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Exploring the effects of inter-firm linkages on SMEs' open innovation from an ecosystem perspective: An empirical study of Chinese manufacturing SMEs

journal contribution
posted on 2019-06-17, 08:26 authored by Liang Mei, Tao ZhangTao Zhang, Jin Chen
In this paper, we study the effects of inter-firm linkages on the open innovation of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from an innovation ecosystem perspective. Based on resource dependence theory and the bipartite structure of business ecosystems, we divide a SME's external linkages with its partners in an innovation ecosystem into two types (i.e. the Linkages of a SME with its Prominent Organizations (LPO) and the Linkages of the SME with its Service Intermediaries (LSI)). We then examine the relationships between LPO (and LSI) and the SME's innovation performance and analyze the influences of the SME's absorptive capacity on the two relationships. Research results support a positive relationship between LPO and SMEs' innovation performance, and a positive relationship between LSI and SMEs' innovation performance and a positive relationship between LSI and LPO. In addition, research results show that when measured by R&D intensity, SMEs' absorptive capacity weakens the positive effects of LPO (and LSI) on SMEs' innovation performance, whereas when measured by IT adoption, SMEs' absorptive capacity strengthens the two positive relationships. Relevant theoretical and managerial contributions are discussed.

Funding

National Natural Science Youth Foundation of China (Grant Number 71704090), China National Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Number 2017M610097), and China National Postdoctoral Specific Science Foundation (Grant Number 2018T110110).

History

School

  • Loughborough University London

Published in

Technological Forecasting and Social Change

Volume

144

Pages

118 - 128

Citation

MEI, L., ZHANG, T. and CHEN, J., 2019. Exploring the effects of inter-firm linkages on SMEs' open innovation from an ecosystem perspective: An empirical study of Chinese manufacturing SMEs. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 144, pp.118-128.

Publisher

© Elsevier

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Publisher statement

This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Acceptance date

2019-04-11

Publication date

2019-04-25

Notes

This paper is closed access.

ISSN

0040-1625

Language

  • en

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