Made in Vietnam: Internal, collaborative, and regional knowledge sources and product innovation in Vietnamese firms

T. Phung Minh Thu, D.T. Tran, P. Vermeulen, J. Knoben

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the antecedents of process innovation to provide more alternates for Vietnamese firms as they are still struggling to find an appropriate innovation strategy.

Design/methodology/approach
The research analyzes the separate impacts of each innovation strategy on process innovation using logistic regression models. Data were collected using a stratified random sampling method.

Findings
The results show that having an innovation strategy is good for innovation, regardless of whether the strategy is internal or external. Internal and external strategies are proved not complements but substitutes. However, the internal strategy seems to be most beneficial. Weak institutional settings further strengthen the importance of internal strategies, whereas strong institutional settings favor external strategies.

Originality/value
This paper analyzes the impact of different innovation strategies on process innovation in Vietnamese firms using firm-level data. The findings strongly recommend that in weak institutional settings such as Vietnam, firms should focus on an internal strategy because the emphasis on external innovation strategies might be a western bias stemming from research in mostly strong institutional contexts.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)26-38
JournalEuropean Journal of Innovation Management
Volume15
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Vietnam
  • institutional quality
  • process innovation
  • innovation strategies
  • firm level

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