Orchestrating Networks for Radical Innovation: The Moderating Effect of Network Routines

While innovation networks facilitate radical innovation, they also introduce coordination challenges, conflicting goals, and management inefficiencies. This study examines how firms can proactively orchestrate their networks to address these issues. Using survey data from 374 Chinese firms, we find that two orchestration mechanisms, knowledge mobility and innovation appropriation, have significant positive effects on radical innovation, while network stability shows an inverted U-shaped relationship. Moreover, network routines amplify the effects of knowledge mobility and network stability but do not significantly moderate the role of innovation appropriation. These findings underscore the importance of firms’ active engagement in managing network dynamics to drive radical innovation.