A patent-based study of the relationships among technological portfolio, ambidextrous innovation, and firm performance

Although the issue of ambidextrous innovation (AI) is receiving increasing attention, its antecedents, moderators, and consequences remain largely unexplored. The goals of this study are therefore not only to investigate the performance effects of such innovation, but also to identify the possible antecedents and moderators. This study used a sample of 1595 firm-year observations for manufacturing firms in the S&P 500, spanning the period 2001–2013, to test the proposed hypotheses. The results show that a higher level of AI leads to better performance. A firm with a diversified technological portfolio (TP) is thus likely to achieve higher degrees of AI as well as see better firm performance. The empirical findings also reveal that AI plays a mediating role in the relationship between TP and performance. Furthermore, absorptive capacity is found to strengthen the relationship between TP and AI.

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