Imitation or Innovation? Research on the Path Selection of Enterprise Performance Improvement from the Perspective of Organizational Ecology

Xuefeng Liu, Hanzhi Yu, Guowei Lai, Shuxiao Wang and Yuying Xie
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Xuefeng Liu: School of Management, Xiamen University, No. 422, Siming South Road, Siming District, Xiamen 361005, China
Hanzhi Yu: School of Management, Xiamen University, No. 422, Siming South Road, Siming District, Xiamen 361005, China
Guowei Lai: School of Management, Xiamen University, No. 422, Siming South Road, Siming District, Xiamen 361005, China
Shuxiao Wang: School of Management, Xiamen University, No. 422, Siming South Road, Siming District, Xiamen 361005, China
Yuying Xie: College of Business, Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, WV 25443, USA

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-19

Abstract: This paper analyzes how imitation and innovation strategies of high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) impact their sustainable performances and also the whole business ecosystem with the NK-model that mimics the fitness landscape and simulates enterprises’ choice of technological strategy in response to causal ambiguity and environmental complexity. Our study yielded three findings: (1) When the imitation barriers are low, the imitation strategy of high-tech SMEs has a better effect on the performance improvement in the early stage of the operation than the innovation strategy. In the long run, high-tech SMEs exhibit innovation, which plays a greater and more lasting role in enhancing sustainable performance. On the contrary, it is always difficult for imitators to realize significant performance improvement, (2) In a simple environment, imitation strategy plays a more effective role in improving high-tech SMEs’ performance, whereas in a complex environment, innovation strategy is more conducive to discovering opportunities, and it issues from high levels of competition, and (3) more importantly, the simulation finds that the innovation of high-tech SMEs contributes more to the performance of the business ecosystem as a whole. The introduction of the NK-model simulation method in the research of technological strategies and the new scope of looking at the strategies in the business ecosystem provide new research venues for the literature.

Keywords: business ecosystem; imitation and innovation strategies; environmental complexity; enterprise performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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