GUO Hai, LI Yonghui
Journal of Renmin University of China.
Firms are facing competing demands for differentiation and conformityReflecting this, there have been a growing number of studies on the issue of optimal distinctivenessThis issue is particularly valuable under the context of the fourth industrial revolutionThis study introduces the concept of innovation deviation, and examines the relationships among innovation deviation, stakeholder evaluation, and firm performanceResults show that, investor evaluation and government evaluation are all positively related to firm performanceIn mature industries, innovation deviation has an inverseU shaped relationship with investor evaluation, but is positively linked to government evaluationIn emerging industries, innovation deviation has an inverted Ushaped relationship with government evaluationOur findings contribute to the optimal distinctiveness perspective