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Recombination for innovation: performance outcomes from international partnerships in China
Author(s) -
Collinson Simon,
Liu Yipeng
Publication year - 2019
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.12293
Subject(s) - multinational corporation , business , china , government (linguistics) , industrial organization , scale (ratio) , reciprocal , process (computing) , product (mathematics) , marketing , product innovation , competitive advantage , innovation process , knowledge management , conceptual framework , sociology , political science , work in process , linguistics , philosophy , physics , geometry , mathematics , finance , quantum mechanics , computer science , law , operating system , social science
This paper examines the relationship between different types of international partnerships and innovation performance. By drawing on a conceptual framework which outlines how new bundles of transferrable and nontransferrable ownership advantages are created from such partnerships (Collinson and Narula, [Collinson, S.C., 2014]), we analyze empirical evidence from a large‐scale survey of 320 individual company responses from the China‐based operations of foreign multinational firms alongside in‐depth case studies. Our study reveals that different types of collaborative partnerships (cooperative vs. competitive) are associated with different innovation performance outcomes (product vs. process innovation). In addition, we find that a sustainable, reciprocal relationship between collaborative partners can generate superior innovation performance. Contextual factors including the role of government and industry characteristics have an important bearing on innovation performance in collaborative partnerships in China. We conclude with implications for researchers, managers, and policymakers.