IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v127y2021icp290-299.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Boundary-spanning search and sustainable competitive advantage: The mediating roles of exploratory and exploitative innovations

Author

Listed:
  • Yang, Miaomiao
  • Wang, Juanru
  • Zhang, Xiaodi

Abstract

Although the critical role of boundary-spanning search in facilitating sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) has been recognized, how boundary-spanning search affects SCA under the conditions that competitors also search remains unclear. By considering competition, this study divides boundary-spanning search into proactive and responsive searches, and develops a theoretical model, in which proactive and responsive searches respectively influence exploratory and exploitative innovations, and subsequently enhance SCA. Empirical results from Chinese advanced manufacturing firms show that proactive and responsive searches have inverted U- shaped effects on SCA. Additionally, when the levels of proactive and responsive searches are low and moderate, exploratory innovation plays a complementary mediating role between proactive search and SCA, whereas exploitative innovation plays a complementary mediating role between responsive search and SCA. When considering competition, this study offers a crucial condition under which exploratory and exploitative innovations can transform the efforts of boundary-spanning search to SCA.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Miaomiao & Wang, Juanru & Zhang, Xiaodi, 2021. "Boundary-spanning search and sustainable competitive advantage: The mediating roles of exploratory and exploitative innovations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 290-299.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:127:y:2021:i:c:p:290-299
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.032
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296321000412
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.032?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. Tomasz Mickiewicz & Frederick Wedzerai Nyakudya & Nicholas Theodorakopoulos & Mark Hart, 2017. "Resource endowment and opportunity cost effects along the stages of entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 953-976, April.
    2. Daniel K. Schamberger & Nina J. Cleven & Malte Brettel, 2013. "Performance Effects of Exploratory and Exploitative Innovation Strategies and the Moderating Role of External Innovation Partners," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(4), pages 336-356, May.
    3. Ellen Enkel & Annika Groemminger & Sebastian Heil, 2018. "Managing technological distance in internal and external collaborations: absorptive capacity routines and social integration for innovation," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(5), pages 1257-1290, October.
    4. Philippe Aghion & John Van Reenen & Luigi Zingales, 2013. "Innovation and Institutional Ownership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 277-304, February.
    5. Erevelles, Sunil & Fukawa, Nobuyuki & Swayne, Linda, 2016. "Big Data consumer analytics and the transformation of marketing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 897-904.
    6. Richard F. J. Haans & Constant Pieters & Zi-Lin He, 2016. "Thinking about U: Theorizing and testing U- and inverted U-shaped relationships in strategy research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(7), pages 1177-1195, July.
    7. Armstrong, J. Scott & Overton, Terry S., 1977. "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys," MPRA Paper 81694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Ngo, Liem Viet & Bucic, Tania & Sinha, Ashish & Lu, Vinh Nhat, 2019. "Effective sense-and-respond strategies: Mediating roles of exploratory and exploitative innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 154-161.
    9. Sea‐Jin Chang & Sekeun Park, 2005. "Types of firms generating network externalities and MNCs' co‐location decisions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(7), pages 595-615, July.
    10. Hart E. Posen & Sangyoon Yi & Jeho Lee, 2020. "A contingency perspective on imitation strategies: When is “benchmarking” ineffective?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 198-221, February.
    11. Linus Dahlander & Siobhan O'Mahony & David M. Gann, 2016. "One foot in, one foot out: how does individuals' external search breadth affect innovation outcomes?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 280-302, February.
    12. Zi-Lin He & Poh-Kam Wong, 2004. "Exploration vs. Exploitation: An Empirical Test of the Ambidexterity Hypothesis," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(4), pages 481-494, August.
    13. Mahdi, Omar Rabeea & Nassar, Islam A. & Almsafir, Mahmoud Khalid, 2019. "Knowledge management processes and sustainable competitive advantage: An empirical examination in private universities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 320-334.
    14. Robert R. Wiggins & Timothy W. Ruefli, 2002. "Sustained Competitive Advantage: Temporal Dynamics and the Incidence and Persistence of Superior Economic Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(1), pages 81-105, February.
    15. 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.
    16. Auh, Seigyoung & Menguc, Bulent, 2005. "Balancing exploration and exploitation: The moderating role of competitive intensity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(12), pages 1652-1661, December.
    17. Ching-Hsun Chang, 2011. "The Influence of Corporate Environmental Ethics on Competitive Advantage: The Mediation Role of Green Innovation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(3), pages 361-370, December.
    18. Markovic, Stefan & Bagherzadeh, Mehdi, 2018. "How does breadth of external stakeholder co-creation influence innovation performance? Analyzing the mediating roles of knowledge sharing and product innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 173-186.
    19. 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.
    20. Sharma, Piyush & Davcik, Nebojsa S. & Pillai, Kishore Gopalakrishna, 2016. "Product innovation as a mediator in the impact of R&D expenditure and brand equity on marketing performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(12), pages 5662-5669.
    21. Xinshu Zhao & John G. Lynch & Qimei Chen, 2010. "Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and Truths about Mediation Analysis," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(2), pages 197-206, August.
    22. Moaniba, Igam M. & Su, Hsin-Ning & Lee, Pei-Chun, 2020. "Geographic distance between co-inventors and firm performance: The moderating roles of interfirm and cross-country collaborations," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Beibei Zhang & Yang Mei & Yuxin Xiong & Yan Liu, 2024. "Can Digital Transformation Promote Service Innovation Performance of Construction Enterprises? The Mediating Role of Dual Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-17, January.
    2. Ju, Xiaowei & Wang, Guanhua, 2023. "How do network ties affect firm performance growth and its variability? The mediating roles of exploratory and exploitative knowledge utilization," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    3. Listowel Owusu Appiah, 2024. "Does proactive boundary‐spanning search drive green innovation? Exploring the significance of green dynamic capabilities and analytics capabilities," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 2589-2599, July.
    4. Tong, Xinjia & Chen, Yuangao & Zhou, Shasha & Yang, Shuiqing, 2022. "How background visual complexity influences purchase intention in live streaming: The mediating role of emotion and the moderating role of gender," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    5. 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).
    6. Jiang, Zihao & Liu, Zhiying, 2022. "Policies and exploitative and exploratory innovations of the wind power industry in China: The role of technological path dependence," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    7. Xiaonan Fan & Ye Wang & Xinyuan Lu, 2022. "Digital Transformation Drives Sustainable Innovation Capability Improvement in Manufacturing Enterprises: Based on FsQCA and NCA Approaches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-26, December.

    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. Juanru Wang & Yajiong Xue & Jin Yang, 2020. "Boundary‐spanning search and firms' green innovation: The moderating role of resource orchestration capability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 361-374, February.
    2. Montserrat Boronat-Navarro & Alexandra García-Joerger, 2019. "Ambidexterity, Alliances and Environmental Management System Adoption in Spanish Hotels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-16, October.
    3. Strobl, Andreas & Bauer, Florian & Matzler, Kurt, 2020. "The impact of industry-wide and target market environmental hostility on entrepreneurial leadership in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(2).
    4. 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).
    5. Roh, Taewoo & Xiao, Shufeng (Simon) & Park, Byung Il, 2024. "MNEs' capabilities and their sustainable business in emerging markets: Evidence from MNE subsidiaries in China," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(1).
    6. Shufeng Simon Xiao & Yong Kyu Lew & Byung Il Park, 2020. "International Network Searching, Learning, and Explorative Capability: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises from China," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 597-621, August.
    7. Ardito, Lorenzo & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio, 2017. "Breadth of external knowledge sourcing and product innovation: The moderating role of strategic human resource practices," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 261-272.
    8. Laure Ambroise & Céline Bérard & Isabelle Prim-Allaz, 2020. "Performance implications of exploration and exploitation in SMEs: The mediating role of interaction orientation," Post-Print halshs-02570780, HAL.
    9. Zakaryan, Arusyak, 2023. "Organizational knowledge networks, search and exploratory invention," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    10. Gomes, Paulo J. & Silva, Graça Miranda & Sarkis, Joseph, 2020. "Exploring the relationship between quality ambidexterity and sustainable production," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    11. Jiao, Hao & Wang, Tang & Yang, Jifeng, 2022. "Team structure and invention impact under high knowledge diversity: An empirical examination of computer workstation industry," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    12. Jiang, Lin & Clark, Brent B. & Turban, Daniel B., 2023. "Overcoming the challenge of exploration: How decompartmentalization of internal communication enhances the effect of exploration on employee inventive performance," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    13. O'Reilly, Charles A., III & Tushman, Michael L., 2013. "Organizational Ambidexterity: Past, Present and Future," Research Papers 2130, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    14. Zhang, Haisu & Wu, Fang & Cui, Anna Shaojie, 2015. "Balancing market exploration and market exploitation in product innovation: A contingency perspective," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 297-308.
    15. Zhengang Zhang & Yu Shang & Linyuan Cheng & Antao Hu, 2022. "Big Data Capability and Sustainable Competitive Advantage: The Mediating Role of Ambidextrous Innovation Strategy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-17, July.
    16. Lee, In Hyeock & Lévesque, Moren, 2023. "Do resource-constrained early-stage firms balance their internal resources across business activities? If so, should they?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    17. Katou, Anastasia A. & Budhwar, Pawan S. & Patel, Charmi, 2021. "A trilogy of organizational ambidexterity: Leader’s social intelligence, employee work engagement and environmental changes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 688-700.
    18. Dasí, Àngels & Iborra, María & Safón, Vicente, 2015. "Beyond path dependence: Explorative orientation, slack resources, and managerial intentionality to internationalize in SMEs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 77-88.
    19. Bhandari, Krishna Raj & Rana, Sudhir & Paul, Justin & Salo, Jari, 2020. "Relative exploration and firm performance: Why resource-theory alone is not sufficient?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 363-377.
    20. Lee, Jeoung Yul & Xiao, Shufeng(Simon) & Choi, Byungchul, 2021. "Unpacking the drivers of emerging market firms’ international joint venture formation: The interplay between technological innovation strategies and home- and host-institutional pressures," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 378-392.

    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:eee:jbrese:v:127:y:2021:i:c:p:290-299. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    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.