본 연구는 우리나라의 지식기반 산업에 속하는 기업을 대상으로 지식탐색(knowledge search)이 혁신에 미치는 영향을 탐구하였다. 혁신 과정에서 기업의 내 외부 지식원천에 대한 탐색 활동이 혁신성과에 미치는 영향을 검정하였으며, 나아가서는 외부탐색과 혁신성과의 관계에서 흡수능력의 조절효과를 분석하였다. 주요 연구결과를 요약하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 내부탐색의 정도는 기업의 혁신성과에 긍정적 영향을 미친다. 둘째, 외부탐색의 경우, 일정한 수준까지는 외부탐색의 정도가 증가할수록 혁신성과가 높아지지만, 외부탐색 범위의 지나친 확대는 오히려 혁신에 부정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 즉, 외부탐색과 혁신은 역 U자 형의 곡선관계를 가진다. 셋째, 외부탐색과 혁신성과의 관계에 기업의 흡수능력이 정(+)의 조절효과를 보였다. 즉 흡수능력이 높을수록, 외부탐색이 혁신성과에 미치는 영향은 커지는 것으로 나타났다. 이를 통해서, 외부탐색의 효과를 제고하기 위해서는 흡수능력의 뒷받침이 필요하다는 점을 확인할 수 있다. 본 연구의 주요 공헌과 의의를 요약하면, 첫째, 기존 연구와는 달리, 외부탐색과 내부탐색을 동시에 고려하였으며, 이를 통해 혁신 과정에서 두 탐색활동이 상호보완성을 가진다는 점을 알 수 있었으며, 둘째, 외부탐색에 대한 최근의 관심에도 불구하고 내부탐색은 여전히 중요한 혁신의 원천이 되며, 외부탐색의 경우 탐색비용을 고려하여, 적절한 탐색 수준의 정도를 결정하는 것이 중요하다는 점, 셋째, 혁신의 성공을 위해서는 특정 지식원천에 대한 과도한 의존보다는 다양한 지식원천에 대한 탐색을 통해, 기업의 지식기반을 확대하고 지식의 다양성을 증대하는 것이 중요하다는 점 등을 제시할 수 있다.
This paper investigates the role of search in innovation process. Firm`s search behavior is linked to innovative performance, exploring how differences in search activities among firms influence their ability to achieve innovation. We consider firm`s search behavior in product development process. A field study of the high technology firms in knowledge-based industries in Korea shows that search strategy plays an important role in developing new products. In this article, the search is defined as the number of search channels that firms rely upon in their innovative activities. Search is an organizational learning process through which firms attempt to solve problems. The product development process is itself a form of problem-solving activity and related search processes involve investments in building and sustaining relations with both other departments inside the firm and external sources such as users, suppliers, and a wide range of different institutions. In explaining the impact of search on innovation, the prior work has focused upon either internal search or external search, thus has not considered the role of both external search and internal search in a single study. Drawing on the knowledge-based view of innovation, we develops the hypotheses which examine the relationship between internal and external search and firm innovation, and the moderating role of absorptive capacity in explaining the relation between external search and innovative performance. The specific hypotheses are as follows; First, internal search is positively associated with innovative performance. Second, external search is curvilinearly related (taking an inverted U-shape) to innovative performance. Third, absorptive capacity moderates the relationship between external search and firm innovation, such that external search is more positively associated with firm innovation when absorptive capacity is high. An empirical research is conducted at high technology firms in knowledge-based industries in Korea. Because the dependent variable (innovative performance) is censored, Tobit model is applied to test the hypotheses. We find strong support for the three hypotheses. The results show that internal search is positively related to innovative performance, and external search is curvilinearly (taking an inverted U-shape) related to innovative performance. Furthermore, the positive relationship between external search and innovative performance is stronger when absorptive capacity is high. The results indicate that firms who search widely across internal and external knowledge sources tend to be more innovative. However, in the case of external search, the benefits of search are subject to decreasing returns, indicating that there is a point where additional search activities become unproductive. It means that external search entails cost. This is attributed to search costs which include information overloads, complexity stemming from combining different knowledge, and the efforts to build and sustain the relationship with external institutions. Contrary to internal search, external search is costly. It suggests that external search efforts need to be organized carefully so that search activities are not dissipated across too many search channels. There can be other factors that may affect the relationship between search behavior and innovation. Firm search behavior is multifaceted and multidimensional construct, so it can be fruitful to conceptualize innovation search along different dimensions. Future research could also explore the antecedents of firm`s search strategy to deepen our understanding of new product development process.