The impact of business networks on dynamic capabilities and product innovation: the moderating role of strategic orientation

Despite the rising interest in the drivers of dynamic capabilities, limited attention has been paid to how a firm’s business network relates to its development of dynamic capabilities. Based on a dynamic capability perspective, this study examines how network breadth and network depth impact dynamic capabilities and in turn product innovation and how strategic orientation moderates these effects. The results of a survey of 256 Chinese manufacturers indicate that both network breadth and depth are important drivers of dynamic capabilities, which act as a mediator that transmits the benefits of business networks into successful product innovation. Additionally, learning orientation and market orientation present as important boundary conditions in the relationship between business networks and dynamic capabilities; interestingly, they function in opposite ways. These findings have important implications regarding how a firm’s business network, in combination with its strategic orientation, affects the development of dynamic capabilities and successful product innovation.