Asymmetric roles of business ties and political ties in product innovation

Jie Wu

Journal of Business Research, 2011, vol. 64, issue 11, 1151-1156

Abstract: This study investigates the asymmetric roles of business ties and political ties in innovation processes. The study posits that business ties strengthen organizational competence and enhance the environmental fit. In contrast, political ties increase the environmental fit but ossify organizational internal routines. The study uses an extensive survey on 766 Chinese firms across multiple sectors to test hypotheses. The empirical results provide strong supports for hypotheses by showing that: (1) business ties have a positive impact on product innovation, indicating that despite different types of business ties, they share common features in enhancing product innovation; (2) political ties have an inverted U-shaped relationship with product innovation, indicating that the positive effect of political ties on product innovation would diminish as the costs of political ties outweigh the benefits.

Keywords: Business ties; Political ties; Organizational competence; Environmental fit; Product innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (64)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:64:y:2011:i:11:p:1151-1156

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.06.014

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