The Influence of External Knowledge Searches on Enterprises’ Innovation Performance: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Innovation is one aspect of the pursuit of the harmonious development of the environment, economy, and society. Although prior research has examined the factors that influence corporate innovation, how external knowledge search affects it remains unclear. We contribute to this literature by examining how knowledge searches influence firms’ innovation performance from a knowledge-based point of view and organizational search theory. We utilized meta-analysis to conduct empirical testing on 15,059 samples from 58 independent studies. The conclusions are as follows: first, the overall test showed a significant positive correlation between external knowledge search and firm innovation performance; second, the group test shows that the positive impact of external knowledge search on the innovation performance of mature enterprises is more obvious; scaled measurement and collectivism have more significant influences on the relationship between external knowledge search and firm innovation performance. Further research concluded that a breadth search could provide higher innovation performance than a depth search. Meanwhile, the same results were obtained in the subgroup tests of start-ups, non-high-tech enterprises, high-tech enterprises, scale measurement, and collectivism. Finally, both balanced knowledge search and joint knowledge searches significantly improved the innovation performance of enterprises, and the innovation effect brought by balanced knowledge search is more prominent than the latter.