Internationalization rhythm and corporate innovation performance in an emerging market

Purpose Although prior studies have suggested that there is a negative relationship between irregular internationalization rhythm and corporate innovation, these studies have largely ignored the potential benefits of irregular internationalization rhythm to innovation in the dynamic external environment faced by emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs), which may lead to an incomplete understanding of the phenomenon of “jumping” internationalization of EMNEs and the related significant effect on their innovation. To address this research gap, we aim to answer two questions: First, how do EMNEs’ internationalization rhythms influence their innovation performance? Second, how do internationalization depth and TMT (top management team) international experience affect this relationship? Design/methodology/approach Based on a sample of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2008 to 2020, this study investigates the relationship between internationalization rhythm and corporate innovation and the moderating effects of internationalization depth and TMT international experience. Findings The results show that the relationship between internationalization rhythm and innovation performance of emerging market enterprises is curvilinear (U-shaped), and this U-shaped relationship is steeper when the internationalization depth is higher. Originality/value This study provides new insight that the irregular rhythm of EMNE internationalization has both advantages and disadvantages and suggests the curvilinear (U-shaped) relationship between internationalization rhythm and innovation performance by combining the absorptive capacity perspective and the resource-based view (RBV), which complements existing literature on the relationship between internationalization rhythm and corporate innovation and enhances our understanding of the phenomenon of “jumping” internationalization of EMNEs.