Impact of social network heterogeneity and knowledge heterogeneity on the innovation performance of new ventures
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IDD-11-2016-0038 |
| Published date | 20 February 2017 |
| Pages | 36-44 |
| Date | 20 February 2017 |
| Author | Junping Yang,Feng-Kwei Wang |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Library & information services,Lending,Document delivery,Collection building & management,Stock revision,Consortia |
Impact of social network heterogeneity and
knowledge heterogeneity on the innovation
performance of new ventures
Junping Yang
Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China, and
Feng-Kwei Wang
Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose – Few studies investigated the influence of heterogeneous knowledge and social networks on the innovation performance of new ventures
in emerging economics. Particularly, as the focus of global economic development is paying more attention to emerging economics such as China,
Indonesia and India, innovation research in these countries becomes more and more important. As such, this paper aims to propose a theoretical
model and designed a survey based on the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ).
Design/methodology/approach – To investigate the influence of network heterogeneity and knowledge heterogeneity on the innovation
performance of new ventures, the authors designed a structured questionnaire based on the TRIZ methodology for innovative problem solving to
collect data from new ventures established in the past eight years in eastern China.
Findings – The empirical results verify the assumptions of our theoretical model: network heterogeneity has a positive impact on the innovation
performance of new ventures; knowledge heterogeneity has a positive impact on the innovation performance of new ventures; network
heterogeneity has a positive impact on knowledge heterogeneity.
Originality/value – The main contribution of this paper is that the proposed theoretical model determining the relationship of network
heterogeneity and knowledge heterogeneity with the innovation performance of new ventures was empirically tested and verified. This study also
empirically verified what types and what sources of social network and knowledge are critically linked to new venture innovation.
Keywords Innovation, New ventures, Social network, Knowledge heterogeneity, Network heterogeneity, Theory of inventive problem solving
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Over the past two decades, there has been increasing focus on
the topic of business innovation. However, literature has
focused on the innovation performance of large organizations
in Western countries (Dosi, 1988;Dougherty and Hardy,
1996;Karlsson and Sköld, 2013). As investors and
researchers pay more attention to emerging economies (Peng
et al., 2008), there is a growing need to understand what
determinants affect the innovation performance of new
ventures in emerging economies. Particularly, for those
countries such as China where social network is critical in
every aspect of life, how social network influences business
innovation could be a key issue. Conventional concepts and
wisdom of social network and business innovation in Western
countries could be quite different.
In practice, new ventures face more challenging issues in
business innovation than established enterprises because they
usually have limited human and financial resources as well as
IT infrastructures. As a result, their adoption of innovation is
often different from that of established business with more
resources (Sarosa and Zowghi, 2003;Alshamaila et al., 2013).
A new venture is defined as “the end result of the process of
creating and organizing a new business that develops,
produces, and markets products or services to satisfy unmet
market needs for the purposes of profit and growth”
(Chrisman et al., 1998). In this study, all new ventures were in
form of a new company established in less than or equal to
eight years.
Innovation is considered critical to the survival and success
of new ventures in the fierce competition (Chang et al., 2012).
To increase the competitiveness in the market, many new
ventures recognize the need to stay innovative in their product
or service offerings. In this regard, both knowledge sources
and social network of entrepreneurs play an important role for
firms to develop and maintain their innovation capabilities
(Krstic´ and Petrovic´, 2012). According to Svetina and Prodan
(2008), knowledge sources can be classified into internal and
external sources. Both sources could contribute positively to a
firm’s innovation performance. Knowledge also can be
divided into two types: tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/2398-6247.htm
Information Discovery and Delivery
45/1 (2017) 36–44
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 2398-6247]
[DOI 10.1108/IDD-11-2016-0038]
The project is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of
China. (Project No. 71272211).
Received 5 November 2016
Revised 24 November 2016
Accepted 1 December 2016
36
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