Balancing Internal and External R&D Strategies to Improve Innovation and Financial Performance

This research investigated the complementarity of internal and external R&D for innovation development and the effect of innovation on the financial performance of European manufacturing firms. Using multigroup structural equation modeling, this study partially supported that internal and extern...

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Main Authors: Fábio de Oliveira Paula, Jorge Ferreira da Silva
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração (ANPAD) 2018-07-01
Series:BAR: Brazilian Administration Review
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bar/v15n2/1807-7692-bar-15-02-e170129.pdf
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author Fábio de Oliveira Paula
Jorge Ferreira da Silva
author_facet Fábio de Oliveira Paula
Jorge Ferreira da Silva
author_sort Fábio de Oliveira Paula
collection DOAJ
description This research investigated the complementarity of internal and external R&D for innovation development and the effect of innovation on the financial performance of European manufacturing firms. Using multigroup structural equation modeling, this study partially supported that internal and external R&D are complementary in firms from high-technology industries, whereas they are not in firms from low-technology industries. For the two groups of firms, both internal and external R&D separately had a positive effect on innovation performance. These results suggested that if low-tech firms, which had lower absorptive capacity than high-tech firms, want to improve their innovation performance in the long term, they should start prioritizing internal R&D to improve their absorptive capacity while achieving a short-term satisfactory innovation outcome. As absorptive capacity rises, more complex strategies balancing internal and external R&D should be adopted. Contrary to expectations, the empirical analysis indicated that innovation performance did not influence short-term financial performance for the whole sample. However, in countries more affected by the 2008 crisis (for instance, Baltic countries, Portugal and Spain), this effect was detected, indicating that innovation helped firms to recover faster.
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spelling doaj.art-879e51579776476985b1be80070e5fd62023-01-02T13:59:16ZengAssociação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração (ANPAD)BAR: Brazilian Administration Review1807-76922018-07-01152e17012910.1590/1807-7692bar2018170129Balancing Internal and External R&D Strategies to Improve Innovation and Financial PerformanceFábio de Oliveira Paula0Jorge Ferreira da Silva1Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, BrazilPontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, BrazilThis research investigated the complementarity of internal and external R&D for innovation development and the effect of innovation on the financial performance of European manufacturing firms. Using multigroup structural equation modeling, this study partially supported that internal and external R&D are complementary in firms from high-technology industries, whereas they are not in firms from low-technology industries. For the two groups of firms, both internal and external R&D separately had a positive effect on innovation performance. These results suggested that if low-tech firms, which had lower absorptive capacity than high-tech firms, want to improve their innovation performance in the long term, they should start prioritizing internal R&D to improve their absorptive capacity while achieving a short-term satisfactory innovation outcome. As absorptive capacity rises, more complex strategies balancing internal and external R&D should be adopted. Contrary to expectations, the empirical analysis indicated that innovation performance did not influence short-term financial performance for the whole sample. However, in countries more affected by the 2008 crisis (for instance, Baltic countries, Portugal and Spain), this effect was detected, indicating that innovation helped firms to recover faster.http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bar/v15n2/1807-7692-bar-15-02-e170129.pdfinnovation performanceinternal R&Dexternal R&Dfinancial performancemanufacturing firms
spellingShingle Fábio de Oliveira Paula
Jorge Ferreira da Silva
Balancing Internal and External R&D Strategies to Improve Innovation and Financial Performance
BAR: Brazilian Administration Review
innovation performance
internal R&D
external R&D
financial performance
manufacturing firms
title Balancing Internal and External R&D Strategies to Improve Innovation and Financial Performance
title_full Balancing Internal and External R&D Strategies to Improve Innovation and Financial Performance
title_fullStr Balancing Internal and External R&D Strategies to Improve Innovation and Financial Performance
title_full_unstemmed Balancing Internal and External R&D Strategies to Improve Innovation and Financial Performance
title_short Balancing Internal and External R&D Strategies to Improve Innovation and Financial Performance
title_sort balancing internal and external r d strategies to improve innovation and financial performance
topic innovation performance
internal R&D
external R&D
financial performance
manufacturing firms
url http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bar/v15n2/1807-7692-bar-15-02-e170129.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT fabiodeoliveirapaula balancinginternalandexternalrdstrategiestoimproveinnovationandfinancialperformance
AT jorgeferreiradasilva balancinginternalandexternalrdstrategiestoimproveinnovationandfinancialperformance