The impact of imitation strategy and R&D resources on incremental and radical innovation: evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms

Jie Wu; Kathryn Rudie Harrigan; Siah Hwee Ang; Zefu Wu

doi:10.1007/s10961-017-9621-9

The impact of imitation strategy and R&D resources on incremental and radical innovation: evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms

Jie Wu, Kathryn Rudie Harrigan, Siah Hwee Ang, Zefu Wu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Business Management

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

40 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study proposes and tests a theoretical framework that relates a firm’s imitation strategy and its interaction with R&D resources to incremental and radical innovation. The analysis of a panel dataset of 1381 Chinese manufacturing firms in the period 2008–2014 shows that imitation strategy is positively related to incremental innovation but has an inverted U-shaped relationship with radical innovation. More interestingly, R&D resources serve as a critical boundary condition of the imitation strategy–innovation link—they strengthen the link between imitation strategy and incremental innovation but weaken the link between imitation strategy and radical innovation.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	210-230
Number of pages	21
Journal	Journal of Technology Transfer
Volume	44
Issue number	1
Early online date	14 Sep 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-017-9621-9
Publication status	Published - 15 Feb 2019

Keywords

China
Imitation strategy
Incremental innovation
R&D resources
Radical innovation

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1007/s10961-017-9621-9Licence: Unspecified

Cite this

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title = "The impact of imitation strategy and R&D resources on incremental and radical innovation: evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms",

abstract = "This study proposes and tests a theoretical framework that relates a firm{\textquoteright}s imitation strategy and its interaction with R&D resources to incremental and radical innovation. The analysis of a panel dataset of 1381 Chinese manufacturing firms in the period 2008–2014 shows that imitation strategy is positively related to incremental innovation but has an inverted U-shaped relationship with radical innovation. More interestingly, R&D resources serve as a critical boundary condition of the imitation strategy–innovation link—they strengthen the link between imitation strategy and incremental innovation but weaken the link between imitation strategy and radical innovation.",

keywords = "China, Imitation strategy, Incremental innovation, R&D resources, Radical innovation",

author = "Jie Wu and Harrigan, {Kathryn Rudie} and Ang, {Siah Hwee} and Zefu Wu",

note = "Acknowledgements: We thank very much Shuaihe Zhuo for his excellent assistant in data analyses. Financial support was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71728003)",

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AU - Wu, Jie

AU - Harrigan, Kathryn Rudie

AU - Ang, Siah Hwee

AU - Wu, Zefu

N1 - Acknowledgements: We thank very much Shuaihe Zhuo for his excellent assistant in data analyses. Financial support was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71728003)

PY - 2019/2/15

Y1 - 2019/2/15

N2 - This study proposes and tests a theoretical framework that relates a firm’s imitation strategy and its interaction with R&D resources to incremental and radical innovation. The analysis of a panel dataset of 1381 Chinese manufacturing firms in the period 2008–2014 shows that imitation strategy is positively related to incremental innovation but has an inverted U-shaped relationship with radical innovation. More interestingly, R&D resources serve as a critical boundary condition of the imitation strategy–innovation link—they strengthen the link between imitation strategy and incremental innovation but weaken the link between imitation strategy and radical innovation.

AB - This study proposes and tests a theoretical framework that relates a firm’s imitation strategy and its interaction with R&D resources to incremental and radical innovation. The analysis of a panel dataset of 1381 Chinese manufacturing firms in the period 2008–2014 shows that imitation strategy is positively related to incremental innovation but has an inverted U-shaped relationship with radical innovation. More interestingly, R&D resources serve as a critical boundary condition of the imitation strategy–innovation link—they strengthen the link between imitation strategy and incremental innovation but weaken the link between imitation strategy and radical innovation.

KW - China

KW - Imitation strategy

KW - Incremental innovation

KW - R&D resources

KW - Radical innovation

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The impact of imitation strategy and R&D resources on incremental and radical innovation: evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms

Abstract

Keywords

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Jie Wu

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The impact of imitation strategy and R&D resources on incremental and radical innovation: evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Jie Wu

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