Can firm innovativeness affect performance? The role of external involvement

Yi Li, Gang Li, Ying Zhang, Jinpeng Xu

This research attempts to complement ongoing discussions on the effects of firm innovativeness on performance and explain the role of external involvement in the relationship between firm innovativeness and performance in B2B settings.

Introduction

Innovativeness has been recognized as a critical determinant of business performance (Calantone et al., 2002; Cooper & Kleinschmidt, 2000; Hughes & Morgan, 2007; Lee & Tsai, 2005). As a prerequisite for success and survival, firm innovativeness could prompt enterprises to provide valuable, rare, inimitable, and distinctive products with added and different sources of value relative to competitors (Barney, 1991; C. Kim & Park, 2010; Schilke, 2014), help businesses enter the new market, expand their market share, and improve their competitive advantage and performance (Gunday et al., 2011; Rhee et al., 2010). Damanpour (1991) maintained that firm innovativeness has a...

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