The management literature has extensively explored how firms respond to underperformance through innovation, with prior studies based on the behavioral theory of the firm and the threat-rigidity thesis producing inconsistent results. The shifting focus of attention model provides crucial insights to reconcile this contradiction. We extend this model by highlighting the temporal dimension of performance shortfall. Specifically, we argue that underperformance duration flattens the inverted U-shaped relationship by attenuating both the problemistic search and threat rigidity mechanisms. The empirical results from a sample of Chinese listed manufacturing firms between 2010 and 2019 support our predicted inverted U-relationship between underperformance intensity and research and development (R&D) investment, and the moderating effect of underperformance duration. Interestingly, the inverted U-shape flips to a U-shape if underperformance extends into the long term. We contribute to the literature on performance feedback by considering both underperformance intensity and duration, which conceptualizes their interaction and reconciles extant contradictory findings from a new perspective. We also add new insights into innovation research by theorizing and examining the overlooked boundary condition for the curvilinear relationship between performance shortfalls and R&D investments, which calls for future research to explore the dynamics of the relationship and account for temporal effects.

管理文献广泛地探讨了企业如何通过创新应对绩效落差，但是现有研究基于企业行为理论或威胁刚性理论得出了不一致的结论。注意力转换模型为调和现有矛盾提供了重要见解。本文通过强调绩效落差的时间维度扩展了该模型。具体而言，我们认为绩效落差持续度通过削弱问题搜索和威胁刚性机制减弱了绩效落差与研发投入之间的倒u型关系。基于 2010–2019 年中国制造业上市公司的实证分析，研究结论验证了绩效落差强度与研发投入的倒u型关系，以及绩效落差持续度的调节作用。有趣的是，如果落差长时间持续存在，落差强度与研发投入之间的倒U型关系会翻转为U型。本文通过结合绩效落差的强度和持续度，概念化了二者的交互作用，并从新视角调和了现有矛盾。此外，本文检验了绩效落差与研发投入研究中被忽视的边界条件，结合时间效应考察了二者关系的动态变化，为创新研究提供了新见解。