Premium
How to leverage the impact of R&D on product innovation? The moderating effect of management innovation
Author(s) -
Heij Cornelis V.,
Volberda Henk W.,
Van den Bosch Frans A.J.,
Hollen Rick M.A.
Publication year - 2020
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.12396
Subject(s) - moderation , leverage (statistics) , product innovation , innovation management , business , industrial organization , competitive advantage , new product development , product (mathematics) , scale (ratio) , knowledge management , marketing , computer science , physics , geometry , mathematics , machine learning , quantum mechanics
Although research and development (R&D) is a key indicator of (technological) innovation, scholars have found mixed results regarding its effect on product innovation and firm performance. In this paper, we claim that variations in R&D effectiveness can be explained by changes in a firm’s social system, in particular in its management innovation. It is still unclear how management innovation influences R&D effectiveness in terms of product innovation. In this study, we address this theoretical and empirical gap in the innovation literature. Our theoretical arguments and findings from a large‐scale survey among Dutch firms show that R&D has a decreasingly positive relationship with product innovation, particularly for firms with low levels of management innovation. However, in firms with high levels of management innovation, this relationship becomes more J‐shaped, especially in small and medium‐sized firms. Our findings also appear to indicate that management innovation may be more important for competitive advantage than just R&D. Overall, our insights reveal that management innovation is a key moderator in explaining firms’ effectiveness in transforming R&D into successful product innovation.