The impact of firm resources on innovation

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 672-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irem Demirkan

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose that the resources that a firm owns and has full control (firm-level resources) and resources that a firm access through direct connection with other firms (network-level resources) will impact firm innovation when effectively deployed by the firm. While previous research examined these factors separately, the author takes a holistic view and looks into their effects on innovation simultaneously. The author also introduces the moderating effects, i.e. the variables that can enhance firm innovation through their interaction with internal and external resources.Design/methodology/approachThe author tested the role of financial resources and slack resources in the form of cash slack and human slack at the firm level, and network size, network tie strength, and network diversity at the network level on the firm innovation. Using generalized negative binomial model with Huber-White procedure, the author analyzed 306 firms from the biotechnology industry over a span of 17 years.FindingsThe analysis suggests that cash slack impact innovation negatively. However, this link is moderated by firm size such that for large firms cash slack affects innovation positively. Network-level resources all positively impact innovation and have more economic impact on firm innovation than firm-level resources. Furthermore, although human slack negatively affects innovation, its interaction with network size enhances innovation.Originality/valueThe research makes important contributions to both strategic management and innovation literatures especially when, the author considers the role of firm-level slack in driving firm innovation. Previous research reported conflicting findings about the availability of slack resources and firm performance. The results showed that the relationship between slack resources and firm innovation is negative and significant, both for available slack and human slack. This finding parallels with previous research which reported that constraints such as lack of slack resources can actually facilitate innovation. The author also contributes to the literature by introducing boundary conditions which can enhance firm innovation through their interaction with firm-level internal and network-level external resources. In this respect, to the author’s knowledge, this is among the first studies to combine the slack literature focusing on firm-level resources with the literature on network-level resources.

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (9) ◽  
pp. 2414-2435
Author(s):  
Wenge Zhang ◽  
Jun Li ◽  
Yiyuan Mai

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between industry association membership and firm innovation in Chinese private ventures. A secondary objective is to investigate potential moderating effects of firm learning practices and founder characteristics on the above relationship, and to draw out implications for policymakers and practitioners. Design/methodology/approach The paper utilizes data from a sample of 567 Chinese entrepreneurial firms operating in 9 designated emerging industries. Hierarchical regression models were employed to analyze the effect of industry association membership on firm innovation, and the potential moderating effects. A 2SLS procedure was adopted to control for potential endogeneity issue. Supplemental analyses were conducted to ensure the robustness of the findings. Findings The paper provides empirical insights about how industry association membership, along with firm learning practice and founder leadership, affect firm innovation in Chinese private ventures in emerging industries. It suggests that industry association membership positively affects firm innovation. Further, there is a three-way interaction effect of industry association membership, learning practice and founder power on innovation. Research limitations/implications Due to the design of the data set, there are some limitations. First, the study only considered whether a firm belongs to an industry association, but not the nature of such membership (length, firm status in the association, etc.). Second, the cross-sectional design may limit the power of the study to make casual implications about the tested relationships. Practical implications The paper provides important practical implications for policymakers and entrepreneurs in China. In general, the results suggest that private ventures pursuing innovation in emerging industries can benefit from industry associations, and entrepreneurs shall actively engage in firm-level and personal-level learning. For policymakers, the study suggests that to foster innovation in an emerging industry, special attention shall be paid to building necessary institutional support to develop and to strengthen the role of industry association in the industry. Originality/value This paper fulfills an important gap in the literature in that it is one of the first, which investigates the role of the industry association in firm innovation, especially in a non-western context. This paper provides new insights into the role of industry association and firm innovation in an under-researched developing economy context.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tesfaye Taddese Lemma ◽  
Ayalew Lulseged ◽  
Mthokozisi Mlilo ◽  
Minga Negash

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of political stability and political rights on firm-level earnings (both accrual-based and real) management. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop models that link political stability, political rights, and the interplay between the two and earnings (both accrual-based and real) management. The authors analyze 63,872 firm-year observations of publicly listed, non-financial, firms drawn from 39 countries, for the period 1995 to 2016. Findings The authors find that political stability (political rights) attenuates (accentuates) accrual-based earnings management; political rights (political stability) accentuates (have no effect on) real earnings management; and the association between political rights and real earnings management is more pronounced in countries with better political stability. Practical implications The findings imply that users of financial statements should take cognizance of a country’s ambient political environment in assessing the potential for earnings management by firms. Originality/value No prior research examined the role of political forces in shaping firm-level earnings management behavior in a cross-country setting.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Parneet Kaur ◽  
Navneet Kaur ◽  
Paras Kanojia

Purpose Based on 9,281 firm-level survey data on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India, this study aims to investigate how access to different finance sources and collateral requirement facilitates the firm’s innovation activity across industries. Design/methodology/approach This paper used ordered logit regression models using Stata software for explanatory variables to measure the impact of explanatory variables on firm innovation performance. Firms’ innovation performance is measured through the aggregate innovation index obtained by adding up the no. of “new-to-firm” activities. Findings The empirical results reveal that external sources of funding impact innovation activity than other financing sources. Also, the requirement of collateral for financing impacts innovation performance significantly. This paper finds that firms funded by state-owned banks or government agency are more actively engaged in innovation activities. The firm’s size, ownership structure and location of the firm also show the varying innovation performance. This paper found variation in innovation performance across industries as well. Practical implications First, the present study underlines the significance of funding sources. Second, minimizing the need for collateral to obtain external finance boosts small firms’ innovation activity and will also trigger overall economic growth. Finally, while making policies for ownership transformation of state-owned institutions, policymakers should discuss these policies’ impact on innovative firms. Originality/value What facilitates innovation performance in an emerging market is missing in the literature for MSMEs, largely due to lack of data. It is reasonable not to generalize innovation knowledge in large firms to small firms because of the constraints, particularly MSMEs face.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-323
Author(s):  
Omaima Hassan ◽  
Gianluigi Giorgioni

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the impact of country-level corruption and firms’ anti-bribery policies on analyst coverage. Analyst coverage has been identified as a powerful tool to detect fraud and should equally act as a possible tool to reduce corruption.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a negative binomial count regression method on a longitudinal data set of a sample of S&P Global 1200 companies for the years 2010-2015. To control for potential endogeneity bias and improve the reliability of the estimation, both country-level corruption and firms’ anti-bribery policies variables were instrumented.FindingsAfter controlling potential endogeneity bias, the results show that the adoption of anti-bribery policies at firm level attracts more analysts to follow a firm. The results for corruption at country level show that analyst coverage increases in less corrupted countries indicating that the costs of corruption exceed its potential benefits. When the variables corruption at country level and anti-bribery policies are interacted, the relationship is positive and highly significant.Practical implicationsGiven the potential important role played by anti-corruption measures, firms are encouraged to adopt them to reduce the incidence of corruption and to increase analyst coverage, which will reinforce the benign effect of monitoring.Originality/valueAlthough the literature on corruption at the country level is rich, it is geared towards the determinants of corruption in contrast to its consequences, and fewer studies have focused on the impact of corruption at firm level because of data limitations. This paper addresses this gap and contributes to the literature on the consequences of corruption at firm level.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-46
Author(s):  
John T. Addison ◽  
Paulino Teixeira ◽  
Philipp Grunau ◽  
Lutz Bellmann

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of key labor institutions on the occurrence and extent of temporary employment. Design/methodology/approach In a new departure, this study uses a zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model given that most establishments are non-users of either fixed-term contracts (FTCs) or temporary agency workers. Findings This study examines the potential impact of works councils and unions on the use and intensity of use of FTCs and temporary agency work. There is a little indication that these variables are correlated with the use/non-use of either type of temporary work, especially in the case of FTCs. Collective bargaining displays different relationships with their intensity of use: a negative association for sectoral bargaining and FTCs and the converse for firm-level bargaining and agency temps. Of more interest, however, is the covariation between the number of temporary employees and the interaction between works councils and product market volatility. The intensity of use of agency temps (FTCs) is predicted to rise (fall) as volatility increases whenever a works council is present. These disparities require further investigation but most likely reflect differences in function, with agency work being more directed toward the protection of an arguably shrinking core and fixed-term contacts encountering resistance to their increased use as a buffer stock. The two types of temporary employment are seemingly non-complementary, an interpretation that receives support from the study’s further analysis of FTC flow data. Research limitations/implications The non-complementarity of the two types of contract is the hallmark of this paper. Originality/value The first study to deploy a ZINB model to examine both the occurrence and incidence of temporary work.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxuan Li ◽  
Yue Wang ◽  
Miles M. Yang ◽  
Yanzhao Tang

PurposeThis study explores the impact of owner chief executive officers' (CEO) narcissism on the exporting small to medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs) decision-making on the international market expansion speed after their initial entry. Specifically, the authors use the mechanism of firms' international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) to examine how owner CEO narcissism may influence SMEs' post-entry speed of internationalization (PSI), both directly and indirectly.Design/methodology/approachTo test the hypotheses, the authors draw on data from a two-wave questionnaire and on archival export data from 291 Chinese exporting SMEs in three municipalities and 17 provinces from 2019 to 2020.FindingsThe results support the theoretical predictions that owner CEO narcissism shapes exporting SMEs' decisions on PSI, both directly and indirectly, through the mediation of firm-level IEO.Originality/valueThe study extends emerging research on the role of CEO narcissism in the upper echelons literature into the international marketing (IM) context. It also offers new insights into what drives exporting SMEs' IM decision-making from a psychological microfoundations perspective. Furthermore, the authors theoretically establish and empirically demonstrate the key role of a firm's IEO as a mediator to complement the existing literature's focus on the direct influence of CEO narcissism on firms' internationalization decisions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reza Ghazal ◽  
Muhamed Zulkhibri

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of innovation outputs proxied by number of patent applications, trademarks and industrial designs in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a panel data and Negative Binomial method to analyse the main determinants affecting the innovation outputs. Findings – The results implicitly suggest that providing a fertile ground to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) can lead to much better innovation outputs. The study also strongly supports the role of institutions and governance for increasing innovation activities in developing economies as indicated by positive impacts of governance factors in the model. However, the impact of economic freedom indicators on improving innovation outputs is mixed. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the existing literature in two ways: it examines the effect of FDI and research and development on innovation of selected developing countries; and the study uses a panel data approach to increase the accuracy of the results through exploiting the significant variations of innovation outputs across countries, while controlling for a larger number of innovation outputs and product determinants. To the authors knowledge, this is the first empirical study on the behaviour of innovation outputs for developing countries.


2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fariss Terry Mousa ◽  
Jaideep Chowdhury

Purpose – The slack-innovation relationship has interested scholars for years. The authors aim to delve into the impact of financial slack on firm innovation by replicating a classic study arguing that this relationship has an inverse U-shape. Design/methodology/approach – The sample consists of all US firms that were publicly traded between 1993 and 2011. The authors employ the standard econometrics methodology of panel regression with firm-fixed effect and time-fixed effect to estimate the regression equation of firm innovation on financial slack. Findings – The authors find that the relationship between financial slack and R&D investments is similar to that suggested by earlier authors, thus enhancing the generalizability of this important finding in management research. The authors also find that this relationship holds even during economic downturns. Originality/value – The authors replicate Nohria and Gulati's classic study by considering the impact of slack on innovation. The authors also move away from survey data, as used by Nohria and Gulati. The authors utilize actual firm-level data for a large sample of US publicly traded firms from 1993 to 2011, thus enhancing the generalizability of these findings.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Yang ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Deming Zeng

PurposeThe environment in high-tech industries is highly dynamic, and after COVID-19, it has become even more unpredictable. Hence, it has become critical for firms to develop strategies to cope with a highly dynamic environment. This paper aims to analyze how the impact of the scientific collaboration networks with URIs (universities and research institutes) on firm innovation performance is contingent on technological and market dynamics.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of 174 Chinese firms in the new-energy vehicle industry during 2004–2015, the authors applied a random-effects negative binomial modeling approach to model these relationships.FindingsA broad and strong scientific collaboration network promotes firm innovation network effects are contingent on technological and market dynamics. While technological dynamics strengthen the effect market dynamics weaken it due to the different purposes of collaboration for firms and URIs.Practical implicationsFirms should adjust the structure of scientific collaboration networks with URIs when facing different environments. The government should encourage firms to jointly research with diverse URIs and play an active role in stabilizing market environments.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the academic debate on university-industry scientific collaborations. Applying the temporary competitive advantage (TCA) framework, we provide nuances to the literature that studies the factors that condition the effects of networks. This study also adds to the research on firm scientific collaboration networks by measuring networks based on the coauthorship between firms and URIs.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saddam Abdullah ◽  
Philippe Van Cauwenberge ◽  
Heidi Vander Bauwhede ◽  
Peter O’Connor

Purpose This study aims to assess if the benefits outweigh the costs of participation in online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Booking.com. Design/methodology/approach A two-step system generalised method of moments estimation of a regression model of firm-level return on assets (ROA) is used on a dummy variable indicating whether a lodging facility participates in Booking.com. The assessment contained various control variables, including size, age, leverage, liquidity and lagged ROA. The moderating effect of firm age and size was studied by including interaction variables between the Booking.com dummy and age and size, respectively. The model was estimated using participation and financial data of 775 Belgian firms over a 20-year period (1999–2018). Findings The findings indicate that participation in Booking.com is associated with higher profitability, with this effect more economically important and pronounced for smaller hotel properties. Research limitations/implications The study provides a broadly applicable empirical model to assess the impact of platform participation on the financial performance of tourism, hospitality or retail businesses. Practical implications The study provides empirical evidence that, from a transaction cost perspective, the benefits of participation in OTAs outweigh the costs, resulting in substantially higher profitability. The evidence can be used to justify the use of OTAs as distribution channels. Originality/value While prior studies have described and conceptually analysed the evolution and role of OTAs in the hotel sector, and speculated on the net effect of OTA participation, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to empirically assess whether OTA participation creates value for hotel owners and investors.


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