Collaborative innovation networks and innovation performance of new ventures: the contingent roles of gender diversity and education diversity

Despite increasing research interest in the influence of collaborative innovation networks on innovation performance of new ventures, existing findings are ambiguous. The study examines how collaborative innovation networks can benefit from organisational diversity at two levels: gender diversity of the founding team and employee education diversity. The results of a survey of 156 new ventures in China indicate that both of these forms of diversity as important sources of human capital positively moderate the relationship between collaborative innovation networks and innovation performance. Critically, these forms of diversity play complementary roles in leveraging collaborative innovation networks. Overall, the findings confirm that organisational diversity at different levels serves a range of functions and interacts with external networks to influence innovation performance.