Abstract: In the context of transformation driven by both technology and market, it is worth paying more attention to how latecomers could realize the synergistic catching-up of technology and market, instead of falling into the dilemma of "ending up laggard despite repeated catch-up". Based on the theory of innovative search, resource reconfiguration and latecomer catch-up, this paper constructs a framework for the relationship between parallel search and synergistic catching-up (SCU), introduces resource reconfiguration as a mediating variable, and then explores the impact of parallel search on SCU. Using survey samples from 212 latecomer enterprises, the proposed hypotheses are tested. And the mediation effect of resource reconfiguration is further tested by the method of Bootstrap. The results are as follows. (1) Leading search and following search have positive effect on the SCU of latecomers. (2) Leading search has a positive effect on resource reorganization but a negative effect on resource reallocation, while following search is the opposite. (3) Both resource reorganization and resource reallocation promote SCU, and either plays a partial mediating role between leading/following search and SCU.

Key words: leading search, following search, synergistic catching-up, resource reconfiguration, latecomers