posted on 2020-08-25, 08:55authored byFrancis Donbesuur, George Oppong Appiagyei Ampong, Diana Owusu-Yirenkyi, Irene Chu
Despite the growing research on the performance implications of technological and
organizational innovation, our understanding of how they impact SMEs’ international
performance is limited. Drawing from the dynamic capability and the institutional theories, this
study argues that technological and organizational innovation has a synergistic effect on
international performance and that this effect is contingent on unique domestic institutional
factors. We test this model using structural equation modeling on a sample of 204
internationalized SMEs operating in Ghana. The findings from the analysis show that high
levels of organizational and technological innovation jointly improve SMEs’ international
performance. In addition, the results show that institutional environment specificity and
institutional environment enforceability enhance the complementary effect of organizational
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and technological innovation on the international performance of SMEs. The theoretical and
managerial implications of the findings are discussed.
This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Technological Forecasting and Social Change and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120252