Case study on the mediating effect of firms' technological learning routine in industrial clusters

Abstract

Abstract: By conducting a multiple case study on four cluster firms, this paper investigates how external knowledge acquisition strategy influences firms' innovation performance through the mediating effect of technological learning routine in industrial clusters. We find that the intensity of technological learning routine mediates the relationship between depth-driven external knowledge acquisition strategy and innovation performance, and the diversity of technological learning routine mediates the relationship between breadth-driven external knowledge acquisition strategy and innovation performance. By this research, we extend the existing understanding on firms' internal technological learning behavior and innovation process within industrial clusters, and enrich the empirical research on organization routine.

Key words: industrial clusters, external knowledge acquisition strategy, technological learning routine, knowledge management, innovation performance

CLC Number:

F273

Guo Jingjing. Case study on the mediating effect of firms' technological learning routine in industrial clusters[J]. Science Research Management, 2014, 35(11): 35-43.

References

[1] Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, B., Lal, K. Learning new technologies by small and medium enterprises in developing countries[J]. Technovation. 2006, 26(2): 220-231. [2] Katrak, H. The private use of publicly funded industrial technologies in developing countries: Empirical tests for an industrial research institute in India[J]. World Development. 1997, 25(9): 1541-1550. [3] MacKinnon, D., Cumbers, A., Chapman, K. Learning, innovation and regional development: A critical appraisal of recent debates[J]. Progress in human geography. 2002, 26(3): 293-311. [4] Lundvall, B. A. National Systems of Innovation: Toward a Theory of Innovation and Interactive Learning[M]. Pinter: London. 1992. [5] Breschi, S., Malerba, F. The geography of innovation and economic clustering: Some introductory notes[J]. Industrial and Corporate Change. 2001, 10(4): 817-833. [6] Baptista, R., Swann, P. Do firms in clusters innovate more[J]. Research Policy. 1998, 27: 525-540. [7] Cooke, P., Morgan, K. The creative milieu: A regional perspective on innovation, The handbook of industrial innovation[M]. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham. 1998. [8] Chesbrough, H. The era of open innovation[J]. Sloan Management Review. 2003, 44(3): 35-41. [9] Du, R., Ai, S., Ren, Y. Relationship between knowledge sharing and performance: A survey in Xi'an, China[J]. Expert Systems with Applications. 2007, 32(1): 38-46. [10] Kaufmann, A., Tödtling, F. Science-industry interaction in the process of innovation: The importance of boundary-crossing between systems[J]. Research Policy. 2001, 30(5): 791-804. [11] Cassiman, B., Veugelers, R. In search of complementarity in innovation strategy: Internal R&D and external knowledge acquisition[J]. Management Science. 2006, 52(1): 68-82. [12] Mowery, D. C. The relationship between intrafirm and contractual forms of industrial research in American manufacturing, 1900-1940[J]. Exploration in Economics History. 1983, 20: 351-374. [13] Cohen, W. M., Levinthal, D. A. Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation[J]. Administrative Science Quarterly. 1990,35(1): 128-152. [14] Caniëls, M., Romijn, H. What drives innovativeness in industrial clusters? Transcending the debate[J]. Cambridge Journal of Economics. 2005, 29(4): 497-515. [15] Gilbert, B., McDougall, P., Audretsch, D. Clusters, knowledge spillovers and new venture performance: An empirical examination[J]. Journal of Business Venturing. 2008, 23(4): 405-422. [16] Nelson, R., Winter, S. An evolutionary theory of economic change[M]. MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University. 1982. [17] Becker, M. C. Organizational routines: A review of the literature[J]. Industrial Corporate Change. 2004, 13(4): 643-678. [18] Garud, R., Nayyar, P. R. Transformative capacity: Continual structuring by intertemporal technology transfer[J]. Strategic Management Journal. 1994, 15(5): 365-385. [19] Figueiredo, P. Learning, capability accumulation and firms differences: Evidence from latecomer steel[J]. Industrial and Corporate Change. 2003, 12(3): 607-643. [20] Collinson, S., Wilson, D. Inertia in Japanese organizations: Knowledge management routines and failure to innovate[J]. Organization Studies. 2006, 27(9): 1359-1387. [21] Pentland, B. T, Feldman, M. S. Organizational routines as a unit of analysis[J]. Industrial and Corporate Change. 2005, 14(5): 793-815. [22] Rigby, D., Zook, C.. Open-market innovation[J]. Harvard Business Review. 2002, 80(10): 80-93. [23] Yan, A., Gray, B. Bargaining power, management control, and performance in United States-China joint ventures: A comparative case study[J]. Academy of Management Journal. 1994, 37(6): 1478-1517. [24] Strauss, A. L. Qualitative analysis for social scientists[M]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1987. [25] Yin, R. K. Case study research: Design and methods[M]. CA: Sage Publications. 2009. [26] Glaser, B., Strauss, A. Grounded theory: The discovery of grounded theory[M]. New York: Alpine de Gruyter. 1967. [27] Almeida, P., Kogut, B. Localization of knowledge and the mobility of engineers in regional networks[J]. Management Science. 1999, 45(7): 905-917. [28] Dahl, M. Embedded knowledge flows through labor mobility in regional clusters in Denmark[A]. DRUID's New Economy Conference. Copenhagen, 2002. [29] Harabi, N. Channels of R&D spillovers: An empirical investigation of swiss firms[J]. Technovation. 1997, 17(11-12): 627-635. [30] Power, D., Lundmark, M. Working through knowledge pools: Labour market dynamics, the transference of knowledge and ideas, and industrial clusters[J]. Urban studies. 2004,41(5-6):1025-1044. [31] Laursen, K., Salter, A. Open for innovation: The role of openness in explaining innovation performance among UK manufacturing firms[J]. Strategic Management Journal. 2006, 27(2):131-150. [32] Carlile, P. R., Rebentisch, E. S. Into the black box: The knowledge transformation cycle[J]. Management Science. 2003, 49(9): 1180-1195. [33] Maryam, A., Dorothy, E. L. Review: Knowledge management and knowledge management systems: Conceptual foundations and research issues[J].MIS Quarterly. 2001, 25(1): 107-136. [34] Keupp, M. M., Gassmann, O. Determinants and archetype users of open innovation[J]. R&D Management. 2009, 39(4): 331-341. [35] 彭新敏. 企业网络对技术创新绩效的作用机制研究: 利用性-探索性学习的中介效应[D]. 浙江大学博士学位论文, 2009. [36] Boschma, R., Ter Wal, A. Knowledge networks and innovative performance in an industrial district: The case of a footwear district in the South of Italy[J]. Industry & Innovation. 2007, 14(2): 177-199. [37] Guo, B., Guo, J-J. Patterns of technological learning within the knowledge systems of industrial clusters in emerging economies: Evidence from China[J]. Technovation. 2011, 31: 87-104. [38] Wilson, T., Hlavacek, J. Don't let good ideas sit on the shelf[J]. Research Management. 1984, 27(3): 27-34. [39] Schlender, B. How Sony keeps the magic going[J]. Fortune. 1992, 24(92): 22-27. [40] Star, S. The structure of ill-structured solutions: Heterogeneous problem-solving, boundary objects and distributed artificial intelligence[J]. Distributed artificial intelligence. 1989, 2: 37-54. [41] Becker, M. C. A framework for applying organizational routines in empirical research: Linking antecedents, characteristics and performance outcomes of recurrent interaction patterns[J]. Industrial Corporate Change. 2005, 14(5): 817-846. [42] Cyert, R., March, J. A behavioral theory of the firm[M]. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 1963. [43] Glazer, R. Marketing in an information-intensive environment: Strategic implications of knowledge as an asset[J]. The Journal of marketing. 1991, 55(4): 1-19. [44] Argote, L., Beckman, S. & Epple, D. The persistence and transfer of learning in industrial settings[J]. Management Science. 1990,36(2):140-154.