Paper info

The mediating role of networking capabilities and network-based assets in the learning orientation-competitive advantage and innovativeness-competitive advantage relationships and their performance consequences: a B2B vs. B2C perspective

G. Nagy, M. Jaakkola and N. Koporcic

The paper was published at the 33rd IMP-conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2017.

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Strategic partnerships can enhance organizational learning orientation and innovativeness that results in competitive success and superior business performance. For the most part, empirical literature supports this stance. Firms enter into strategic partnerships/alliances for a multitude of reasons: to gain access to markets, channels and knowledge; to realize economies of scale; accelerate market entry; enhance capabilities (i.e., “networking capabilities”); access resources (i.e., “network-bases assets”); or gain access to distribution. At the same time, less attention has been devoted to studying the enhancement of networking capabilities and network-based assets in exploiting strategic partnerships, and in doing so, translating the value of learning and innovativeness into enhanced business performance. Addressing this gap, we propose that learning orientation and innovativeness are key organizational drivers for joining strategic partnerships and reaping the benefits of such partnerships. In particular, we study: (1) whether networking capabilities and network-based assets mediate the effects of learning orientation and innovativeness on competitive advantage and business performance; and (2) whether these mechanisms vary between business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) companies. Drawing on survey data from 430 Hungarian companies (219 in B2B, 211 in B2C), structural equation modelling analysis suggests that networking capabilities and network-based assets mediate the effects of learning orientation and innovativeness on performance for B2B firms, whereas network-based assets play an important role in the innovativeness-performance link for B2C companies. Complementary configurational results, based on fsQCA, are in line with the SEM findings and suggest that four parallel and consistent success recipes are in place for B2B and B2C companies to leverage strategic partnerships. Overall, the study finds that networking is important both in B2C and in B2B, but the performance mechanisms vary between the two contexts.