevel regression analysis to analyze the relationship. Findings Results show that increasing government investment in research and development (R&D) can improve innovation performance during this period, organizational proximity and geographic proximity have a positive moderate effect on the relationship between R&D investment and Innovation performance. Originality/value This study enriches the existing theories on government innovation input and output from the perspective of regional differences and provides meaningful guidance for current Chinese regional innovation policies.

Intellectual capital and performance of listed companies: empirical evidence from Italy

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domenico Celenza ◽  
Fabrizio Rossi
Keyword(s):  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Listed Companies ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Performance ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The One ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between corporate performance and Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAICTM) on the one hand, and the relationship between the variations in market value and the variations in VAIC on the other hand. Design/methodology/approach – Starting from the VAIC model, 23 Italian listed companies were examined with the aim of investigating the relationship between VAIC and the performance of the firms in the sample. The analysis was divided into two stages. In the first stage, eight models of linear regression were estimated to verify the presence of a positive and statistically significant relationship between M/BV and VAIC and between accounting performance indicators (ROE, ROI, ROS) and the VAIC. In the second stage, six other models were tested, considering as an independent variable the variations in VAIC and the variations in profitability indicators. Findings – The outcomes of the application stress the importance of VAIC in the explanation of the variations in MV and its role as “additional coefficient” in the analysis of equity performance. Originality/value – This methodology highlights some very interesting aspects. In particular, whereas the relationship between M/BV and VAIC and between profitability indicators (ROI, ROE, ROS) and VAIC is statistically insignificant, the subsequent analysis highlights the importance of VAIC as a variable capable of increasing the explanatory power of the regression in a cross-sectional perspective.

scholarly journals Innovative search, capability reconfiguration and firm innovation performance in the process of technological leapfrogging

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pan Hu ◽  
Ying Wang ◽  
Tao Feng ◽  
Yuxin Duan
Keyword(s):  
Local Search ◽  
Boundary Spanning ◽  
Innovation Performance ◽  
Firm Innovation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Search ◽  
Enterprise Innovation ◽  
Technological Leapfrogging ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Search Capability

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate three issues: how does an innovative search (local search and boundary-spanning search) impact firm innovation performance of latecomers; how does capability reconfiguration (capability evolution and capability substitution) mediates the relationship between innovative search and firm innovation performance; and how does the technological leapfrogging process (initial stage, following stage, synchronization stage and leading stage) moderate the relationship between capability reconfiguration and firm innovation performance. Design/methodology/approach A “resource-capability-performance” theoretical framework was developed to explore the relationships between local/boundary-spanning search, capability reconfiguration and firm innovation performance. The data were collected by sending out surveys to managers and employees in various industries in mainland China. These hypotheses were tested using structural equation models and hierarchical regressions. Findings The results showed that: innovative search has a direct causal relationship to capability reconfiguration; local search and boundary-spanning search are conducive to improve the innovation performance of latecomers; the impact of local search and boundary-spanning search on innovation performance is realized through the completion of mediating role of capability reconfiguration; there are differences in the path of local search and boundary-spanning search affecting the capability reconfiguration of enterprise innovation performance; and the relationship between innovative search, capability reconfiguration and enterprise innovation performance evolves with the enterprise in different stages of technological leapfrogging. Originality/value This study explores the relationship and the path of innovative search to firm innovation performance and analyzes the path difference between local search and boundary-spinning search, which enriches the research of organizational search and enterprise innovation. This paper reveals the whole path of innovative search affecting innovation performance, discusses the important role of capability reconfiguration and makes incremental contributions to dynamic capability theory. It studies the evolution of innovative search on innovation performance under the background of technological leapfrogging, which provides a new perspective for the study of organizational search and capability-based theory.

The synergistic effect of ego-network stability and whole network position: a perspective of transnational coopetition network

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guan Feiyang ◽  
Wang Tienan ◽  
Sun Linbing ◽  
Tang Liqing
Keyword(s):  
Synergistic Effect ◽  
Network Performance ◽  
Specific Situation ◽  
Network Stability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Stable Relationship ◽  
Structural Hole ◽  
Network Position ◽  
Competitive Aggressiveness ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe authors selected global automobile manufacturing firms whose sales ranked within 100 in the five years from 2014 to 2018 in the Factiva database to examine how the characteristics of a firm's whole network and ego-network in a transnational coopetition network influence network performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyzed the public news of the sample firms about the coopetition by structural content analysis to build the coopetition networks and access to data on the competitive actions of firms. Then, to measure the variables associated with the coopetition network, such as the structural hole, centrality and ego-network stability, the authors use UCINET 6 that is a widely used piece of software for social network analysis to establishing five undirected binary adjacency matrices.FindingsThe authors find that a firm's competitive aggressiveness mediates the relationship between a firm's whole network position and network performance that emphasizes the need for integrating competitive dynamics research and coopetition research and shows how valuable insights can be gained through such integration. And the interaction of structural hole and centrality impacts competitive aggressiveness and network performance, and the interaction is different under high and low ego-network stability. The integration of whole network and ego-network literature studies provides new insights into firm network literature.Practical implicationsIn the process of cooperation, firms should consider whether they can occupy the structural hole and center as important indicators for partner selection. Too stable relationship will prevent firms from obtaining new resources. Firms should weigh the period of cooperation according to specific situation.Originality/valueThese results indicate that ego-network stability, as an important complementary characteristic of coopetition network, has a significant synergistic effect with structural holes and centrality on competitive aggressiveness and network performance. And these findings expand the current literature on the relationship between characteristics of network, competitive aggressiveness and network performance.

FinTech innovation and knowledge flows in Hong Kong’s financial sector: a social network analysis approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anson Au
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Commercial Banks ◽  
Financial Sector ◽  
Knowledge Flows ◽  
Foreign Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Network Position

Purpose This paper aims to examine how financial technology (FinTech) knowledge from foreign firms flows into and among elite commercial banks in Hong Kong’s financial sector to drive innovation. Design/methodology/approach Using social network analysis and regression analysis on a novel database of patents held by Hong Kong’s elite commercial banks, this paper examines the relationships between network position and FinTech knowledge flow. Findings This paper finds four untold patterns of innovation and inequality in Hong Kong’s financial sector: only three banks are responsible for all the FinTech knowledge entering Hong Kong; most foreign FinTech comes from the USA through Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, whereas most FinTech from China enters through Fubon Bank and Development Bank of Singapore; older banks and banks with more connections to firms inside Asia are more likely to import FinTech; the most beneficial sources of FinTech for a bank’s network position are firms from outside Asia. Originality/value Despite the well-documented volumes of cross-border and cross-continental movement of financial institutions in Hong Kong, there is little work on the knowledge flows that underwrite this mobility. This paper addresses this gap by using FinTech knowledge flows to map the distribution of innovation, network position and competitive advantage in Hong Kong’s financial sector.

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