Abstract:    Radical innovation, an essential means to make breakthroughs in the key and core technologies, is affected by synergies gained from multiple factors. However, existing studies that explored the net effect of single factor cannot explain the complex causations and diverse paths leading to the radical innovation in enterprises. Based on the society ecosystems theory, this study constructed a configuration analysis framework for radical innovation, and used the fsQCA method to analyze the antecedent configuration that affect the high and non-high radical innovation. The research found that: (1) there is no single necessary condition for high or non-high radical innovation, that is, the radical innovation of enterprises is affected by the synergy of multiple factors; (2) there are four configuration paths leading to high radical innovation, which can be summarized as capability-driven path, motivation-driven path, internal resource coupling path and external resource coupling path according to the distribution characteristics of core conditions; (3) there are three configuration paths that lead to non-high radical innovation, which can be summarized as capacity-constrained path and resource-deficient path according to the distribution characteristics of core conditions; (4) technical competence as a core condition plays an important role in the multiple paths that lead to high or non-high radical innovation. The conclusions of this study can provide many theoretical implications and practical enlightenments for enterprises to achieve high radical innovation or to ameliorate non-high radical innovation.

Key words: enterprise radical innovation, society ecosystems theory, configuration path, fsQCA