Analyzing the impact of the innovation performance on high-tech enterprises: a case study of the Chinese semiconductor industry
Abstract
This study, which focuses on Chinese semiconductor companies, explores the relationship between government support (GS), proactive market orientation (PMO), science and technology (S&T) employees input (STEI), S&T employees management (STEM), and innovation performance (IP). In addition, existing studies examine the moderating effect of S&T employees management (STEM) on the relationship between S&T employees input (STEI) and innovation performance (IP). We obtained 324 valid samples through an email survey and utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) path analysis for hypothesis testing. The results of the analysis indicated that government support (GS), proactive market orientation (PMO), S&T employees input (STEI), and S&T employees management (STEM) exerted a positively significant effect on innovation performance. However, the moderating effect of S&T employees management on S&T employees input and innovation performance was not validated. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that Chinese semiconductor companies should utilize preferential policies of government offer. By adopting a proactive market orientation, companies can enhance communication with customers and can gain competitive advantage. In addition, enterprises should increase the number of S&T employees, and salaries and training costs. Finally, enterprises should implement the human resources strategy which can retain outstanding S&T employees.
Keyword : government support, proactive market orientation, S&T employees input, S&T employees management, innovation performance, Chinese semiconductor industry
How to Cite
Yin, F., Lee, W., & Guo, Y. (2024). Analyzing the impact of the innovation performance on high-tech enterprises: a case study of the Chinese semiconductor industry. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 25(2), 356–376. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2024.21066
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
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Freel, M. S. (2005). Patterns of innovation and skills in small firms. Technovation, 25(2), 123–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-4972(03)00082-8
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Guan, J., & Yam, R. C. (2015). Effects of government financial incentives on firms’ innovation performance in China: Evidences from Beijing in the 1990s. Research Policy, 44(1), 273–282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2014.09.001
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Hall, B. H. (2002). The financing of research and development. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 18(1), 35–51. https://doi.org/10.3386/w8773
Holmstrom, B. (1989). Agency costs and innovation. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 12(3), 305–327. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.90.5.1184
Huselid, M. A. (1995). The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 38(3), 635–672. https://doi.org/10.2307/256741
Khan, A., & Tao, M. (2022). Knowledge absorption capacity’s efficacy to enhance innovation performance through big data analytics and digital platform capability. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 7(3), Article 100201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2022.100201
Kline, R. B. (1998). Structural equation modeling. Guilford Publications.
Kohli, A. K., & Jaworski, B. J. (1990). Market orientation: The construct, research propositions, and managerial implications. Journal of Marketing, 54(2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299005400201
Lazzarini, S. G. (2015). Strategizing by the government: Can industrial policy create firm‐level competitive advantage?. Strategic Management Journal, 36(1), 97–112. http://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2204
Levine, D. I. (1992). Can wage increases pay for themselves? Tests with a productive function. The Economic Journal, 102(414), 1102–1115. https: //doi.org/10.2307/2234379
Li, X., Guo, Y., Hou, J., & Liu, J. (2021). Human capital allocation and enterprise innovation performance: An example of China’s knowledge-intensive service industry. Research in International Business and Finance, 58(C), Article 101429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2021.101429
Lundvall, B. Å. (1998). Why study national systems and national styles of innovation? Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, 10(4), 403–422. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537329808524324
Malerba, F. (2002). Sectoral systems of innovation and production. Research Policy, 31(2), 247–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(01)00139-1
Miller, S. M., & Upadhyay, M. P. (2000). The effects of openness, trade orientation, and human capital on total factor productivity. Journal of Development Economics, 63(2), 399–423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2021.101429
Murphy, K. M., Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (1991). The allocation of talent: Implications for growth. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106(2), 503–530. https://doi.org/10.2307/2937945
Narver, J. C., Slater, S. F., & MacLachlan, D. L. (2004). Responsive and proactive market orientation and new‐product success. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 21(5), 334–347. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0737-6782.2004.00086.x
Papa, A., Dezi, L., Gregori, G. L., Mueller, J., & Miglietta, N. (2020). Improving innovation performance through knowledge acquisition: The moderating role of employee retention and human resource management practices. Journal of Knowledge Management, 24(3), 589–605. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-09-2017-0391
Qu, Y., & Mardani, A. (2023). Market orientation, technological opportunity, and new product innovation performance. Journal of Business Research, 162(C), Article 113841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.113841
Shu, C., Zhou, K. Z., Xiao, Y., & Gao, S. (2016). How green management influences product innovation in China: The role of institutional benefits. Journal of Business Ethics, 133(3), 471–485. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2401-7
Tjahjadi, B., Soewarno, N., Jermias, J., Hariyati, H., Fairuzi, A., & Anwar, D. N. (2022). Does engaging in global market orientation strategy affect HEIs’ performance? The mediating roles of intellectual capital readiness and open innovation. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 8(1), Article 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc8010029
Wei, H., Chen, J., & Chudhery, M. A. Z. (2022). Examining intermediate mechanism of customer participatory market orientation on High-Tech firms’ innovation performance-secondary regulating effect of relationship quality. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 71, 2036–2048. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2022.3172411
Wei, J., & Liu, Y. (2015). Government support and firm innovation performance: Empirical analysis of 343 innovative enterprises in China. Chinese Management Studies, 9(1), 38–55. https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-01-2015-0018
Wei, Y., Nan, H., & Wei, G. (2020). The impact of employee welfare on innovation performance: Evidence from China’s manufacturing corporations. International Journal of Production Economics, 228, Article 107753. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2020.107753
Xu, K., Huang, K. F., & Xu, E. (2014). Giving fish or teaching to fish? An empirical study of the effects of government research and development policies. R&D Management, 44(5), 484–497. https://doi.org/10.1111/radm.12087
Yi, J., Murphree, M., Meng, S., & Li, S. (2021). The more the merrier? Chinese government R&D subsidies, dependence, and firm innovation performance. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 38(2), 289–310. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12564
Zúñiga‐Vicente, J. Á., Alonso‐Borrego, C., Forcadell, F. J., & Galán, J. I. (2014). Assessing the effect of public subsidies on firm R&D investment: A survey. Journal of Economic Surveys, 28(1), 36–67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6419.2012.00738.x
Aghion, P. (2016, January). Competitiveness and growth policy design [Conference presentation]. Moving to the Innovation Frontier workshop, Vienna, Austria.
Ballot, G., Fakhfakh, F., & Taymaz, E. (2001). Firms’ human capital, R&D and performance: A study on French and Swedish firms. Labour Economics, 8(4), 443–462. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0927-5371(01)00038-0
Beason, R., & Weinstein, D. E. (1996). Growth, economies of scale, and targeting in Japan (1955–1990). The Review of Economics and Statistics, 77(2), 286–295. https://doi.org/10.2307/2109930
Becker, G. S. (1993). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis, with special reference to education (3rd ed.). University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226041223.001.0001
Capozza, C., & Divella, M. (2019). Human capital and firms’ innovation: Evidence from emerging economies. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 28(7), 741–757. https://doi.org/10.1080/10438599.2018.1557426
Carlsson, B., & Staffan, J. (1994). Technological systems and economic policy: the diffusion of factory automation in Sweden. Research Policy, 23(3), 235–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/0048-7333(94)90036-1
Chen, K. Y., & Huan, T. C. (2022). Explore how SME family businesses of travel service industry use market knowledge for product innovation. Journal of Business Research, 75(151), 519–530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.07.033
Cohen, W. M., Nelson, R. R., & Walsh, J. P. (2002). Links and impacts: The influence of public research on industrial R&D. Management Science, 48(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.48.1.1.14273
Diaz-Fernandez, M., Bornay-Barrachina, M., & Lopez-Cabrales, A. (2017). HRM practices and innovation performance: A panel-data approach. International Journal of Manpower, 38(3), 354–372. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-02-2015-0028
Dosi, G. (1988). Sources, procedures, and microeconomic effects of innovation. Journal of Economic Literature, 26(9), 1120–1171. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2726526
Edquist, C. (1997). Systems of innovation: Technologies, Institutions and Organizations (1st ed.). Routledge.
Laursen, K., & Foss, N. J. (2014). Human resource management practices and innovation. In Handbook of innovation management (pp. 505–529). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199694945.013.009
Freel, M. S. (2005). Patterns of innovation and skills in small firms. Technovation, 25(2), 123–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-4972(03)00082-8
Gallié, E. P., & Legros, D. (2012). Firms’ human capital, R&D and innovation: A study on French firms. Empirical Economics, 43(2), 581–596. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-011-0506-8
Goedhuys, M., & Veugelers, R. (2012). Innovation strategies, process and product innovations and growth: Firm-level evidence from Brazil. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 23(4), 516–529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.strueco.2011.01.004
Gomes, G., & Wojahn, R. M. (2017). Organizational learning capability, innovation and performance: Study in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMES). Revista de Administração (São Paulo), 52, 163–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rausp.2016.12.003
Grant, R. M. (1996). Toward a knowledge‐based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17(S2), 109–122. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250171110
Guan, J., & Yam, R. C. (2015). Effects of government financial incentives on firms’ innovation performance in China: Evidences from Beijing in the 1990s. Research Policy, 44(1), 273–282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2014.09.001
Hagedoorn, J., & Cloodt, M. (2003). Measuring innovative performance: Is there an advantage in using multiple indicators?. Research Policy, 32(8), 1365–1379. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0048-7333(02)00137-3
Hall, B. H. (2002). The financing of research and development. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 18(1), 35–51. https://doi.org/10.3386/w8773
Holmstrom, B. (1989). Agency costs and innovation. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 12(3), 305–327. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.90.5.1184
Huselid, M. A. (1995). The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 38(3), 635–672. https://doi.org/10.2307/256741
Khan, A., & Tao, M. (2022). Knowledge absorption capacity’s efficacy to enhance innovation performance through big data analytics and digital platform capability. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 7(3), Article 100201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2022.100201
Kline, R. B. (1998). Structural equation modeling. Guilford Publications.
Kohli, A. K., & Jaworski, B. J. (1990). Market orientation: The construct, research propositions, and managerial implications. Journal of Marketing, 54(2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299005400201
Lazzarini, S. G. (2015). Strategizing by the government: Can industrial policy create firm‐level competitive advantage?. Strategic Management Journal, 36(1), 97–112. http://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2204
Levine, D. I. (1992). Can wage increases pay for themselves? Tests with a productive function. The Economic Journal, 102(414), 1102–1115. https: //doi.org/10.2307/2234379
Li, X., Guo, Y., Hou, J., & Liu, J. (2021). Human capital allocation and enterprise innovation performance: An example of China’s knowledge-intensive service industry. Research in International Business and Finance, 58(C), Article 101429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2021.101429
Lundvall, B. Å. (1998). Why study national systems and national styles of innovation? Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, 10(4), 403–422. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537329808524324
Malerba, F. (2002). Sectoral systems of innovation and production. Research Policy, 31(2), 247–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(01)00139-1
Miller, S. M., & Upadhyay, M. P. (2000). The effects of openness, trade orientation, and human capital on total factor productivity. Journal of Development Economics, 63(2), 399–423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2021.101429
Murphy, K. M., Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (1991). The allocation of talent: Implications for growth. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106(2), 503–530. https://doi.org/10.2307/2937945
Narver, J. C., Slater, S. F., & MacLachlan, D. L. (2004). Responsive and proactive market orientation and new‐product success. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 21(5), 334–347. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0737-6782.2004.00086.x
Papa, A., Dezi, L., Gregori, G. L., Mueller, J., & Miglietta, N. (2020). Improving innovation performance through knowledge acquisition: The moderating role of employee retention and human resource management practices. Journal of Knowledge Management, 24(3), 589–605. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-09-2017-0391
Qu, Y., & Mardani, A. (2023). Market orientation, technological opportunity, and new product innovation performance. Journal of Business Research, 162(C), Article 113841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.113841
Shu, C., Zhou, K. Z., Xiao, Y., & Gao, S. (2016). How green management influences product innovation in China: The role of institutional benefits. Journal of Business Ethics, 133(3), 471–485. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2401-7
Tjahjadi, B., Soewarno, N., Jermias, J., Hariyati, H., Fairuzi, A., & Anwar, D. N. (2022). Does engaging in global market orientation strategy affect HEIs’ performance? The mediating roles of intellectual capital readiness and open innovation. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 8(1), Article 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc8010029
Wei, H., Chen, J., & Chudhery, M. A. Z. (2022). Examining intermediate mechanism of customer participatory market orientation on High-Tech firms’ innovation performance-secondary regulating effect of relationship quality. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 71, 2036–2048. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2022.3172411
Wei, J., & Liu, Y. (2015). Government support and firm innovation performance: Empirical analysis of 343 innovative enterprises in China. Chinese Management Studies, 9(1), 38–55. https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-01-2015-0018
Wei, Y., Nan, H., & Wei, G. (2020). The impact of employee welfare on innovation performance: Evidence from China’s manufacturing corporations. International Journal of Production Economics, 228, Article 107753. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2020.107753
Xu, K., Huang, K. F., & Xu, E. (2014). Giving fish or teaching to fish? An empirical study of the effects of government research and development policies. R&D Management, 44(5), 484–497. https://doi.org/10.1111/radm.12087
Yi, J., Murphree, M., Meng, S., & Li, S. (2021). The more the merrier? Chinese government R&D subsidies, dependence, and firm innovation performance. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 38(2), 289–310. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12564
Zúñiga‐Vicente, J. Á., Alonso‐Borrego, C., Forcadell, F. J., & Galán, J. I. (2014). Assessing the effect of public subsidies on firm R&D investment: A survey. Journal of Economic Surveys, 28(1), 36–67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6419.2012.00738.x