Optimal cognitive distance and absorptive capacity

In this paper we test the relation between cognitive distance and innovation performance of firms engaged in technology-based alliances. The key finding is that the hypothesis of an inverted U-shaped effect of cognitive distance on innovation performance of firms is confirmed. Moreover, as expected, we found that the positive effect for firms is much higher when engaging in more radical, exploratory alliances than in more exploitative alliances. The effect of cumulative R&D turns out to be mixed. It appears to increase absorptive capacity, as expected, but there is clear evidence that it also reduces the effect of cognitive distance on novelty value, making it increasingly difficult to find additional novelty.     

The effect of technological knowledge assets on performance: The innovative choice in Spanish firms

The aim of this article is to examine the relationship between Technological Knowledge Assets (TKAs) and performance, in the light of making the ‘innovative choice’ that involves short-term costs of acquiring or generating the assets but aims at longer term benefits through innovation. To that end, a study of 1267 industrial firms in Spain was carried out over a period of 5 years, 1998-2002. The results show that TKAs have a positive indirect effect on financial performance mediated through innovation. They also reveal that TKAs have a negative direct effect on performance, except licences. Thus, the combined effect of TKAs on performance urges the need for innovation to obtain a positive payoff.     

Innovation activities, use of appropriation instruments and absorptive capacity: Evidence from Spanish firms

This article empirically investigates the relationship between innovation activities of firms, their use of appropriation instruments and their absorptive capacity. We study a wide range of manufacturing and service industries, not just high-tech, and a wide range of innovation activities, not just R&D. We use multilevel logit models for complex samples to disentangle industry from firm-specific effects. We find that within an industry, firms that invest in appropriation instruments to reduce outgoing spillovers tend to conduct more R&D and downstream activities than firms that do not. Acquisition of technology is not related to the use of appropriation instruments. The effects of incoming spillovers (measured through absorptive capacity) on innovation activities of firms are industry specific and stronger for firms that invest in appropriation instruments. For this type of firm, both the capability to scan the external environment for technology and the capability to integrate new technology are related to the innovation activities. For firms that do not invest in appropriation instruments, only scanning capabilities are related.     

Entrepreneurial orientation in turbulent environments: The moderating role of absorptive capacity

The literature on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has confirmed the positive relationship between EO and firm performance and that relationship's dependence on several contingencies. The present study connects the resource-based view and its dynamic capability extension to introduce absorptive capacity (ACAP) as a moderator of the relationship between EO and firm performance. This theoretically derived research model is empirically validated using survey data from 219 small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany. Our empirical findings are that ACAP strengthens the EO–performance relationship in turbulent markets.     

The effect of external and internal factors on firms’ product innovation

In this article we analyse the effect of factors external and internal to the firm, on product innovation novelty, and how this effect varies by industry. We estimate three econometric models to determine the individual effects of these factors, their joint explanatory power and the effects of interactions among them. The analysis is based on a sample of 6094 manufacturing firms, taken from the Spanish Survey of Technological Innovation 2000. The results indicate that the firm's technological competences, derived from in-house R&D, are the main determinant of product innovation. They also suggest that in the presence of high levels of such competences, the technological opportunities deriving from non-industry agents become less important as determinants of innovation. We show that the determinants of innovation vary depending on the industrial sector and the degree of novelty of the product developed.     

外部知识异质度对创新绩效曲线效应的内在机理——知识重构与吸收能力的视角

尽管近期大量学者验证了外部知识异质度对企业创新绩效具有倒U型曲线效应,但却没有能够厘清这一效应的内生性机制及其形成原因。本研究基于知识重构和吸收能力的视角,通过采集和分析来自江苏、浙江和上海的261个创新型样本企业问卷数据,识别外部知识异质度对企业创新绩效倒U型曲线效应的形成机制。结果表明:外部知识异质度通过促进知识重构正向影响创新绩效,却通过弱化吸收能力反向影响创新绩效;这两种效果相反的中介机制导致外部知识异质度与创新绩效之间产生了倒U型曲线关系。这一发现揭示了企业外部知识异质度对创新绩效影响的内在机理,进一步发展了主流文献的相关研究。     

外部搜索策略、知识吸收能力与技术创新绩效

外部搜索策略对企业技术创新绩效的有着重要影响,而知识吸收能力在此过程中起着调节作用,本文基于理论分析,提出研究假设,并通过问卷调查收集数据,采用结构方程模型进行实证研究。结果表明：外部搜索策略的搜索广度对企业技术创新绩效存在显著正向影响,知识吸收能力正向调节搜索广度对企业技术创新绩效的影响;外部搜索策略的搜索深度与技术创新绩效呈倒U型关系,知识吸收能力调节了搜索深度对技术创新绩效的影响。     

企业内部R&D投入、外部知识获取与创新绩效关系研究

开放式创新成为企业获取外部知识资源、提升创新能力的重要途径之一。目前将内部R&D投入和外部知识获取同时作为调节变量综合考虑其对创新绩效影响的研究成果较为欠缺。论文以我国制造业领域企业为研究对象,在文献回顾和述评基础上,基于科技统计数据和2,905样本企业数据,借鉴Tobit 估计模型,实证分析企业内部R&D投入和外部知识获取这两类R&D活动对创新绩效的影响。研究表明：逐渐依赖于外部R&D活动、获取外部知识资源的企业具有较高创新绩效水平,但当超过一定临界值的时候,会产生替代效应,即更多参与外部R&D活动会使企业绩效水平下降;对于知识储备较高的高技术企业来说,进一步开放R&D创新边界,其机会成本相对较高。     

企业内外部知识异质度对创新绩效的影响——战略柔性的调节作用

不同的异质性知识来源会影响到企业知识的获取成本及其整合效率,因此可能会催生不同的创新绩效。本研究选取上海、江苏和浙江261个创新类企业为样本,考察企业已有内部知识结构的异质度(内部知识异质度)、伙伴企业之间的知识异质度(外部知识异质度)分别对创新绩效的直接影响,以及战略柔性如何对两种关系产生调节效应。结果表明:外部知识异质度对创新绩效具有倒U效应;内部知识异质度对创新绩效仅仅存在正向的线性效应,没有曲线效应;不同类型的战略柔性对内、外部知识异质度与创新绩效关系具有不同的调节效应,其中资源柔性仅仅对内部知识异质度和创新绩效关系具有显著的正向调节效应,而协调柔性仅仅对外部知识异质度和创新绩效关系具有显著的正向调节效应。本研究为企业利用内、外部异质性知识和提高创新绩效提供了理论解释和参考。     

基于异质性研发合作的知识创造质量提升机制 ——内/外情境双重视角

运用246家创业板公司发明专利数据,运用分层回归法,从企业异质性研发合作视角揭示企业研发的内在机制及内外情境特征。(1)企业间合作较校企合作更能提升企业发明专利质量;(2)知识产权保护水平抑制企业间合作对发明专利质量的作用,而强化校企合作对发明专利质量的积极影响;(3)吸收能力强化企业间合作对发明专利质量的积极影响,而抑制校企合作对发明专利质量的作用。研究结论对企业研发伙伴选择、发明专利质量提升,具有直接应用价值。     

The geography of opportunity: spatial heterogeneity in founding rates and the performance of biotechnology firms

One of the most commonly observed features of the organization of markets is that similar business enterprises cluster in physical space. In this paper, we develop an explanation for firm co-location in high-technology industries that draws upon a relational account of new venture creation. We argue that industries cluster because entrepreneurs find it difficult to leverage the social ties necessary to mobilize essential resources when they reside far from those resources. Therefore, opportunities for high tech entrepreneurship mirror the distribution of critical resources. The same factors that enable high tech entrepreneurship, however, do not necessary promote firm performance. In the empirical analyses, we investigate the effects of geographic proximity to established biotechnology firms, sources of biotechnology expertise (highly-skilled labor), and venture capitalists on the location-specific founding rates and performance of biotechnology firms. The paper finds that the local conditions that promote new venture creation differ from those that maximize the performance of recently established companies.     

知识网络与集群企业创新绩效——浙江黄岩模具产业集群的实证研究

 集群中知识的流动具有选择性和不对称性特征,集群企业并不能均等地共享“产业空气”带来的溢出效应,进而形成了企业间创新绩效的差异。实证研究显示,集群知识网络开放度、网络中心度、关系质量和关系稳定性对集群企业创新绩效均存在正向影响;而知识网络规模与关系强度仅对集群的中小企业创新绩效存在正向影响,对大企业的创新绩效的影响则并不显著。     

企业内部R&D和外部知识搜寻的交互关系——STI和DUI产业的创新战略分析

利用外部知识实现创新已经成为我国企业创新实践的常用策略。究竟内部R&D和外部知识搜寻之间存在怎样的关系,过多的外部知识搜寻是否会削弱企业内部R&D的战略性地位?本文基于209家中国创新型企业的问卷调查数据,对企业内部R&D活动和外部知识搜寻之间的关系进行了实证分析。研究结果表明外部知识搜寻对提升企业创新绩效有重要影响,但是不同类型的外部合作对象对创新绩效的重要性存在差异。研究发现,企业在创新实践中,内部R&D和纵向合作企业与横向合作企业知识搜寻之间存在互补协同的关系,但没有充分的证据表明内部R&D和大学/研究机构知识搜寻之间存在互补性。内部R&D和外部知识搜寻之间存在互补抑或替代的关系,主要受企业对外部知识吸收能力的影响。     

开放式创新与吸收能力对创新绩效影响——基于我国汽车企业的实证

本文结合汽车产业特征构建了我国汽车企业开放式创新、吸收能力与创新绩效之间作用关系的理论框架,提出相关假设。选取我国6家国有和6家民营汽车企业作为研究样本,运用Bootstrap软件对假设进行了简单中介检验和多步中介检验。实证研究发现:开放式创新不直接作用于企业的创新绩效,而是以吸收能力为中介影响企业的创新绩效;影响路径为"创新理念→开放程度→潜在和现实吸收能力→创新绩效";并通过吉利汽车案例验证了开放式创新和吸收能力的价值。本研究丰富了开放式创新理论,并对企业创新实践具有重要指导意义。     

Exploration versus exploitation in technology firms: The role of compensation structure for R&D workforce

We investigate the relationship between a firm’s compensation structure and the extent to which its innovation is more exploration versus exploitation oriented. Specifically, we assess two aspects of a firm’s compensation design—horizontal dispersion within job levels and vertical tournament incentives between job levels. A six-year panel of compensation records of 671,028 employees working at 81 U.S.-based high technology firms between 1997 and 2002 are used to construct measures that characterize a firm's pay structure, which are linked to these firms’ patents filed in the U.S. We find that firms with higher-powered tournament incentives in vertical compensation structure report higher fraction of innovation directed towards exploration. Horizontal pay dispersion, on the other hand, shows a negative relationship with the exploration in firms where R&D employees’ age variance is low. In firms where R&D employees’ age variance is high, the negative relationship between horizontal pay dispersion and exploration is muted.     

开放式创新与吸收能力对创新绩效影响——基于我国汽车企业的实证研究

开放式创新理论认为企业利用外部技术有利于增强创新能力,但我国汽车企业经历了60余年大规模、全方位的技术引进,广泛采用了由外而内的开放式创新实践,仍然未能建立起自主创新能力。目前学术界对这一产业实践背离理论的现象还没有进行系统回答。在开放式创新影响因素研究中,对吸收能力的系统定量研究不足。本文结合汽车产业特征构建了我国汽车企业开放式创新、吸收能力与创新绩效之间作用关系的理论框架,提出相关假设。选取我国6家国有和6家民营汽车企业作为研究样本,运用Bootstrap软件对假设进行了简单中介检验和多步中介检验。实证研究发现：开放式创新不直接作用于企业的创新绩效,而是以现实吸收能力为中介影响企业的创新绩效;影响路径为“创新理念→开放程度→潜在（现实）吸收能力→创新绩效”。本研究丰富了开放创新理论,并对企业创新实践具有重要指导意义。     

B吸收能力、知识整合对组织创新和组织绩效的影响研究/B

选取我国珠三角地区124家高科技企业作为实证研究对象,探讨吸收能力、知识整合、组织创新与组织绩效之间的关系。本文的研究结果表明：（1）吸收能力对知识整合有显著的直接正向影响;（2）吸收能力对组织创新没有显著的直接正向影响;（3）知识整合对组织创新有显著的直接正向影响;（4）组织创新对组织绩效有显著的直接正向影响。该实证结果对于人们正确     

Business intelligence and analytics for value creation: The role of absorptive capacity

Firms continuously report increased competitive value gains from the use of business intelligence and analytics (BI&A), however, little is known about how insights from BI&A are transformed to added value to date. We have conducted fourteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a sample of informants in CEO positions, IT managers, CIO, Heads of R&D, as well as Market Managers from nine medium or large-sized European firms. Applying the absorptive capacity’s theoretical lens, we have provided evidence that absorptive capacity’s capabilities are an underlying foundation in the process of transforming BI&A triggered insights into valuable knowledge. Moreover, this process is supported by technological, human, and relationship assets.     

Persistence of innovation in unstable environments: Continuity and change in the firm's innovative behavior

The concept of persistence is generally used to define the positive relationship between past and present innovations, which is explained by feedback and accumulation processes triggered by the firm's past results. This paper states that changes in the economic or institutional conditions of the environment impact on the type of profitable innovations, and past innovations might not be suitable for the new environment. As a result, firm's innovative behavior might change, which means that the firm's set of decisions about engaging in the seek for innovations or not and, if so, the set of investments and capabilities it allocates to innovate could be modified. Empirical evidence is provided to reject the persistence hypothesis and to show that past innovations do not necessarily impact present ones. This paper examines the relationship between past and present innovations for a group of Argentinean firms during 1998–2006, which coincides with a period of macroeconomic instability. Results suggest that persistence has to be analyzed in terms of a dynamic firm's innovative behavior—regardless of its results—and how it allows the firm to accumulate competences and resources, which increases the odds of successfully responding to changes in the environment and continuing to innovate.     

Innovation by start-up firms: The role of the board of directors for knowledge spillovers

This paper investigates whether board directors interlocked with or employed by innovative firms affect start-up firms’ propensity to be innovators themselves. Drawing upon a sample of more than 50,000 Swedish start-up firms, we find that board connections to incumbent innovators have a causal impact on the new firms’ probability to apply for patents. The results are robust when controlling for industry, geography, firm age, as well as spillovers through worker and managerial mobility, external knowledge sourcing through patent disclosure, access to venture capital and board attributes.