Vertical stakeholder collaborations for firm innovativeness in new product development: The moderating roles of legal bonds and operational linkages

Drawing on stakeholder and organizational learning theories, this study investigates when and how diverse types of formal mechanisms with varying levels of adaptation and integration properties for bonding stakeholders, including legal bonds and operational linkages, affect a firm's vertical stakeholder collaborations in new product development (NPD). It also explores how vertical stakeholder collaborations in NPD affect a firm's innovativeness and its eventual performance outcomes under technological turbulence. The study contributes to the stakeholder literature by focusing on diverse types of formal mechanisms rather than a single type of formal mechanism for bonding stakeholders. Survey data of 146 firms in Turkey evidence that while legal bonds decrease the likelihood of establishing vertical stakeholder collaborations during technological turbulence, such collaborations enhance firm innovativeness for focal firms holding operational linkages. Moreover, vertical stakeholder collaborations improve firm innovativeness under technological turbulence and enhance firm performance through new product performance.