How open innovation performance responds to partner heterogeneity in China

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shufang Huang ◽  
Jin Chen ◽  
Liang Liang

Purpose The link between openness and innovative performance has been established as an inverted U-shape relationship, namely, the openness-performance connection is not always positive. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of partner heterogeneity to characterize the influence of “quality” changes in partners on innovative performance, that is, the focus of this paper. Given that partner heterogeneity is crucial in explaining open innovative performance, it is also worth placing the examination of this key construct in emerging regions such as China. Design/methodology/approach The sample selection of this study covers a wide range of industries, but requires that the sample firms be manufacturing enterprises with an open innovation strategy. With opportunities and challenges associated with partner collaboration toward open innovation, the Chinese province of Zhejiang has established its reputation. Thus, empirical data were collected randomly from data pool of Zhejiang Province Economic and Information Commission, as well as a survey questionnaire. Data were using a cross-sectional survey methodology encompassing diverse organizations, industries, and nations. Findings Empirical testing of this assumption in a sample of 217 manufacturing firms indicates that partner heterogeneities, which are classified as organizational heterogeneity, industry heterogeneity, and national heterogeneity are all positively associated with innovative performance, but the strength of this association is influenced by environmental turbulence. Technological turbulence significantly and positively modulates the relationships of organizational and national heterogeneities with innovative performance. Market turbulence also plays a significant positive role on the relationship between national heterogeneity and innovative performance, while technological and market turbulence roles on the relationship between industry heterogeneity and innovative performance are not confirmed. Originality/value This paper refines the connotative dimensions of partner heterogeneity around the core concept of partner heterogeneity in open innovation in the context of emerging region, China. The study presents a systematic, in-depth analysis, and verifies the impact mechanisms of partner heterogeneity in open innovation on innovative performance by integrating the resource-based view, organizational learning theory, and transaction cost theory.

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 720-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiping Zhou ◽  
Yanhong Yao ◽  
Huanhuan Chen

Purpose This paper aims to explore the direct effects of open innovation (OI) on firms’ innovative performance, and to examine the moderating effects of knowledge attributes, including knowledge distance, knowledge embeddedness and partner opportunism on this relationship. Design/methodology/approach Survey data of 247 samples from China were used to test the proposed model through hierarchical regression analysis. Findings The findings indicate that the dimensions of OI are positively related to innovative performance. The results also reveal that knowledge distance positively moderates the relationship between inbound OI and innovative performance, whereas knowledge embeddedness negatively affects that relationship. Knowledge embeddedness negatively affects the relationship between inbound OI and innovative performance, whereas knowledge distance positively moderates that relationship. Thus, a new finding is proposed that knowledge attributes could align effectively with specific OI type to achieve superior innovation outcomes. In addition, the empirical results suggest that partner opportunism plays a negative moderating role on the relationship between outbound OI and innovative performance. Originality/value The proposed view that a firm’s innovation outputs will be superior when its knowledge attributes effectively align with OI enriches studies of the OI context and expands the literature of both the resource-based view and the knowledge-based view. Furthermore, this study provides insights into how OI benefits can be influenced by external contexts from the perspective of partners’ opportunistic behaviour.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 553-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Martinez-Conesa ◽  
Pedro Soto-Acosta ◽  
Elias George Carayannis

Purpose This study aims to shed light on the internal and external antecedents of open innovation (OI) in the context of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a special focus on the role of knowledge management (KM) capability. The paper develops and tests an integrative research model which assesses the effect of internal factors on KM capability; the impact of organizational and external factors, namely, KM capability and environmental dynamism, on OI; and whether environmental dynamism moderates the relationship between KM capability and OI. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the knowledge-based view and the social exchange and the contingency theories, this paper develops an integrative research model which analyzes several relations between organizational antecedents of KM capability and its effect on OI by using covariance-based structural equation modeling on a data set of Spanish SMEs. Findings Results confirm that information technology-supported operations and commitment-based human resource practices have a positive and significant influence on KM capability. In contrast, results do not find support for the relationship between interdepartmental connectedness and KM capability, whereas both KM capability and environmental dynamism have a direct influence on OI. Originality/value This paper adds to existing research on OI, as it is the first study that addresses the critical role of KM capability for the implementation of OI.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 1398-1418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingyu Wang ◽  
Priyanko Guchait ◽  
Juan M. Madera ◽  
Aysin Pasamehmetoğlu

Purpose The purpose of this study is threefold: first, to investigate the extent to which organizational error management culture impacts manager trust and group efficacy; second, to examine whether manager trust and group efficacy mediate the impact of error management culture on employee creativity; and third, to test whether manager trust and group efficacy mediate the impact of error management culture on employees’ organizational commitment. Design/methodology/approach Using a survey methodology, 345 front-line hotel employees in Turkey provided survey data. Amos 22.0 was used for data analysis. Findings Three major findings emerge. First, error management culture was found to have a significant positive influence on manager trust and group efficacy. Second, manager trust and group efficacy mediated the relationship between error management culture and employee creativity. Third, manager trust and group efficacy were found to mediate the relationship between error management culture and employees’ organizational commitment. Practical implications First, to promote employee creativity and their commitment to the organization, hotels need to cultivate an error management culture. Second, error management culture should be applied in hotels to build employee trust in their manager and boost their collective belief about group competency. Originality/value This is the first study that identified employee creativity and organizational commitment as outcomes of organizational error management culture. This is also the first study that examined the mediating effects of manager trust and group efficacy which helps in understanding the underlying mechanisms linking error management culture and employee attitudes. The current study provides significant contributions to understanding error management.


2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuqian Han ◽  
Dayuan Li

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the relationship between intellectual capital and innovative performance, and to specify the boundary conditions and mechanisms of the relationship from a knowledge-based dynamic capability perspective. Design/methodology/approach – This study empirically analyzes the impact of intellectual capital on innovative performance and the role knowledge-based dynamic capability plays with a sample of 217 firms in China. To test the research hypotheses, regression analysis is applied. Findings – The results show that intellectual capital positively affects innovative performance, and knowledge-based dynamic capability is a mediator rather than a moderator which partly mediates the relationship between intellectual capital and innovative performance. Practical implications – The findings suggest that realizing superior innovative performance is dependent on a firm’s intellectual capital and its ability to sense opportunities and threats, to make timely and correct decisions, and to facilitate necessary changes efficiently. Originality/value – This study is the first to clarify whether knowledge-based dynamic capability plays a moderating role or a mediating role between intellectual capital and innovative performance. The present study thus helps move forward the understanding on the conditions and mechanisms of the effects of intellectual capital.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 218-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Rashidirad ◽  
Hamid Salimian ◽  
Ebrahim Soltani

PurposeThe aim of this study is to examine the impact of the fit between product-service strategy and sensing capability on novelty, and the potential moderating impact of contextual factors (i.e. technological and market turbulence) on novelty.Design/methodology/approachIn line with the aim of the study, a quantitative approach is adopted and a multi-item scale survey is designed to collect primary data. Using a mixed mode survey, a total number of 491 questionnaires are collected from a sample of UK-based telecommunications firms. Multiple regression is used to test the hypotheses and predict the outcomes.FindingsThe results support the positive contribution of a contingency approach to the study of the impact of the fit between product-service strategy and sensing dynamic capability on novelty. The results also partially confirm the reinforcing impact of technological and market turbulence on novelty.Originality/valueThis study extends research on product-service strategy and sensing capability by adopting a contingency view, which intends to serve two purposes: to complement the existing reductionistic explanations and to explore how the relationship between product-service strategy and sensing capability could create novelty as well as the degree to which this relationship could be moderated in light of the external contextual factors.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Feihu Zheng ◽  
Hao Jiao ◽  
Junyi Gu ◽  
Hwy-Chang Moon ◽  
Wenyan Yin

Purpose This study aims to examine how different modes of knowledge flows affect the changes of asset specificity and how ownership control moderates the relationship between knowledge flows and asset specificity in the open innovation paradigm. Design/methodology/approach This paper selects information technology outsourcing as the research base. It uses the feasible weighted least squares modeling method for its analysis and has collected the data from 2,369 research and development contracts of multinational vendor firms in China. Findings The coupled and outbound knowledge flows have a direct and positive effect on asset specificity. Moreover, the results show that weak corporate control has significant moderating effects on the relationship between both coupled and outbound knowledge flows and asset specificity; the strong control positively moderates the relationship between outbound knowledge flows and asset specificity. Practical implications In open innovation, firms build a higher degree of asset specificity to maximize the efficiency of knowledge flows, which then helps them to enhance innovation capacity and market performance. Originality/value Preceding studies have tended to examine the influences of asset specificity as an independent variable in a closed innovation paradigm. Asset specificity is hence often left as the antecedent “black box.” This paper, however, opens the “black box” of asset specificity, which is set as a dependent variable, by investigating the influences of knowledge flows on the asset specificity in the context of open innovation. It also reinterprets the role of asset specificity by adopting the lens of open innovation theory.


Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuting Chen ◽  
Dengke Yu

PurposeThe authors aim to measure the effects of ambidextrous innovation and its mix strategy on organizational obsolescence with the moderating roles of environmental turbulence.Design/methodology/approachHierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses on the basis of the survey data of 198 firm employees in China.FindingsBoth exploratory and exploitative innovations significantly restrain organizational obsolescence. The complementary strategy of ambidextrous innovation is negatively correlated to organizational obsolescence, but the impact of balanced strategy is not significant. Environmental turbulence negatively moderates the relationship between exploratory innovation and organizational obsolescence, whereas it cannot moderate the effect of exploitative innovation.Originality/valueThe empirical and conceptual findings have important implications for organizations countering obsolescence through the construction of a mix strategy of ambidextrous innovation. This study enriches and extends obsolescence theory by introducing the joint mechanism of ambidextrous innovation and environmental turbulence.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leandro Lima dos Santos ◽  
Felipe Mendes Borini ◽  
Rafael Morais Pereira

Purpose Companies need guidance on how to operate in turbulent environments to improve their innovative performance. However, few studies have been done specifically about how to market and technological turbulence affects the innovative performance in emerging markets. This paper aims to propose model with market turbulence, technological turbulence and firm’s bricolage behavior as antecedents of organizational innovativeness. Design/methodology/approach Two conceptualizations of the role of environmental turbulence are examined as follows: that market turbulence and technological turbulence are established as direct antecedents to organizational innovativeness performance; and the model has a mediating effect through the bricolage behavior. In this sense, the strengths of the paths differ depending on the presence of bricolage. Data were collected from 215 firms operating in Brazil, analyzed using the partial least squares (PLS)-structural equation modeling (SEM) technique as a quantitative method to test the hypotheses. Findings The results indicate that the mediating effect evidenced by the bricolage behavior was supported. In other words, the path from market and technological turbulence to organizational innovativeness is significantly better when permeated by bricolage behavior in the organization. Research limitations/implications It can be suggested to conduct similar research with larger sample size and applying control variables such as the size of the company, as smaller companies have less access to resources and maybe the engagement in bricolage can be even more substantial for them to keep innovating and to remain competitive in times of turbulence. Practical implications Some managerial recommendations and implications are provided. Managers should recognize the possible improvements in the organizational innovativeness development by actively including the bricolage behavior among their companies’ activities. Originality/value The theoretical contribution to the academic knowledge lies in corroborating with previous studies, which pointed out that bricolage has an influence on a firm’s innovativeness and some studies, which address perspectives in the organizational learning field.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1044-1085 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Yang ◽  
Chenwu Xu ◽  
Guoguang Wan

Purpose Drawing on the related insights from the upper echelon perspective, modern cognitive theory and path dependence theory, this paper aims to first integrate top management teams (TMTs) overseas experiences, research and development (R&D) strategic decision-making and innovation performance into a uniform theoretical framework and try to understand TMTs’ overseas experiences accounting for both the direct and indirect mechanisms of the variables involved within the transition economy of China. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts research sample from the listed companies on the Growth Enterprises Market Board (GEMB) of Shenzhen Stock Exchange of China due to their stronger innovation consciousness. The research data are mainly from the WIND database of China, as the data issued in this database must be checked and approved by China’s legal institutions including China Securities Regulatory Commission and its authorized agencies. The samples cover different types of ownership and the vast majority of industries of China, which makes the objects a wide range of coverage and representativeness. In addition, according to suggestions of Podsakoff et al. (2003), the authors design the controlling measures from two aspects of data collection and statistical analysis to reduce the homologous error as much as possible. Findings Empirical results show that innovation performance is positively affected by the centrality overseas functional experience and industrial experience but negatively affected by the heterogeneity of overseas functional experience of TMT. Meanwhile, R&D intensity and modes play partially mediating effect in the relationship between TMTs’ overseas functional experience centrality and industrial experience heterogeneity and innovation performance, but for the relationship between overseas functional experience heterogeneity and innovation performance, R&D intensity leads to fully mediating effect. Originality/value This study contributes toward filling the gaps by elucidating the effect of TMTs’ overseas experiences on the innovation performance, identifying the mediating role of R&D strategic decision-makings in this relationship and empirically examining the acting mechanisms and paths of the variables involved in the Chinese context. In addition, practitioners could use these findings to improve their selection and training processes regarding both the top management members and the designing of the R&D strategies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 589-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Normia Akmad Salindal

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify the effect of halal certification on innovative and market business performance of halal-certified food companies in the Philippines. Through this empirical study, halal-registered and about-to-register companies would have a wider perspective and a realistic view on what to expect from halal certification. The study also hopes to enrich halal certification literature and contribute further to the better understanding of the relationship between halal certification and the business performance. Design/methodology/approach This empirical study primarily uses a quantitative approach in analyzing the relationship between halal certification and the business performance in terms of innovative and market performance. The primary data are gathered through a survey involving 211 food companies (141 halal-certified and 70 non-halal-certified). The results are analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling and independent sample t-test. Findings First, the analysis highlights that halal certification significantly affects innovative performance of halal-certified food companies. Second, the improvements in innovative performance lead to market performance improvements. Third, innovative performance fully mediates the relationship between halal certification and market performance. Finally, halal-certified food companies and non-halal-certified food companies have significant difference in terms of innovative performance and market performance. Research limitations/implications First, the population of this study consisted of only food companies in the Philippines listed in the Bureau of Product and Standard. Second, only the respective quality management representatives of the responding companies were the main respondent. Third, the samples used are from Philippines only. Therefore, the ability to generalize the reported results to all types of industry is restricted. To generalize the results of this study, additional research is desired to test the suggested model in various countries where Muslims are minority. Practical implications Understanding the impact of halal certification and its business value through empirical study should provide “about to be registered organizations” a wider perspective and a realistic view on what to expect after halal certification. It will provide factual evidences that may aid halal-certified companies in decision-making with respect to halal certification and whether it complicates or compliments their organizations’ business. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, no research has yet been conducted to investigate the impact of halal certification on business performance in the Philippines. This study, therefore, fills the gap in the research area. Through this empirical study, halal-registered and about-to-register organizations would have a wider perspective and a realistic view on what to expect from halal certification.


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