The effect of partnership on firm innovation performance:&nbsp;A moderated mediation model

LIU Xin-Meng; LI Sui-Cheng; ZHANG Cai-Lin; WANG Xiang

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Science Research Management ›› 2023, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (4) : 154-163.

The effect of partnership on firm innovation performance: A moderated mediation model

Liu Xinmeng^1,2, Li Suicheng¹, Zhang Cailin¹, Wang Xiang¹

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Abstract

A large number of enterprises realized that interdisciplinary and transregional fusion can bring unexpected innovation, which is a new growth point for them to maintain competitiveness. Some enterprises start to rely on external partners to innovate, while the surge of external resources make them more difficult to choose cooperation objects and determine cooperation modes, that is, what kind of innovation partnership to establish has become a new pain point restricting the development of enterprises′ innovation. Based on dynamic capability theory and reasoned action theory, this paper reveals the impact of innovation partnership on innovation performance, the mediating role of supply chain integration capability and the moderating effect of ambidexterity strategic intention. The design and methodology of this paper are summarized as follows: All variables were measured from the mature scale. This method has strong practicability and passes the reliability and validity test. The hypothesis is verified by questionnaire survey. In the implementation of data collection, 500 enterprises were randomly selected from the member list of innovative enterprises published on the website of national high-tech enterprise identification and management as the target enterprises. The questionnaire was distributed and returned to the middle and senior managers of the target enterprises randomly selected by E-mail, QQ, WeChat, telephone and door-to-door visits. Invalid questionnaires were deleted and 211 questionnaires were retained. Finally, we analyzed the correlation of variables, and used hierarchical regression analysis and moderated mediating effect test to verify the data of 211 target enterprises.The finding shows that :(1) Enterprises with good innovation partnership maintenance and strong supply chain integration capability have higher innovation performance; (2) Innovation partners improve innovation performance through supply chain integration capability, that is, enterprises with good innovation partnership have a promotion effect on supply chain integration capability, and then the better innovation performance; (3) Enterprises with strong exploratory strategic intention can positively regulate the relationship between supply chain integration capability and STI partners and innovation performance, while enterprises with strong exploitative strategic intention can positively regulate the relationship between supply chain integration capability and DUI partners and innovation performance. Supply chain integration capability is a moderated intermediary variable.According to the research conclusions, the contributions of this paper are as follows: (1) it enriches the research on the types of innovative partners and verifies the significant effect of innovation partnership on firm′s innovation performance. (2) Innovation partnership improves innovation performance through supply chain integration capability, revealing that the advantages and disadvantages of enterprises′ external innovation lie in the choice of partners and supply chain integration capability. On the one hand, the enterprise needs to extend its innovation behavior to the outside of the enterprise, actively establish a good innovation partnership, determine whether the enterprise can build an STI or DUI partnership, and then realize its own innovation through partner resources. On the other hand, it can also realize the effective use of external innovation by strengthening the supply chain integration capability. (3) The strategic intention of an enterprise will become the strategic orientation for the enterprise to identify external opportunities. The enterprise needs to clarify whether its strategic intention is to innovate by introducing changes in products and markets or to innovate by improving efficiency. This research can be extended in two aspects in the future. First, the linkage model of the two innovation partnerships can be taken into account. Second, supply chain integration capability and innovation performance can be decomposed.
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innovation partnership / supply chain integration capability / ambidexterity strategic intention / innovation performance

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Liu Xinmeng, Li Suicheng, Zhang Cailin, Wang Xiang. The effect of partnership on firm innovation performance: A moderated mediation model[J]. Science Research Management. 2023, 44(4): 154-163

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