Entry conditions, firm strategies and their relationships to the innovation performance of an emerging green industry: The case of the solar cell industry

Abstract

Summary This paper examines the multidimensional effects of entry conditions and firm strategies in the emerging solar cell industry. It extends prior research on entry conditions, specifically entry timing and entry size. There has been a noteworthy lack of empirical evidence on the relationship between entry conditions and firm strategies. To fill the gaps in extant research on entry conditions, this paper investigates whether entry timing and size have any effect on innovation performance, and how firm strategies, such as collaboration and technology portfolio after entry, strengthen or weaken these effects. Results suggest that entering the market earlier than competitors consistently works more beneficially for innovation performance than does firm size. Furthermore, empirical results reveal that after market entrance, collaboration strategy of the firm is positively related to innovation performance. However, any positive effect of collaboration is relatively diminished for early entrants. In contrast, the effect holds true for late entrants who require aggressive collaboration. Building a technology portfolio has a negative relationship on innovation performance, and such influence is more evident in late entrants.