Strategic networks and new product performance: the mediating role of ambidextrous innovation

In this study we examine the relationship between strategic networks and new product performance from the perspective of ambidextrous innovation (i.e. combining exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation) using a sample of 323 manufacturing firms in the transitional economy of China. Our empirical analyses present several interesting findings: (a) strategic networks are positively related to firms' new product performance; (b) ambidextrous innovation has a positive effect on firms' new product performance – that is, the combination of exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation positively affects the firm's new product performance, while the lack of balance between exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation negatively affects the firm's new product performance; and (c) ambidextrous innovation mediates the relationship between strategic networks and new product performance. Our findings provide scholars and managers with a better understanding of the key role played by the simultaneous adoption of exploratory and exploitative innovation in the relationship between strategic networks and new product performance.