Relationship between international experience and innovation performance: The importance of organizational learning for EMNEs
研究了新兴经济体跨国企业的国际经验如何影响创新绩效，发现两者呈S形曲线关系，并考察了学习速率差异和知识距离的调节作用。基于1997-2013年161家印度生物制药企业数据。
Research Summary This study examines the impact of international experience ( IE ) on innovation performance ( IP ) in the context of emerging economy multinational enterprises ( EMNE s). EMNE internationalization is often driven by strategic asset‐seeking behavior to improve their knowledge base. But, does internationalization lead to more innovation for these EMNE s? Drawing on organizational learning theory, we find a positive relationship; however, the IE–IP curve is not linear, instead it follows an S –shaped curve. We also introduce the moderating role of the difference in the direct and indirect learning rate, as well as the knowledge distance between an EMNE ’s home and host countries, to the IE–IP relationship. Data on 161 I ndian biopharmaceutical firms, of which 64 are EMNE s, from 1997 to 2013 were used to empirically test our hypotheses. Managerial Summary Emerging economy multinational enterprises ( EMNE s) are expanding to foreign countries to seek new knowledge and improve their ability to compete with more advanced developed country firms. In this article, we examine whether international expansion by EMNE s actually improves their innovation performance. We find that international experience does improve innovation because of organizational learning. Further, we look at whether firms are able to learn faster—both from their own innovation efforts as well as the innovation efforts of their partners. We also look at the difference in the level of knowledge at home versus at the location of the foreign subsidiaries and the impact of this distance on the international experience—innovation performance relationship. We examine EMNE s from the I ndian biopharmaceutical industry. Our study provides managerial insights on the international expansion and innovation‐related activities of EMNE s.