How Do the Determinants of New Product Development Matter in the International Context? The Moderating Role of Learning Orientation

Abstract

New product development provides a resource for enterprises to gain competitiveness, especially for enterprises that are exploring the international market. It is necessary to understand how the strategic behaviors, cultures, and capabilities of international enterprises are critical factors in improving innovation and new product development. From an external perspective this study argues that firms can facilitate the development of dynamic internationalization capabilities through knowledge acquisition in the organizational learning literature via social networks. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship among relational embeddedness, export market orientation, dynamic internationalization capability and new product development, as well as the moderating effect of learning orientation. This study empirically verifies its research framework from 217 Taiwanese internationalized enterprises. Partial least squares structural equation modeling is used to detect the relationships between the variables in the model. Many items must be taken into consideration regarding specific facet scales. Our research results confirm previous studies that indicate positive correlations between relational embeddedness and international exploration as well as export market orientation. The results also suggest that international exploration and international exploitation have positive effects on new product development. Learning orientation plays a moderating role in terms of the relationships among relational embeddedness, export market orientation, international exploration, international exploitation, and new product development. Based on the empirical results, research conclusions and theoretical implications are proposed.