Innovative search, capability reconfiguration and firm innovation performance in the process of technological leapfrogging

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate three issues: how does an innovative search (local search and boundary-spanning search) impact ﬁ rm innovation performance of latecomers; how does capability recon ﬁ guration (capability evolution and capability substitution) mediates the relationship between innovative search and ﬁ rm innovation performance; and how does the technological leapfrogging process (initial stage, following stage, synchronization stage and leading stage) moderate the relationship between capabilityrecon ﬁ gurationand ﬁ rminnovation performance. Design/methodology/approach – A “ resource-capability-performance ” theoretical framework was developed to explore the relationships between local/boundary-spanning search, capability recon ﬁ guration and ﬁ rm innovation performance. The data were collected by sending out surveys to managers and employees in various industries in mainland China. These hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelsandhierarchicalregressions. reproduce, distribute, and create of this article both commercial and non-commercial purposes), the The full terms of this licence may be at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode The work is supported by the Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project in Heilongjiang Province “ The mechanism and path decision of the radical innovation driving the technological leapfrogging of the manufacturing enterprises in Heilongjiang province ” (the project number: 18JYE653). Findings – The results showed that: innovative search has a direct causal relationship to capability recon ﬁ guration; local search and boundary-spanning search are conducive to improve the innovation performance of latecomers; the impact of local search and boundary-spanning search on innovation performance is realized through the completion of mediating role of capability recon ﬁ guration; there are differences in the path of local search and boundary-spanning search affecting the capability recon ﬁ guration of enterprise innovation performance; and the relationship between innovative search, capability recon ﬁ guration and enterprise innovation performance evolves with the enterprise in different stages of technologicalleapfrogging. Originality/value – This study explores the relationship and the path of innovative search to ﬁ rm innovation performance andanalyzes the path difference between local search andboundary-spinningsearch, which enriches the research of organizational search and enterprise innovation. This paper reveals the whole path of innovative search affecting innovation performance, discusses the important role of capability recon ﬁ guration and makes incremental contributions to dynamic capability theory. It studies the evolution of innovative search on innovation performance under the background of technological leapfrogging, which providesa newperspectivefor thestudy of organizational search andcapability-basedtheory. internal R&D but also try their best to absorb external resources and constantly improve and rebuild their own capabilities. This study uses a sample of 290 ﬁ rms from China to explore how innovative search affects innovation performance. This paper further discusses the mediating effects of capability recon ﬁ guration on the relationship between innovative search and innovation performance and how technological leapfrogging stages moderate these variables.