Boundary-spanning search, knowledge integration capability and sustainable competitive advantage

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how boundary-spanning search affects sustainable competitive advantage under the conditions that competitors also search and to test the moderating role of knowledge integration capability. Design/methodology/approach This paper classifies boundary-spanning search into proactive search and responsive search by considering competition and develops a theoretical model in which knowledge integration capability moderates the effects of proactive and responsive searches on sustainable competitive advantage. Empirical analyses were conducted on the data of 245 Chinese advanced manufacturing firms. Findings The results show that proactive and responsive searches have inverted U-shaped relationships with sustainable competitive advantage. Moreover, the relationships between proactive and responsive searches and sustainable competitive advantage are moderated by knowledge integration capability. Specifically, as knowledge integration capability increases, the inverted U-shaped relationship between proactive search and sustainable competitive advantage becomes flatter, whereas the inverted U-shaped relationship between responsive search and sustainable competitive advantage becomes almost linear. Originality/value This paper enriches the research of boundary-spanning search by considering competition and uncovers how boundary-spanning search affects sustainable competitive advantage under the conditions that competitors also search. Furthermore, this paper sheds light on that the effects of proactive and responsive searches on sustainable competitive advantage are even more complex than inverted U-shaped patterns and provides a contingent viewpoint to deeply understand the relationship between boundary-spanning search and sustainable competitive advantage.