The effect of firm's knowledge coherence on partners' technological distance: from the perspective of supply chain network

PurposeAccording to the resource dependence theory and peer effect theory, this paper explores the mechanism of the focal firm's knowledge coherence on technological distance among its supply chain partners.Design/methodology/approachBased on patent data of 301 Information Technology and Communication Services firms over 18 years from 1998 to 2015, this paper conducts panel regression analysis.FindingsEmpirical results find the positive relationship between the focal firm's knowledge coherence and technological distance among its supply chain partners. Furthermore, conclusions indicate that the focal firm's degree centrality and ego network density negatively and positively moderate this relationship respectively.Originality/valueThe findings of this paper contribute to the existing research in supply chain network innovation and offers guidelines to choose partners with varying technological compositions according to their knowledge bases and network structure characteristics.