TWO DISTINCT INNOVATION NARRATIVE STRATEGIES AND FIRM GROWTH: A CONFIGURATIONAL APPROACH

Xiaomei Chen (), Xiaojie Wu and Xiuqiong Wang ()
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Xiaomei Chen: School of Management, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510520, P. R. China
Xiaojie Wu: School of Management, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510520, P. R. China
Xiuqiong Wang: Department of Tourism Management, (Institute of Tourism Development and Planning), South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, P. R. China

International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), 2025, vol. 29, issue 03n04, 1-37

Abstract: Innovation narratives serve as linguistic tools that audience use to make sense of innovation activities, events and actions, which play a crucial role in firm growth. However, prior studies have primarily focused on independent effects of innovation narrative strategy and firm growth, with relatively limited research exploring their interdependent effects, often yielding conflicting results. This study addresses this gap by employing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to adopt a configurational approach, analysing the complex interdependencies between innovation narrative strategies (innovation distinctiveness from category prototypes and exemplars), external conditions (institutional quality, environmental uncertainty), and firm attributes (equity concentration, R&D investment intensity) in relation to high firm growth. Data from 242 Chinese high-tech firms reveal four distinct configurational solutions. These solutions clarify the conditions under which firms should adopt specific innovation narrative strategies to achieve high growth. This study fills the gap left by prior research, which failed to account for the configurational nature of innovation narrative strategies. Additionally, it provides valuable managerial insights on how to strategically disclose innovation-related information to maximise firm growth.

Keywords: Innovation narrative; category prototype; category exemplar; category theory; fsQCA; configurational analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1142/S1363919625500148

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