More is not always better: Reconciling the dilemma of R&
[EN] To cope with highly competitive business environments, firms in high-tech industries are increasingly opening up their organizational boundaries and tapping into external resources via research and development (R&D) collaboration. Drawing upon organizational boundary theories, our study...
| Autores: | , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2023 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) |
| Repositorio: | RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:riunet.upv.es:10251/211986 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/211986 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | R& D collaboration New product innovation Political ties Transition economie ECONOMIA APLICADA |
| Sumario: | [EN] To cope with highly competitive business environments, firms in high-tech industries are increasingly opening up their organizational boundaries and tapping into external resources via research and development (R&D) collaboration. Drawing upon organizational boundary theories, our study indicates that the marginal benefits of R&D collaboration in driving firms' new product innovations decrease while its marginal costs increase. To investigate this subject, we develop a conceptual framework to account for the relationship between R&D collaboration and firms' new product innovations. Further, drawing on both the knowledge-based and institutional perspectives, we examine the moderating effects of absorptive capacity and political ties on the R&D collaboration-new product innovation relationship. Using data from 315 high-tech manufacturing firms in China, we find that R&D collaboration has an inverted U-shaped impact on new product innovation, meaning that the new product innovation of firms initially increases and then decreases as the level of R&D collaboration increases. Further, we find that absorptive capacity (as an internal factor) and political ties (as an external factor) moderate this inverted U-shaped effect such that firms with greater absorptive capacities show a higher peak of maximum innovation performance at higher levels of R&D collaboration than firms with lower absorptive capacities. We also reveal that for firms with stronger political ties, the benefits of R&D collaboration are enhanced while the risks and costs of R&D collaboration are mitigated. Overall, this study contributes to a better understanding of the nonlinear relationship between firms' R&D collaborations and their new product innovation outcomes as well as the contingent conditions in this relationship. |
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