Relations between Innovation and Firm Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Southeast Asian Emerging Markets: Empirical Evidence from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effects of product and process innovations on manufacturing firm performance in Southeast Asian emerging markets. To this end, using a cross-national sample of 2324 manufacturing firms from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) dataset of 2015, we test the effects of product and process innovations on the sales growth of manufacturing firms in Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia. This study finds that product innovation is positively related to sales growth while new operating technologies are negatively associated with sales growth. For high-tech firms, product innovation is positively related to sales growth. The findings imply that in Southeast Asian emerging markets, governments and manufacturing firms can enhance performance by investing in product innovation.

Innovative Business Strategies in the Face of COVID-19: An Approach to Open Innovation of SMEs in the Sonora Region of Mexico

“…This requires a high commitment from the employees and managers of the companies, which leads them towards competitive improvement and a more sustainable performance. Our findings are similar to those of the studies by Liu and Yoo [81], which report that intangible resources and strategic direction play a determining role in the innovative performance and financial performance of SMEs. In addition, Caballero-Morales [84] reveals that SMEs in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic were more creative and managed to develop new forms of marketing and improve and adapt products to the needs of consumers, all of which allowed them to remain in the market and obtain acceptable economic results to stabilize their operations.…”

“…This is particularly true in emerging markets as companies are limited in obtaining other resources for strong growth [79,80]. Innovation is considered an effective means of keeping a company competitive, even when the company faces a management crisis [81]. However, the management of innovation processes in the business can be a problem faced by company managers due to the absence of a unified model of innovation-management processes in the company [28].…”

The Culture for Open Innovation Dynamics

“…The 19th paper analyzes the efficiency of zinc-refining companies, which is related to entrepreneurship leading culture for open innovation dynamics, in addition to the triple helix and the efficiency of east Asian zinc smelters [137][138][139].…”

How Does Technology Startups Increase Innovative Performance? The Study of Technology Startups on Innovation Focusing on Employment Change in Korea

“…Examples of technological innovation include the introduction of new products and devices, the introduction of new production methods, and creating new forms of the organizational process. Most of the previous studies have shown a positive relationship between innovation and employment, especially product and process innovation [19][20][21][22]. However, the relationship between innovation and employment is explained from many perspectives.…”