Market challenges, learning and customer orientation, and innovativeness in IJVs

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to advance a theoretical framework that incorporates the relationship between market challenge and learning and customer orientations, and the influence of these orientations on innovativeness in an international joint venture (IJV) context. Design/methodology/approach The authors estimate a structural equation model utilizing survey data collected from 199 IJVs in the Republic of Korea. Findings The authors found that while market challenge does not influence learning orientation in IJVs, it does have a significant positive influence on customer orientation. Further, the authors’ findings support that both learning orientation and customer orientation have positive impacts on IJV innovativeness. Another interesting finding shows that the impact of learning orientation on IJV innovativeness is significant only when IJVs have high levels of interaction with parent firms. The study also reveals that having a strong learning orientation amplifies the impact of customer orientation on innovativeness in IJVs. Originality/value Despite increased interest in IJVs, there has been relatively little work linking IJV innovativeness with learning and customer orientations. The study contributes to recent streams of research that seek to understand the role of these orientations in IJV innovativeness.