This study explores whether the ‘strength of weak ties’ theory, derived from social network theory, can equally apply to business activities. To address this question, we conduct an empirical analysis, utilising 3‐year panel data encompassing 3881 samples of Korean small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the high‐tech manufacturing sector. The primary objective is to examine the effects of inter‐corporate tie strength on innovative performance. The results reveal an interesting pattern in high‐tech manufacturing corporations, where the strength of a tie demonstrates an inverted U‐shaped relationship with an SME's patent achievement. Moreover, we observe that the effect of tie strength on an SME's patent achievement is positively moderated by its research and development (R&D) intensity. Furthermore, when an SME maintains weak ties within its relationship with a large corporation, its innovative performance experiences a more positive impact than in cases where no relationship with a large corporation exists, or strong ties are maintained. These findings suggest that for SMEs, maintaining an appropriate level of embeddedness with large corporations is an effective strategy for generating sustained innovative performance within an environment characterised by active technological innovation and intense competition. The principal contribution of this paper lies in the empirical validation of the theory of weak ties concerning a firm's innovative performance.

中文翻译：

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企业创新绩效中弱联系的强度：以韩国高科技制造业中小企业为例

本研究探讨源自社交网络理论的“弱关系强度”理论是否可以同样适用于商业活动。为了解决这个问题，我们利用包含 3881 个韩国高科技制造业中小企业 (SME) 样本的 3 年面板数据进行了实证分析。主要目标是检验企业间联系强度对创新绩效的影响。结果揭示了高科技制造企业中的一个有趣的模式，即领带的强度与中小企业的专利成就呈倒 U 形关系。此外，我们观察到，联系强度对中小企业专利成就的影响受到其研发（R&D）强度的正向调节。此外，当中小企业与大公司保持弱联系时，其创新绩效会比与大公司不存在关系或保持强联系的情况受到更积极的影响。这些研究结果表明，对于中小企业来说，与大企业保持适当的嵌入程度是在技术创新活跃、竞争激烈的环境中产生持续创新绩效的有效策略。本文的主要贡献在于对有关企业创新绩效的弱联系理论进行了实证验证。