The effects of ties with service intermediaries on service and product innovations in Chinese manufacturing firms: the mediations of innovation search

Drawn on the resource-based view, this study examines the relationships of ties with serviceintermediaries to service innovation and product innovation and the mediations ofinnovation search on these relationships among Chinese manufacturing firms. It finds thatties with service intermediaries have positive relationships with both service innovation andproduct innovation, and technology search and market search mediate these relationships. Moreover, technology search has a stronger impact on product innovation than on serviceinnovation, but the effects of ties with service intermediaries and market search on serviceinnovation are not different from those on product innovation. The findings enrich ourknowledge on the antecedents of service innovation and provide some insight into thedebate on whether the antecedents of product innovation can be generalised to serviceinnovation. Moreover, they draw a more comprehensive picture on how a firm’s externalties affect innovations.