The moderating effect of environmental uncertainty on the relationship between network structures and the innovative performance of a new venture

Abstract

The moderating effect of environmental uncertainty on the relationship between network structures and the innovative performance of a new venture Ming-Chao Wang Shih-Chieh Fang Article information:To cite this document: Ming-Chao Wang Shih-Chieh Fang, (2012),"The moderating effect of environmental uncertainty on the relationship between network structures and the innovative performance of a new venture"If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -Network structures are critical in the acquisition of resources; however, their impact on innovative performance remains unclear, especially in an uncertain environment. This study aims to advance research on network research by investigating how the configuration of the industrial environment shapes the relationship between network structures of a new venture and its innovative performance. Design/methodology/approach -Empirical support was derived from entrepreneurial survey data. Data were collected through a survey of 1,510 new ventures in Taiwan for this research study. Findings -The authors find that innovative performance is impacted by different aspects of the network structure, and that environmental uncertainty contributes to this impact. Overall, the authors find that network structure, innovative performance and environmental uncertainty together contribute to a contingent view of the conditions under which network boundary conditions impact innovative performance. Practical implications -Given the contradictory role of network centrality and the cooperative network on innovativeness, managers need to focus on acquiring a critical position in the industrial network rather than expecting to obtain resources and information from strong relationships with cooperators, especially in an uncertain environment. Originality/value -This research contributes to network theory in two ways. First, it provides descriptive data on different aspects of the network structure and how these aspects impact innovative performance. Second, it sheds light on the configuration of resources and allocations for new ventures, which must compete with rivals in an uncertain environment.

Social Capital and Firm Performance: Moderating Effect of Environmental Turbulence

“…Moderating effects of environment turbulence come up with multi faceted effect, which can be positive or negative. Negative mediating impact of ET on FP springs from unanticipated environmental turbulence (Wang & Fang, 2012). That technological turbulence provides moderating effect in the relationship between EO and technology commercialization.…”

“…Under environmental turbulence, social capital still plays pivotal role on FP (Tang et al, 2010;Chawla et al, 2012). Wang and Fang (2012) indicates curvilinear relationship between EO and FP.…”

“…Responsiveness as crucial for SMEs to deal with customer needs within technological turbulence (Didonet, Simmons, Villavicencio, & Palmer, 2012). Typically, SMEs have lack of capacity to anticipate the turbulence on account of poor scanning of accurate and reliable information about the industry condition (Wang & Fang, 2012). Market turbulence is about the level of dynamic composition of customers and their preferences.…”

The Entry of Multinational Companies to the Base of the Pyramid: A Network Perspective

“…In contrast with the business network literature (Gummesson & Polese, 2009;Wang & Fang, 2012), which emphasizes building relationships with business entities in order to achieve business goals, this research reveals that, when the business goal of a firm is associated with social problems, social entities such as NGOs can play the role of business networks. Our findings also strengthen the view that MNCs usually engage in collaborations with non-business organizations in the hope of obtaining their support (Ghauri & Holstius, 1996).…”

“…The business network approach has been employed extensively in the fields of industrial marketing (Gummesson & Polese, 2009;Wang & Fang, 2012) and international business (Elg, Ghauri, & Tarnovskaya, 2008;Johanson & Vahlne, 2009;Shaner & Maznevski, 2011), but there are few studies that apply this theoretical perspective to the study of MNCs and social actors (Hadjikhani & Ghauri, 2001) at the BOP (Rivera-Santos & Rufín, 2010). We believe that this is suitable for analysing the process by which MNCs enter the BOP market.…”