Premium
The interaction between internal R & D and different types of external knowledge sourcing: an empirical study of C hinese innovative firms
Author(s) -
Chen Yufen,
Vanhaverbeke Wim,
Du Jingshu
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
randd management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.253
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1467-9310
pISSN - 0033-6807
DOI - 10.1111/radm.12162
Subject(s) - business , complementarity (molecular biology) , industrial organization , affect (linguistics) , value (mathematics) , strategic sourcing , service provider , knowledge management , service (business) , marketing , computer science , strategic planning , genetics , biology , linguistics , philosophy , strategic financial management , machine learning
This paper investigates to what extent internal R & D efforts and different types of external knowledge sources jointly affect innovation performance of firms in emerging economies. Based on a survey about external knowledge sourcing activities of C hinese innovative firms, we categorize external knowledge sources into four groups: science‐based partners; horizontal connections; value chain partners, and technology service providers. We find that both internal R & D activities and external knowledge sourcing have a positive effect on firms' innovation performance. Strong internal R & D capabilities also increase the effect of sourcing from value chain partners and horizontal connections, but we do not find support for complementarity between internal R & D and collaborations with universities and research labs. These findings jointly suggest that the mixture of different types of external knowledge partners in combination with internal R & D capabilities is crucial in understanding the role of open innovation in emerging economies.