Synergizing independent and cooperative R&D activities: the effects of organisational slack and absorptive capacity

ABSTRACT

Firms undertaking independent and cooperative research and development (R&D) activities simultaneously often have difficulties to realise their synergistic effects. This study contends that such difficulties are caused by tensions between two types of R&D activities in terms of resource competition and knowledge leakage. Moreover, organisational slack and absorptive capacity may affect these tensions and thereby play important role in synergizing independent and cooperative R&D activities. Based on a survey data of 286 firms, this study finds that such two types of R&D activities jointly have a negative impact on firm performance. Furthermore, organisational slack aids in synergizing them, while absorptive capacity has an adverse impact. These findings enrich our knowledge on the interrelation of independent and cooperative R&D activities and shed light on how firms can synergize them.

KEYWORDS:

• Independent R&D activity
• cooperative R&D activity
• organisational slack
• absorptive capacity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Hairong Wang is a PhD student at Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiaotong University. Her research interests are innovation and knowledge management.

Zhongfeng Su is a Professor at School of Management, Xi’an Jiaotong University. His research interests are strategy, entrepreneurship, and innovation. He has published dozens of articles in journals such as British Journal of Management, Journal of Small Business Management, Management and Organization Review, Marketing Letters, R&D Management, and Small Business Economics.

Wenhong Zhang is a Professor at School of Business, Nanjing University. Her research interests are open innovation and knowledge management.

Additional information

Funding

This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 71472087] and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China, Xi’an Jiaotong University [grant number SK2018046].