1 School of Management, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
2 Department of Applied Science and Social Studies, Arusha Technical College, Arusha P.O. Box 296, Tanzania.
3 Center of Production Innovation Management, Hubei Province, Wuhan 430070, China.
4 Xi’an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi Province, Xi’an 710049, China.
Research Article
World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2024, 23(03), 104-125
Article DOI: 10.30574/wjarr.2024.23.3.2637
Received on 19 July 2024; revised on 28 August 2024; accepted on 30 August 2024
This study explores the role of business networks—specifically, inter-firm collaboration (IFC), university relationships (UR), and government relationships (GR)—in shaping frugal innovation capability (FIC) among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging and developing economies (EMDEs). Based in the resource-based view (RBV) theory and dynamic capability theory (DCT), the study expands on existing literature by investigating how these networks influence FIC and the moderating role of organizational ambidexterity (OA) in these relationships. The empirical findings confirm that IFC and GR significantly enhance FIC, whereas UR does not have a substantial impact, likely due to a misalignment between academic research and the practical needs of SMEs. Notably, OA negatively moderates the IFC-FIC relationship, indicating that high OA might introduce complexities that hinder the benefits of IFC on FIC. In contrast, OA positively moderates the GR-FIC relationship, suggesting that the effectiveness of government support in promoting frugal innovation is amplified when SMEs possess high levels of OA. The findings highlight the importance of targeted business networks and the nuanced role of OA in maximizing FIC in resource-constrained environments. This research contributes to the RBV literature by demonstrating the differential impacts of various business networks on FIC and highlighting the critical moderating role of OA.
Business networks; Frugal innovation; Frugal innovation capability; Organizational ambidexterity; Manufacturing SMEs; Emerging market and developing economies
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Josephat Deusidedith Sengura, Renyan Mu and Jacobo Busumabu. The influence of business networks on frugal innovation capability: The role of organizational ambidexterity. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2024, 23(3), 104-125. Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/wjarr.2024.23.3.2637