Complementary or alternative? The effects of corporate political strategy on innovation

Purpose - Drawing on the strategic choice and resource dependence perspectives, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between corporate political strategy and innovation in the manufacturing industry in the USA. Design/methodology/approach - The paper proposes two competing views on the relationship between corporate political strategy and innovation building on strategic choice and resource dependence perspectives. Findings - The results show support for the resource dependence perspective, suggesting that corporate political strategy is complementary to innovation. The paper also tests for the moderating effects of firm characteristics such as firm size and financial resources, and industry characteristics such as industry concentration and growth on this relationship. The findings indicate that firms that invest heavily in innovation strategies may also want to consider investing in corporate political strategy to create favorable conditions for innovation. Originality/value - The paper suggests that corporate political strategy can be viewed as alternative or complementary to innovation strategy. Firm characteristics such as firm size and financial resources, and industry characteristics such as industry concentration and growth, moderate the relationship between corporate political strategy and innovation.