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Although manufacturer-initiated rewards are widely used to secure distributors’ compliance, the spillover effect on unrewarded distributors (i.e. observers) in the same distribution channel is under-researched. Using insights from social learning theory, this paper aims to investigate how manufacturer-initiated rewards affect observers’ expectation of reward and shape observers’ compliance toward the manufacturer. Furthermore, this paper explores how such effects are contingent upon distributor relationship features.

To test the hypotheses, hierarchical multiple regression and bootstrapping analyses were performed using survey data from 280 Chinese distributors.

The magnitude of a manufacturer-initiated reward to a distributor stimulates expectation of reward among observers, which enhances compliance; observers’ expectation of reward mediates the impact of reward magnitude on compliance. Moreover, network centrality (of the rewarded peer) negatively moderates the positive impact of reward magnitude on observers’ expectation of reward, whereas observers’ dependence (on the manufacturer) positively moderates this dynamic.

Manufacturers should pay attention to the spillover effects of rewards. Overall, they should use rewards of appropriate magnitude to show willingness to recognize outstanding distributors. This will inspire unrewarded distributors, which will then be more compliant. Furthermore, manufacturers should know that specific types of distributor relationship features may significantly vary the spillover effects.

This study illuminates the spillover effects of manufacturer-initiated reward by opening the “black box” of the link between reward magnitude and observers’ compliance and by specifying the effects’ boundary conditions.

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between nonmarket strategy and innovation performance, as well as the boundary factors that influence this relationship in the context of the pharmaceutical industry in emerging markets.

This study analyzed matched data of 227 Chinese pharmaceutical firms and two secondary databases with SPSS to examine the hypotheses.

Nonmarket strategy promotes the innovation performance. High level of firm internal knowledge utilization ability and strategic flexibility strengthens the effect of nonmarket strategy in promoting innovation performance, while information technology (IT) environment weakens the effect of nonmarket strategy in promoting innovation performance.

The research studies the positive impact of nonmarket strategy on innovation performance in the specific context of Chinese pharmaceutical industry, and it introduces the internal capabilities and external IT environment of the firm as moderators of the relationship between nonmarket strategy and innovation performance. More importantly, this research echoes the call for research on moderator of nonmarket strategy and identifies important boundary conditions. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it also explores the impact of the IT environment on the implementation of nonmarket strategy for the first time, which deepens the research on nonmarket strategy’s effect on innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test an integrated model to examine the relationship between managerial ties and two types of open innovation (OI). It takes into account the mediating role of realized absorptive capacity and explains how a firm’s ability to recognize the value of new information, assimilate it and apply it to commercial ends can facilitate OI.

Data were collected from 259 middle and top managers working across different sectors in the United Arab Emirates.

Results obtained using structural equation modeling show that managerial ties facilitate both in-bound and out-bound OI. Results also establish the mediating role of realized absorptive capacity in these relationships.

Use of cross-sectional data as was done in this study has been criticized for being inappropriate to test causal models. Besides the findings may not be generalizable to different industries/cultures/regions.

This study suggests that managerial ties act to support OI in firms thus giving the insight that managers should be appreciated to build ties with managers of other firms, universities and government officials. Doing so can help firms achieve better OI outcomes. Firms should arrange means of interaction of their managers with these external knowledge sources such as events and occasions where managers of different firms can interact with each other to foster strong ties among them.

The above findings contribute theoretically to OI and managerial ties literature while providing insights for practitioners on how to succeed or avoid failure in their OI initiatives. These insights are novel and are new to the OI and managerial ties theory.

Research investigating the role of factors affecting open innovation remains scarce. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of managerial ties in facilitating the two types of open innovation – in-bound and out-bound.

Data are collected using the questionnaire survey method from 339 middle and top managers working in four high-tech industries in Malaysia.

Results show that in most high-tech industries in Malaysia, managerial ties with universities and with government officials facilitate in-bound open innovation, while ties with managers at other firms do not significantly relate to it in any high-tech industry. Further, managerial ties are not found to relate significantly to out-bound open innovation in any high-tech industry except in the aerospace and electronics industries wherein ties with government officials relate negatively and positively to out-bound innovation, respectively.

This study provides empirical evidence about the managerial ties practitioners should and should not forge to succeed in the open innovation paradigm.

This study is probably the only study so far that gauges the impact of managerial ties on open innovation. The results of this study fill a major gap in the current open innovation theory besides providing insights for practitioners.

This paper aims at investigating the link between inter-organizational relationships and innovation, discussing whether the probability to detect a greater innovation propensity of organizations increases with or without collaborative partnerships.

Drawing on secondary data provided by the Italian Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) about a representative sample of 8,967 Italian firms, three multinomial logit models and four logit models have been estimated, in an attempt to examine the effects of inter-organizational relationships on different types of organizational innovation.

A positive and statistically significant relationship between inter-organizational relationships and organizational innovation emerged from all the models which were arranged for the purpose of this study. Several categories of partners, including suppliers, universities and firms belonging to the same holding group, were found to be more effective in fostering the probability of organizational innovation. Interestingly, geographical proximity did not seem to influence the organizational propensity to innovate.

Even though further developments are needed to disentangle the complex link between inter-organizational relationships and organizational innovation, the former are likely to positively affect the innovation ability of organizations. From this point of view, it could be argued that partners perform as catalysts, which boost the knowledge creation process underlying the emergence of organizational innovation.

This is one of the first attempts to exploit the potential of multinomial logit models and logit models to investigate the effects of inter-organizational relationships on the propensity of organizations to innovate.

Intangible resources (IRs) play an important role in enterprise innovation; previous studies find inconsistent results (positive and negative). The authors develop and test a framework to analyze IRs to see whether and how to impact firm innovation performance to reconcile the conflicting results.

This study empirically examined the curvilinear effect of IRs and innovation performance (IP) based on data from the Annual Census of Chinese Industrial Enterprises. The moderating effect of institutional development (ID) and state ownership (SO) in the relationship between firms' IRs and IP was also examined.

It was found that there is a U-shaped relationship between IRs and IP. Moreover, the institutional development weakens the U-shaped relationship.

The U-shaped relationship explains the inconsistent results in previous studies. It offers some important implications for managers and policymakers, who must understand the role of IRs.