Innovation performance feedback and technological alliance portfolio diversity: The moderating role of firms’ R&D intensity

Abstract

This paper analyzes how innovation performance feedback affects firms’ decisions to change the diversity of their technological alliance portfolio and how this relationship is moderated by firms’ R&D intensity. In line with behavioral theory, we argue that only those firms deviating (either above or below) from their performance aspiration levels are expected to embrace changes in their alliance portfolio. We also posit that a firm's R&D intensity captures its ability to identify and detect good partners, based on its technological absorptive capacity. On this basis and given that recent innovation performance may condition firms’ attractiveness as partners, we expect that for firms performing below aspirations, R&D intensity negatively moderates the propensity to increase alliance portfolio diversity. On the contrary, when firms perform above aspirations, R&D intensity reinforces the propensity to increase alliance portfolio diversity. We find support for our hypotheses based on data from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel from 2008 to 2015.