Prior research found a firm’s strategic orientation has a key impact on product innovativeness performance (Ozkaya et al., 2015). Both marketing orientation and learning orientation help firms to develop new product designs, generate innovative ideas, and achieve a better business performance (Narver & Stanley, 1990; Chuang, Morgan & Robson, 2015; Calantone et al, 2002). In line with prior studies, the purpose of this research is to investigate the mediating role of absorptive capacity (ACAP) (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990) on the effect of a firm’s strategic orientation (i.e., marketing orientation and learning orientation) on product innovativeness. We further investigated how environmental uncertainty moderates the effects of market orientation and learning orientation on product innovativeness. Survey method is adopted to collect data from Chinese manufacturer SMEs in the IT industry. 318 questionnaires were collected and analysed. CFA result shows that all constructs meet minimum requirements for reliability and discriminant validity test. Structural Equation Model (SEM) test reveals that both learning orientation and competitor orientation have significant impacts on product innovativeness, and ACAP plays partial meditation roles to effects from learning orientation to product innovativeness, and competitor orientation to product innovativeness. Customer orientation does not show a direct effect on product innovativeness, but is fully mediated by ACAP. We further tested whether the model is moderated by environmental uncertainty (EU) and result shows that EU only moderates the impact from learning orientation to product innovativeness. By developing a model of strategic orientation– absorptive capacity- product innovativeness, we contribute to the extant literature in strategic marketing.

This preliminary qualitative research investigates how stylistic innovation affects sales performance of small arts and crafts firms in business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets in Taiwan. Specifically this research examines entrepreneurial cognitive complexity, which is the cognitive structure of an entrepreneur on his or her social world, and its interplay with stylistic innovation, particularly the changes of design in appearance or symbolic meaning of products, and strategic decisions of five Taiwanese small arts and crafts firms. Applying cognitive mapping to determine the cognitive contents, structures and also their relations of the entrepreneurs in making decision related to stylistic innovation, this research examines how owners of small Taiwanese arts and crafts firms specifically seek, interpret and internalize information and knowledge on style and design in the new product development and innovation processes. Research results show that the domain specific cognitive complexity of the entrepreneur influences the selection of relevant and appropriate dimensions in stylistic innovation. Entrepreneurs’ strategic decision to target at the business-to-consumer (customer-oriented or designer-driven) or business-to-business (mainly designer-driven) markets and also the buyer-seller relationship will affect the seeking, interpretation and internalization of information and knowledge in the process of stylistic innovation. Respondents targeting at business-to-business markets tend to have a higher level of cognitive complexity, compared with those targeting at business-to-consumer markets. Research results tend to suggest that the higher level of cognitive complexity, the greater the sales turnover. Future research should determine the relationship between cognitive complexity and marketing performance.