The Impact of Knowledge Coupling on Breakthrough Innovation in Turbulent Environments: The Mediating Role of Knowledge Creation and the Moderating Role of Strategic Flexibility

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-845-5_121How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Turbulent Environments; Knowledge Coupling; Knowledge Creation; Strategic Flexibility; Breakthrough Innovation

Abstract

The global business environment is undergoing rapid transformation, marked by technological disruption, geopolitical tensions, and shifting market demands. In this context, breakthrough innovation has become a strategic priority for firms seeking to maintain competitiveness, particularly for Chinese private enterprises that face unique challenges such as knowledge fragmentation and innovation path dependence. This study investigates how knowledge coupling—through complementary (cross-domain) and alternative (domain-deepening) approaches—facilitates breakthrough innovation, with knowledge creation as the mediating mechanism and strategic flexibility as a contextual moderator. Based on survey data from 369 firms across manufacturing (32%), services (28%), and high-tech sectors (40%), the results demonstrate that both types of knowledge coupling significantly enhance breakthrough innovation, while knowledge creation fully mediates this relationship. Furthermore, strategic flexibility exhibits an inverted U-shaped moderating effect, with its benefits peaking at moderate levels before declining due to organizational overextension. These findings contribute to knowledge management and innovation theory by elucidating the dynamic mechanisms through which firms convert knowledge resources into disruptive innovations under uncertainty. The study also provides practical insights for managers on balancing exploration and exploitation in turbulent environments.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Haonan Ge
AU  - Yongquan Hu
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/09/16
TI  - The Impact of Knowledge Coupling on Breakthrough Innovation in Turbulent Environments: The Mediating Role of Knowledge Creation and the Moderating Role of Strategic Flexibility
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 6th International Conference on Management Science and Engineering Management (ICMSEM 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 1239
EP  - 1248
SN  - 2667-1271
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-845-5_121
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-845-5_121
ID  - Ge2025
ER  -