The technological progress of “learning by doing” has helped numerous China's enterprises to survive in the market competition by imitating innovation and low-cost operation, and to accumulate certain strength and capital. However, whether incremental innovation can be regarded as a long pursued innovation mode in firms is a scientific question worth thinking. Based on a sample data of 136 firms with more than 100 employees, the structural equation model is adopted to test the theoretical hypothesis. The results show that indirect low-cost strategy is helpful for improving of enterprises’ performance and the success of incremental innovation. Direct low-cost strategy is not conducive to incremental innovation and has no significant effect on enterprises’ performance. Incremental innovation should not be a long-term innovation mode pursued by the firm when it is positioning and implementing low-cost strategy.

Shumin Zhang. Low Cost Strategies and Enterprise Performance: The Mediating Role of Incremental Innovation. International Journal of Frontiers in Sociology (2021), Vol. 3, Issue 10: 1-8. https://doi.org/10.25236/IJFS.2021.031001.

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