IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jknowl/v15y2024i4d10.1007_s13132-024-01930-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Boundary-Spanning Knowledge Search and Absorptive Capacity in Cooperative Innovation: A Study on Non-Core Firms in the Context of Sustainable Development

Author

Listed:
  • Dongping Yu

    (Yunnan University of Finance and Economics)

  • Tongyue Zhao

    (Yunnan University of Finance and Economics)

  • Jiuyue Chen

    (Yunnan University of Finance and Economics)

  • Junjun Li

    (International College, National Institute of Development Administration
    International College, Krirk University)

Abstract

This research paper investigates the vital role of boundary-spanning knowledge search and absorptive capacity in shaping the cooperative innovation performance of non-core firms operating in the context of sustainable development. The dynamic nature of technological innovation, exacerbated by market flattening and the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, has compelled small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to seek innovative breakthroughs. Cooperative innovation emerges as a strategic avenue for SMEs to mitigate risks and enhance their willingness to innovate. However, non-core firms often encounter technological and market disadvantages, hindering innovation efforts. This study explores how boundary-spanning knowledge search, which bridges the gap between non-core firms and the external environment, influences cooperative innovation. Furthermore, the research delves into the mediating role of both potential and actual absorptive capacity in the relationship between boundary-spanning knowledge search and cooperative innovation performance. Empirical findings indicate that boundary-spanning knowledge searches positively impact cooperative innovation, with technological and market knowledge searches yield significant results. Moreover, absorptive capacity exhibits a dual mechanism, directly influencing cooperative innovation and mediating the relationship between knowledge search and performance. This paper extends existing research by focusing on non-core firms within the sustainable development context, offering valuable insights for SMEs seeking innovative strategies. It also highlights the diverse pathways through which boundary-spanning knowledge search affects cooperative innovation. These findings offer practical implications for enhancing non-core firms’ innovation capabilities, including encouraging proactive knowledge search and developing absorptive capacity-inducing mechanisms through employee training and information platforms.

Suggested Citation

  • Dongping Yu & Tongyue Zhao & Jiuyue Chen & Junjun Li, 2024. "Boundary-Spanning Knowledge Search and Absorptive Capacity in Cooperative Innovation: A Study on Non-Core Firms in the Context of Sustainable Development," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(4), pages 19542-19569, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:15:y:2024:i:4:d:10.1007_s13132-024-01930-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s13132-024-01930-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13132-024-01930-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13132-024-01930-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Khan, Zaheer & Lew, Yong Kyu & Marinova, Svetla, 2019. "Exploitative and exploratory innovations in emerging economies: The role of realized absorptive capacity and learning intent," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 499-512.
    2. Su, Yingliang & Wu, Jiahua, 2024. "Digital transformation and enterprise sustainable development," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    3. Zhu, Peiyu & Miao, Xiaoming & Jin, Shumo & Moehler, Robert, 2023. "Transactive memory system, boundary-spanning search and business model innovation: the moderating role of environmental dynamism," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    4. Erwin Danneels, 2008. "Organizational antecedents of second‐order competences," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 519-543, May.
    5. Leone, Maria Isabella & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio & Natalicchio, Angelo, 2022. "Boundary spanning through external technology acquisition: The moderating role of star scientists and upstream alliances," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    6. Sami Ben Mim & Abir Hedi & Mohamed Sami Ben Ali, 2022. "Industrialization, FDI and absorptive capacities: evidence from African Countries," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 1739-1766, August.
    7. Schweisfurth, Tim G. & Raasch, Christina, 2018. "Absorptive capacity for need knowledge: Antecedents and effects for employee innovativeness," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 687-699.
    8. Santoro, Gabriele & Bresciani, Stefano & Papa, Armando, 2020. "Collaborative modes with Cultural and Creative Industries and innovation performance: The moderating role of heterogeneous sources of knowledge and absorptive capacity," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 92.
    9. Wen, Yixian & Zhang, Suo, 2024. "Assessing the impact of resource efficiency on sustainable development: Policies to cope with resource scarcity in Chinese provinces," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    10. Kasimu Sendawula & Moses Kisame Kisubi & Shamirah Najjinda & Hanifah Nantale & Samuel Kabbera, 2023. "The efficacy of entrepreneurial networking and innovation in fostering the performance of small businesses in Uganda," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, December.
    11. Jansen, J.J.P. & van den Bosch, F.A.J. & Volberda, H.W., 2005. "Managing Potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity: How do Organizational Antecedents matter?," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2005-025-STR, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    12. Escribano, Alvaro & Fosfuri, Andrea & Tribó, Josep A., 2009. "Managing external knowledge flows: The moderating role of absorptive capacity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 96-105, February.
    13. Waqas Khan & Qasim Ali Nisar & Ahmad Raza Bilal & Bengü Yardimci & Ali Raza Elahi, 2024. "Empirical Nexus Between Firm Characteristics, Market Characteristics, Financial Delinquency, and Its Analogy to Access to Finance for SMEs," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(4), pages 17407-17435, December.
    14. Diamanto Politis, 2005. "The Process of Entrepreneurial Learning: A Conceptual Framework," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(4), pages 399-424, July.
    15. Ulrich Lichtenthaler & Eckhard Lichtenthaler, 2009. "A Capability‐Based Framework for Open Innovation: Complementing Absorptive Capacity," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(8), pages 1315-1338, December.
    16. William Boulding & Markus Christen, 2003. "Sustainable Pioneering Advantage? Profit Implications of Market Entry Order," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 371-392.
    17. Rahul Kapoor & Shiva Agarwal, 2017. "Sustaining Superior Performance in Business Ecosystems: Evidence from Application Software Developers in the iOS and Android Smartphone Ecosystems," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(3), pages 531-551, June.
    18. Jianhe Wang & Mengxing Cui & Lei Chang, 2023. "Evaluating economic recovery by measuring the COVID-19 spillover impact on business practices: evidence from Asian markets intermediaries," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1629-1650, June.
    19. Raúl Tarazona-Montoya & Marta Peris-Ortiz & Carlos Devece, 2020. "The Value of Cluster Association for Digital Marketing in Tourism Regional Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-18, November.
    20. Weihua Su & Zhen Wang & Chonghui Zhang & Tomas Balezentis, 2023. "Determinants of the innovation efficiency of strategic emerging enterprises: evidence from the robust frontiers," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1433-1465, June.
    21. Jatinder S. Sidhu & Harry R. Commandeur & Henk W. Volberda, 2007. "The Multifaceted Nature of Exploration and Exploitation: Value of Supply, Demand, and Spatial Search for Innovation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(1), pages 20-38, February.
    22. Humphreys, Patrick & Imas, Miguel, 2022. "Decision support for social innovation enabling sustainable development," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115067, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    23. Oscar Afonso, 2023. "Losers and losses of COVID-19: a directed technical change analysis with fiscal and monetary policies," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1777-1821, June.
    24. Mu, Wen & Jiang, Xu, 2024. "Absorptive capacity versus competency trap: Experiential knowledge and investment in emerging technologies," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    25. Lopez-Vega, Henry & Tell, Fredrik & Vanhaverbeke, Wim, 2016. "Where and how to search? Search paths in open innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 125-136.
    26. Feng Zhu & Qihong Liu, 2018. "Competing with complementors: An empirical look at Amazon.com," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(10), pages 2618-2642, October.
    27. Chen-Ju Lin & Ci-Rong Li, 2013. "The Effect of Boundary-Spanning Search on Breakthrough Innovations of New Technology Ventures," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(2), pages 93-113, February.
    28. Lori Rosenkopf & Atul Nerkar, 2001. "Beyond local search: boundary‐spanning, exploration, and impact in the optical disk industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 287-306, April.
    29. Fosfuri, Andrea & Tribø, Josep A., 2008. "Exploring the antecedents of potential absorptive capacity and its impact on innovation performance," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 173-187, April.
    30. Kostopoulos, Konstantinos & Papalexandris, Alexandros & Papachroni, Margarita & Ioannou, George, 2011. "Absorptive capacity, innovation, and financial performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(12), pages 1335-1343.
    31. Quintana-Garci­a, Cristina & Benavides-Velasco, Carlos A., 2008. "Innovative competence, exploration and exploitation: The influence of technological diversification," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 492-507, April.
    32. Aija Leiponen & Constance E. Helfat, 2010. "Innovation objectives, knowledge sources, and the benefits of breadth," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 224-236, February.
    33. Tali-Noy Hindi & Amnon Frenkel, 2022. "The contribution of collaboration to the development of sustainable innovation in high-tech companies," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    34. Elizabeth Garnsey & Yuen Yoong Leong, 2008. "Combining Resource-Based and Evolutionary Theory to Explain the Genesis of Bio-networks," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(6), pages 669-686.
    35. Schweisfurth, Tim G. & Raasch, Christina, 2018. "Absorptive Capacity for Need Knowledge: Antecedents and Effects for Employee Innovativeness," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 47(4), pages 687-699.
    36. Ashraf Mishrif & Asharul Khan, 2023. "Technology adoption as survival strategy for small and medium enterprises during COVID-19," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Burcharth, Ana Luiza Lara de Araújo & Lettl, Christopher & Ulhøi, John Parm, 2015. "Extending organizational antecedents of absorptive capacity: Organizational characteristics that encourage experimentation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 90(PA), pages 269-284.
    2. Weidner, Nadia & Som, Oliver & Horvat, Djerdj, 2023. "An integrated conceptual framework for analysing heterogeneous configurations of absorptive capacity in manufacturing firms with the DUI innovation mode," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    3. Marshall S. Jiang & Jie Jiao & Zhouyu Lin & Jun Xia, 2021. "Learning through observation or through acquisition? Innovation performance as an outcome of internal and external knowledge combination," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 35-63, March.
    4. Thomas, Rhodri & Wood, Emma, 2014. "Innovation in tourism: Re-conceptualising and measuring the absorptive capacity of the hotel sector," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 39-48.
    5. Ali, Abdilahi & Ali, Syed Imran, 2020. "Antecedents of the propensity to learn management practices and their impacts on firm outcomes in emerging markets: A Bayesian Model Averaging approach," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4).
    6. Yuan, Ruizhi & Luo, Jun & Liu, Martin J. & Yu, Jiang, 2022. "Understanding organizational resilience in a platform-based sharing business: The role of absorptive capacity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 85-99.
    7. Zheng, Lu & Ulrich, Klaus & Sendra-García, Javier, 2021. "Qualitative comparative analysis: Configurational paths to innovation performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 83-93.
    8. Lau, Antonio K.W. & Lo, William, 2015. "Regional innovation system, absorptive capacity and innovation performance: An empirical study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 99-114.
    9. Asri Pertiwi & Tirta Nugraha Mursitama & Jap Tji Beng & Elidjen, 2024. "The Under-Developed Social Integration Mechanism as Moderating Factor of Two-Dimensional Absorptive Capacity Relationship: Systematic Literature Review," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(2), pages 21582440231, April.
    10. Sonia Cruz-Ros & Diana L. Guerrero-Sánchez & Maria-Jose Miquel-Romero, 2021. "Absorptive capacity and its impact on innovation and performance: findings from SEM and fsQCA," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 235-249, February.
    11. Bouguerra, Abderaouf & Mellahi, Kamel & Glaister, Keith & Sadeghi, Arash & Temouri, Yama & Tatoglu, Ekrem, 2022. "Absorptive capacity and organizational performance in an emerging market context: Evidence from the banking industry in Turkey," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1575-1587.
    12. Ren Ze & Zhan Kun & Francis Boadu & Liu Yu, 2018. "The Effects of Boundary-Spanning Search, Network Ties, and Absorptive Capacity for Innovation: A Moderated Mediation Examination," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-18, October.
    13. Silvia Vicente-Oliva & Ángel Martínez-Sánchez & Luis Berges-Muro, 2016. "Enhancing The Outcomes In R&D Collaborative Projects: An Empirical Analysis Of The Middle Ebro Valley In Spain," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(07), pages 1-34, October.
    14. Tepic, M. & Trienekens, Jacques H. & Hoste, R. & Omta, S.W.F. (Onno), 2012. "The Influence of Networking and Absorptive Capacity on the Innovativeness of Farmers in the Dutch Pork Sector," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 15(3), pages 1-34, September.
    15. Flor, M. Luisa & Cooper, Sarah Y. & Oltra, María J., 2018. "External knowledge search, absorptive capacity and radical innovation in high-technology firms," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 183-194.
    16. Kim, Bongsun & Kim, Eonsoo & Foss, Nicolai J., 2016. "Balancing absorptive capacity and inbound open innovation for sustained innovative performance: An attention-based view," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 80-90.
    17. Dong, Caiting & Liu, Xielin & Tang, Fangcheng & Qiu, Shumin, 2023. "How upstream innovativeness of ecosystems affects firms' innovation: The contingent role of absorptive capacity and upstream dependence," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    18. Michalis E. Papazoglou, 2023. "Favorable strategies for the success of entry into new technological areas: an entrepreneurial perspective," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 403-426, March.
    19. HanGyeol Seo & Yanghon Chung & Chungwon Woo & Dongphil Chun & Soojeen Sarah Jang, 2016. "SME’s Appropriability Regime for Sustainable Development-the Role of Absorptive Capacity and Inventive Capacity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-16, July.
    20. Bedford, David & Bisbe, Josep & Sweeney, Breda, 2022. "Enhancing external knowledge search: The influence of performance measurement system design on the absorptive capacity of top management teams," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cooperative innovation; Non-core firms; Boundary-spanning knowledge search; Absorptive capacity; Sustainable development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • M11 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Production Management
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:15:y:2024:i:4:d:10.1007_s13132-024-01930-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.