Abstract
External collaboration is an effective way for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to improve innovation performance and obtain sustainable competitiveness. This study focuses on the influence of external collaboration on innovation performance of SMEs. Specifically, this study classifies external collaboration into formal and informal external collaboration, and explores their different impacts on innovation performance of SMEs, respectively. Moreover, this study examines the moderating effects of managers’ entrepreneurial orientation and organizational legitimacy on the relationships between formal and informal collaboration and innovation performance of SMEs. Survey data from 213 high-tech manufacturing SMEs in China reveals that: (1) Both formal and informal external collaboration have positive effects on innovation performance of SMEs, and informal external collaboration offers greater benefits than formal external collaboration; (2) managers’ entrepreneurial orientation positively moderates the relationship between informal external collaboration and SMEs’ innovation performance; (3) organizational legitimacy positively moderates the relationships between formal and informal external collaboration and SMEs’ innovation performance. This study enriches the research on the relationship between external collaboration and innovation performance of SMEs, and advances the understanding of the contextual factors between formal and informal external collaboration-SMEs’ innovation performance relationships through elucidating the moderating role of managers’ entrepreneurial orientation and organizational legitimacy.
Highlights
Continuous innovation is vital for enterprises to acquire sustained competitiveness
Considering the above, this research seeks to answer the following research questions: (1) What are the effects of formal and informal external collaboration on the innovation performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and what are the differences between these effects? (2) Do managers’ entrepreneurial orientation and organizational legitimacy have moderating effects on the relationships between formal and informal external collaboration and innovation performance of SMEs? To solve these research questions, this study developed a theoretical model based on the existing research, and conducted empirical research on a sample of 213 high-tech manufacturing SMEs in China
The aim of this study is to explore the impacts of formal and informal external collaboration on SMEs’ innovation performance and investigate the moderating effects of managers’ entrepreneurial orientation and organizational legitimacy on the above relationships
Summary
In recent years, innovation has become increasingly complex, costly, and risky because of changing customer demands, fierce market competition, and rapid technological changes [1]. It has been difficult for a single firm, especially a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), for which resources and technologies are relatively deficient, to achieve successful innovation alone [2,3]. To overcome these challenges and improve innovation performance, more and more firms have started shifting to open innovation strategy and strengthening external collaboration with external partners to leverage external resources [4,5]. Classifying external collaboration into formal and informal external collaboration and examining their different impacts on innovation performance of SMEs is crucial
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