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 service intermediaries to service innovation and product innovation and the mediations of innovation search on these relationships among Chinese manufacturing firms. It finds that ties with service intermediaries have positive relationships with both service innovation and product innovation, and technology search and market search mediate these relationships. Moreover, technology search has a stronger impact on product innovation than on service innovation, but the effects of ties with service intermediaries and market search on service innovation are not different from those on product innovation. The findings enrich our knowledge on the antecedents of service innovation and provide some insight into the debate on whether the antecedents of product innovation can be generalised to service innovation. Moreover, they draw a more comprehensive picture on how a firm's external ties affect innovations.