Integrative effects among innovation network elements on innovation performance based on QCA

摘要

Innovation network becomes a main driver of innovation performance, which has aroused consistent attention in the academic world. However, nearly all the related literatures focus on the effect of a separate network element on innovation. We propose a new and integrative framework, which posits that innovation performance is not driven by a separate network element, instead by concrete configuration of such elements. We investigate the framework in the context of small-medium enterprises (SMEs) in high-tech industry of China, employing a qualitative comparative analysis that is new to innovation network research and appropriate for configuration analysis. The result confirms that separate network elements have complex trade-off effects and that concrete composition of attributes function as sufficient conditions for innovation performance. Our findings contribute to managerial practice by providing new sights for scientific utilisation and integration of network elements.