How do intermediaries drive corporate innovation? A moderated mediating examination Han Lin a , Saixing Zeng a , Haijian Liu b, ⁎, Chao Li c a Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030, China b School of Management, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China c Alliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, Manchester M156PB, United Kingdom abstract article info Article history: Received 1 February 2016 Received in revised form 1 March 2016 Accepted 1 April 2016 Available online 4 May 2016 Although intermediaries frequently bridge knowledge gaps and enhance innovation searches as important sources of external knowledge, the mechanisms regarding how and when intermediaries become effective drivers of corporate innovation still remain indistinct. Using a sample of Chinese manufacturing firms, this study proposes and empirically tests a theoretical framework for understanding the effects of intermediaries on corporate innovation performance. The results of a moderated mediation analysis show that firms' ties to in- termediaries can contribute to innovation by enhancing the scope of external innovation searches and reducing search costs. Absorptive capacity acts as a mediator in the relationship between intermediaries and innovation performance. Environmental munificence and complexity negatively moderate this mediation effect. © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Innovation Intermediary Absorptive capacity Environmental munificence Environmental complexity 1. Introduction Firms rarely innovate by themselves and increasingly rely on exter- nal sources to strengthen and accelerate their internal innovation (Fritsch & Franke, 2004; Zeng, Xie, & Tam, 2010). Within this more com- plex realm, intermediaries have emerged and performed diverse tasks within the innovation process (Lichtenthaler, 2013). These intermedi- aries gather, develop, control, and disseminate knowledge in addition to collecting and dispensing financial, technical, and institutional re- sources (Colombo, Dell'Era, & Frattini, 2015). They are key players in the knowledge transfer among organizations and provide opportunities for mutual learning that may stimulate the creation of new knowledge while simultaneously contributing to an organization's innovation capa- bility (Gassmann, Daiber, & Enkel, 2011). However, despite the potential- ly critical role of intermediaries in innovation as well as information or technology marketing, the mechanisms about how and when they become effective drivers of corporate innovation remain unclear. This study aims to develop a better understanding of these mecha- nisms and the conditions under which the intermediaries could efficiently and effectively influence corporate innovation performance. Specifically, this study answers three questions. First, do stronger ties with intermediaries actually lead to better innovation performance? Second, how can a firm convert its ties with intermediaries into a real improvement in innovation performance? Third, how does environ- mental heterogeneity influence the path from intermediaries to corpo- rate innovation? Next, Section 2 describes the theory and hypotheses development. Section 3 indicates the methodology and Section 4 provides the results. Sections 5 and 6 discuss the conclusions and limitations of the study, respectively. 2. Theory development and hypotheses 2.1. Ties with intermediaries and corporate innovation performance Intermediaries for innovation refer to agents or brokers who are “helping to provide information about potential collaborators; brokering a transaction between two or more parties; acting as a medi- ator, or go-between, bodies or organizations that are already collaborat- ing; and helping find advice, funding, and support for the innovation outcomes of such collaborations” (Howells, 2006; p. 720). These intermediaries include technology service, accounting and fi- nancial service, law, talent search, and other such firms (Zhang & Li, 2010). They either gather, develop, control, and disseminate knowledge; or collect and disseminate financial, technical, and institutional resources (Stewart & Hyysalo, 2008). Consequently, these intermediaries often Journal of Business Research 69 (2016) 4831–4836 The authors are grateful for the contributions of Hanyang Ma and Hongquan Chen from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, as well as the guest editors and two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions on revising this manuscript. This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 71272110, 71373161, 71390525, and 71572078) and Soft Science Fund of Taizhou (Grant No. 14RKX02). ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: linhan@sjtu.edu.cn (H. Lin), zengsaixing@sjtu.edu.cn (S. Zeng), liuhj@nju.edu.cn (H. Liu), chao.li@postgrad.mbs.ac.uk (C. Li). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.039 0148-2963/© 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Business Research