IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/ijimxx/v20y2016i07ns1363919616500742.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Improving Innovation Capabilities By Cooperation: Examining Effects Of Core Network Management Functions And Relational Mechanisms In The Industrial Goods Sector

Author

Listed:
  • BENJAMIN WEBER

    (HTW Saar, University of Applied Sciences, Goebenstraße 40, 66117 Saarbrücken, Germany)

  • SVEN HEIDENREICH

    (Faculty of Law and Economics, Saarland University P.O. 151150, 66041 Saarbrücken, Germany)

Abstract

For companies, cooperation represents a way to innovate more effectively. Within this respect, past literature stresses the importance of core network management functions and relational mechanisms for the effectiveness of interorganisational cooperation. However, it is still unclear whether and how core network management functions and relational mechanisms improve a firm’s innovation capability from interorganisational cooperation. Based on data of 154 industrial companies, the results from structural equation modelling provide evidence that core network management functions significantly enhance innovation capability improvement of individual firms by interorganisational cooperation. Furthermore, both formal and informal relational mechanisms partially mediate the impact of core network management functions on innovation capability improvement. With regard to informal relational mechanisms, companies should foster trust, guarantee equal power distribution and ascribe high importance to their cooperation. With regard to formal relational mechanisms, companies should provide organisational support to their cooperation, continuously share knowledge with their partners and also meet and communicate on regular basis.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin Weber & Sven Heidenreich, 2016. "Improving Innovation Capabilities By Cooperation: Examining Effects Of Core Network Management Functions And Relational Mechanisms In The Industrial Goods Sector," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(07), pages 1-29, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:ijimxx:v:20:y:2016:i:07:n:s1363919616500742
    DOI: 10.1142/S1363919616500742
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1363919616500742
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/S1363919616500742?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. Tarun Khanna, 1998. "The Scope of Alliances," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(3), pages 340-355, June.
    2. Weijan Shan & Gordon Walker & Bruce Kogut, 1994. "Interfirm cooperation and startup innovation in the biotechnology industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(5), pages 387-394, June.
    3. Johannes Landsperger & Patrick Spieth, 2011. "Managing Innovation Networks In The Industrial Goods Sector," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 15(06), pages 1209-1241.
    4. Gordon Walker & Bruce Kogut & Weijian Shan, 1997. "Social Capital, Structural Holes and the Formation of an Industry Network," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 109-125, April.
    5. Paul Muller & Julien Pénin, 2007. "Why do firms disclose knowledge and how does it matter?," Springer Books, in: Uwe Cantner & Franco Malerba (ed.), Innovation, Industrial Dynamics and Structural Transformation, pages 149-172, Springer.
    6. Lisboa, Ana & Skarmeas, Dionysis & Lages, Carmen, 2011. "Innovative capabilities: Their drivers and effects on current and future performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(11), pages 1157-1161.
    7. Johannes Landsperger & Patrick Spieth & Sven Heidenreich, 2012. "How Network Managers Contribute To Innovation Network Performance," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(06), pages 1-21.
    8. Belderbos, Rene & Carree, Martin & Lokshin, Boris, 2004. "Cooperative R&D and firm performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1477-1492, December.
    9. Charles Dhanaraj & Marjorie A Lyles & H Kevin Steensma & Laszlo Tihanyi, 2004. "Managing tacit and explicit knowledge transfer in IJVs: the role of relational embeddedness and the impact on performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 35(5), pages 428-442, September.
    10. Cummings, Thomas, 1991. "Innovation through alliances: Archimedes' hall of mirrors," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 284-287, September.
    11. Nola Hewitt-Dundas, 2013. "The role of proximity in university-business cooperation for innovation," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 93-115, April.
    12. Anoop Madhok, 1995. "Revisiting Multinational firm's Tolerance for Joint Ventures: A Trust-Based approach," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 26(1), pages 117-137, March.
    13. Ritter, Thomas & Gemunden, Hans Georg, 2003. "Interorganizational relationships and networks: An overview," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 56(9), pages 691-697, September.
    14. Lawrence Dooley & David O'Sullivan, 2007. "Managing Within Distributed Innovation Networks," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 11(03), pages 397-416.
    15. Bougrain, Frederic & Haudeville, Bernard, 2002. "Innovation, collaboration and SMEs internal research capacities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 735-747, July.
    16. Anoop Madhok & Stephen B. Tallman, 1998. "Resources, Transactions and Rents: Managing Value Through Interfirm Collaborative Relationships," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(3), pages 326-339, June.
    17. Jakki Mohr & Robert Spekman, 1994. "Characteristics of partnership success: Partnership attributes, communication behavior, and conflict resolution techniques," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(2), pages 135-152, February.
    18. Melissa A. Schilling & Corey C. Phelps, 2007. "Interfirm Collaboration Networks: The Impact of Large-Scale Network Structure on Firm Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(7), pages 1113-1126, July.
    19. Tsai, Kuen-Hung, 2009. "Collaborative networks and product innovation performance: Toward a contingency perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 765-778, June.
    20. Belderbos, Rene & Carree, Martin & Lokshin, Boris, 2004. "Cooperative R&D and firm performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1477-1492, December.
    21. Bill McEvily & Alfred Marcus, 2005. "Embedded ties and the acquisition of competitive capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(11), pages 1033-1055, November.
    22. Edward J. Zajac & Cyrus P. Olsen, 1993. "From Transaction Cost To Transactional Value Analysis: Implications For The Study Of Interorganizational Strategies," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 131-145, January.
    23. Cantner, Uwe & Graf, Holger, 2006. "The network of innovators in Jena: An application of social network analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 463-480, May.
    24. Biemans, Wim G., 1990. "The managerial implications of networking," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 529-540, December.
    25. Peter Moran, 2005. "Structural vs. relational embeddedness: social capital and managerial performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(12), pages 1129-1151, December.
    26. Dovev Lavie & Pamela R. Haunschild & Poonam Khanna, 2012. "Organizational differences, relational mechanisms, and alliance performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(13), pages 1453-1479, December.
    27. Shantanu Dutta & Om Narasimhan & Surendra Rajiv, 2005. "Conceptualizing and measuring capabilities: methodology and empirical application," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 277-285, March.
    28. Becker, Wolfgang & Dietz, Jurgen, 2004. "R&D cooperation and innovation activities of firms--evidence for the German manufacturing industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 209-223, March.
    29. Maria Di Guardo & Kathryn Harrigan, 2012. "Mapping research on strategic alliances and innovation: a co-citation analysis," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 37(6), pages 789-811, December.
    30. Carsten Bergenholtz & Christian Waldstrøm, 2011. "Inter-Organizational Network Studies—A Literature Review," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(6), pages 539-562, August.
    31. Tenenhaus, Michel & Vinzi, Vincenzo Esposito & Chatelin, Yves-Marie & Lauro, Carlo, 2005. "PLS path modeling," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 159-205, January.
    32. Prashant Kale & Harbir Singh, 2007. "Building firm capabilities through learning: the role of the alliance learning process in alliance capability and firm‐level alliance success," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(10), pages 981-1000, October.
    33. J W Spencer, 2003. "Global gatekeeping, representation, and network structure: a longitudinal analysis of regional and global knowledge-diffusion networks," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 34(5), pages 428-442, September.
    34. Fritsch, Michael & Franke, Grit, 2004. "Innovation, regional knowledge spillovers and R&D cooperation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 245-255, March.
    35. Benn Lawson & Danny Samson, 2001. "Developing Innovation Capability In Organisations: A Dynamic Capabilities Approach," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 5(03), pages 377-400.
    36. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    37. Helena Yli‐Renko & Erkko Autio & Harry J. Sapienza, 2001. "Social capital, knowledge acquisition, and knowledge exploitation in young technology‐based firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6‐7), pages 587-613, June.
    38. Prashant Kale & Harbir Singh & Howard Perlmutter, 2000. "Learning and protection of proprietary assets in strategic alliances: building relational capital," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 217-237, March.
    39. Leoncini, R. & Maggioni, M. A. & Montresor, S., 1996. "Intersectoral innovation flows and national technological systems: network analysis for comparing Italy and Germany," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 415-430, May.
    40. Reinartz, Werner & Haenlein, Michael & Henseler, Jörg, 2009. "An empirical comparison of the efficacy of covariance-based and variance-based SEM," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 332-344.
    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. Jin Guo & Bingmei Gu & Xialing Sun & Jinli Xue & Baiyun Yuan, 2019. "Communication Barrier, Spillover Effect and Industrial-Technological Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-20, September.
    2. Dev K. Dutta & Mary Beth Rousseau, 2019. "Alliance Experience, Industry Conditions, And External Technology Commercialisation," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 24(01), pages 1-24, January.

    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. Fernández-Olmos, Marta & Ramírez-Alesón, Marisa, 2017. "How internal and external factors influence the dynamics of SME technology collaboration networks over time," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 64, pages 16-27.
    2. Agarwal, Rajshree & Croson, Rachel & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2007. "Decision Making in Strategic Alliances: An Experimental Investigation," Working Papers 07-0108, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    3. Golonka, Monika, 2015. "Proactive cooperation with strangers: Enhancing complexity of the ICT firms' alliance portfolio and their innovativeness," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 168-178.
    4. Pak, Yong Suhk & Ra, Wonchan & Park, Young-Ryeol, 2009. "Understanding IJV performance in a learning and conflict mediated context," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 470-480, October.
    5. Pangarkar, Nitin & Yuan, Lin & Hussain, Sairah, 2017. "Too much of a good thing? Alliance portfolio size and alliance expansion," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 477-485.
    6. Müller, Dirk, 2010. "Alliance Coordination, Dysfunctions, and the Protection of Idiosyncratic Knowledge in Strategic Learning Alliances," EconStor Preprints 41039, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    7. Dovev Lavie & Israel Drori, 2012. "Collaborating for Knowledge Creation and Application: The Case of Nanotechnology Research Programs," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 704-724, June.
    8. Lascaux, Alexander, 2019. "Absorptive Capacity, Research Output Sharing, and Research Output Capture in University-Industry Partnerships," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(3).
    9. M. C. Guardo & K. R. Harrigan, 2016. "Shaping the path to inventive activity: the role of past experience in R&D alliances," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 250-269, April.
    10. Martinez-Noya, Andrea & Narula, Rajneesh, 2018. "What more can we learn from R&D alliances? : A review and research agenda," MERIT Working Papers 2018-022, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    11. Zhang, Jing & Baden-Fuller, Charles & Mangematin, Vincent, 2007. "Technological knowledge base, R&D organization structure and alliance formation: Evidence from the biopharmaceutical industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 515-528, May.
    12. Martha Torres-Barreto & Marianela Luzardo Briceño & Mileidy Alvarez-Melgarejo, 2018. "The R&D funding scenario: Can capabilities foster product innovation of firms? El escenario de financiación de I + D: ¿pueden las capacidades fomentar la innovación de productos de las empresas? [E," Working Papers hal-01867121, HAL.
    13. Park, Gunno & Kim, Marco JinHwan & Kang, Jina, 2015. "Competitive embeddedness: The impact of competitive relations among a firm's current alliance partners on its new alliance formations," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 196-208.
    14. Li, Linwei & Jiang, Feifei & Pei, Yunlong & Jiang, Nengqian, 2017. "Entrepreneurial orientation and strategic alliance success: The contingency role of relational factors," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 46-56.
    15. Koen H. Heimeriks & Geert Duysters, 2007. "Alliance Capability as a Mediator Between Experience and Alliance Performance: An Empirical Investigation into the Alliance Capability Development Process," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 25-49, January.
    16. Gordon Liu & Wai Wai Ko & Chris Chapleo, 2018. "How and When Socially Entrepreneurial Nonprofit Organizations Benefit From Adopting Social Alliance Management Routines to Manage Social Alliances?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 497-516, August.
    17. Zahoor, Nadia & Al-Tabbaa, Omar, 2021. "Post-entry internationalization speed of SMEs: The role of relational mechanisms and foreign market knowledge," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(1).
    18. Stephan Duschek, 2004. "Inter-Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 15(1), pages 53-73.
    19. Shakeri, Roya & Radfar, Reza, 2017. "Antecedents of strategic alliances performance in biopharmaceutical industry: A comprehensive model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 289-302.
    20. Okamuro, Hiroyuki, 2007. "Determinants of successful R&D cooperation in Japanese small businesses: The impact of organizational and contractual characteristics," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 1529-1544, December.

    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:wsi:ijimxx:v:20:y:2016:i:07:n:s1363919616500742. 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: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.worldscinet.com/ijim/ijim.shtml .

    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.