How does disruptive innovation influence firm performance? A moderated mediation model
European Journal of Innovation Management
ISSN: 1460-1060
Article publication date: 23 November 2021
Issue publication date: 4 April 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Based on the literature on disruptive innovation, this research explores how disruptive innovation directly and indirectly (via innovation speed and innovation quality) influences firm performance in relation to the contingency of market-supporting institutions.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 207 firms was gathered through questionnaires targeting senior managers and R&D managers from high-tech firms in China with two waves including explanatory variables and outcome variables.
Findings
This empirical results indicate that disruptive innovation positively affects firm performance, and that innovation speed and innovation quality mediate the relationship between disruptive innovation and firm performance. Meanwhile, market-supporting institutions positively moderate the relationship between innovation speed and firm performance, but negatively moderate the relationship between innovation quality and firm performance.
Research limitations/implications
This study suggests that disruptive innovation is important to firm performance, innovation speed and innovation quality play mediating roles, and market-supporting institutions acts as moderating effects. A research limitation is that the data were collected mainly through a questionnaire.
Practical implications
Firms should incorporate disruptive innovation as an important strategy and improve innovation speed and innovation quality to promote firm performance, and policymakers should improve the levels of market-supporting institutions to facilitate innovation and performance.
Originality/value
This study contributes the literature of disruptive innovation by uncovering the positive effect of disruptive innovation and firm performance and the mediating effects of innovation speed and innovation quality on the abovementioned relationship, and revealing their contingency effects of market-supporting institutions.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the editor's contribution and show appreciation to the reviewers for their helpful comments and recommendations.
Conflict of interest: There is no conflict of interests to report.
Funding: This study was supported by the Key Consulting Program of Chinese Academy of Engineering (GCZY20190001), National Natural Science Foundation of China (71573064, 71902135), and Peiyang Scholar Foundation (2020XRG-0074).
Citation
Wang, C., Guo, F. and Zhang, Q. (2023), "How does disruptive innovation influence firm performance? A moderated mediation model", European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 798-820. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-07-2021-0369
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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