Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 2
Mean and standard deviation of all research variables
Hypothesis
Variable format
Variable name
Mean
Standard deviation
N
Independent Variable
Network competence
69.083
5.392
H1
18
Dependent Variable
Network position
0.2077
0.110
Independent Variable
Network competence
69.083
5.392
H2
18
Dependent Variable
Innovation performance
14.278
2.492
Independent Variable
Network competence
69.083
5.392
H3
18
Dependent Variable
Absorptive capacity
68.584
6.989
Independent Variable
Network position
0.2077
0.110
H4
18
Dependent Variable
Absorptive capacity
68.584
6.989
Independent Variable
Network position
0.2077
0.110
H5
18
Dependent Variable
Innovation performance
14.278
2.492
Independent Variable
Absorptive capacity
68.584
6.989
H6
18
Dependent Variable
Innovation performance
14.278
2.492
Table 3
Correlation Matrix of variables
Network competence
Absorptive capacity
Network position
Innovation performance
Network competence
1
Absorptive capacity
0.706(**)
1
Network position
0.482(*)
0.736(**)
1
Innovation performance
0.661(**)
0.609(**)
0.621(**)
1
Whenever a company embraces higher networking capacity, it simultaneously
implies the close interaction with other partners and stands on the position near the
network anchor.
The higher the communication level is the easier sharing information will be.
This source of information could be come from a more market oriented
down-stream firm or/and up-stream firm. This affluent information can bring firms
to increase its efficiency and successfulness of innovation.
Besides, if a company possesses a high networking competence, which means the
company contains a kind of capacity of making other firms “willing” and “must” to
interact and exchange information. Once a company embraces the ability of handling
the information and internalizes them into its own knowledge, and then becomes its
competitive advantages. The transformation process is exactly like the procedure of
absorptive capacity. Furthermore, the research results also prove that there are
positive relations between the level of network competence and absorptive capacity.
4.1.2 Absorptive Capacity Related Hypothesis Proof (H4)
The influence of a company's absorptive capacity on its innovation performance as
shown in Table 4. Obviously, the stronger absorptive capacity a company contains
the higher innovative efficiency a company will be. The outcome is in line with
what scholars had previously examined as well (e.g. Tsai, 2001; Lane and Klavans,
2005). The result does not come as a surprise: companies with better absorptive
capacity can benefit from external knowledge acquisition, and internalize it to
enhance internal capability. Therefore, the output of knowledge can directly
correspond to a company's innovation performance.
