技术创新网络强弱关系影响效应的差异化:研究综述与展望

Differentiating Effects of Strong and Weak Ties within Technology Innovation Network:A Literature Review and Prospects

随着全球技术竞合动荡性、复杂性和多样性的不断加剧,强弱关系成为衡量技术创新网络特性的关键要素。然而,近年来技术网络强弱关系影响效应的多样化和差异化趋势越来越明显,使得不同维度下强弱关系理论之间难以很好对话。研究聚焦于技术创新网络,基于"概念起源—维度划分—效应探析"的研究思路,全面综述了强弱关系对技术创新绩效的影响效应研究。结果发现:对技术创新网络强弱关系影响效应的理解可以遵循"嵌入类型识别—三维情境细分—交互效应探析"的认知模型,以消除和缓和不同学者对强弱关系影响效应差异化的疑惑。最后,研究对技术创新网络强弱关系影响效应的未来研究方向进行了展望,以期为强弱关系理论体系的深入探析提供参考。

With the increasing turbulence,complexity and diversity of global technology competition and cooperation,the strong and weak ties(SWT)become one of the key elements to measure the characteristics of technology innovation network.However,despite that increasingly diversification and differentiation of SWT effects are explained in recent years,it remains difficult to have a better dialogue between SWT theories in different dimensions.Following the logic of"Conceptual origin,Dimension Division,and Effect analysis",this paper comprehensively summarizes the effects of SWT on performance of technological innovation from the perspective of technology innovation network.The research results show that the understanding of SWT effect under technology innovation network can follow a cognitive model which consists of"Embedded type identification,three-dimensional situation subdivision,and Interactive effect analysis",in order to eliminate or ease scholars’doubts on the differentiating effects of SWT.Specifically,it includes the following points.(1)There are differences in the focus of SWT’s definitions,and this plays a fundamental role in concluding whether SWT’s effect is based on relationship embeddedness or structural embeddedness.(2)Scenario complexity is the main reason leading to the diversified effects of strong and weak ties.The manifestations of scenario complexity mainly include the complexity of the research object,the complexity of the technology stage,and the complexity of the innovation model.Locating an effect cross-section based on the"object-stage-mode"is an important basis for tracing diversified conclusions of the SWT’s effect.(3)The interaction effect of the SWT is an in-depth study of diversified effects of SWT in technological innovation networks,and it is also an inevitable part of improving the theoretical system of SWT in the future.At last,this paper looks forward to the future directions of SWT effects research,.First,from the perspective of embeddedness,SWT effects research based on relationship embeddedness is more inclined to the binary opposition thinking based on continuous variables,resulting in that the strong ties and the weak ties cannot appear at the same time.This leads to an urgent need for the SWT measurement which is based on structural embeddedness,so that it can meet the increasingly important networks of complexity.However,the existing research on structural position network on technology innovation performance is rarely seen.Therefore,a supplement of research on key position of network structure is of critical importance for SWT effects.Second,from the perspective of cognition from different dimensions,this paper proposes that scholars can identify an exclusive SWT effect situation from dimensions including research object,technology period,and technology innovation pattern.Indeed,these dimensions can be enriched with the increasingly deepening of SWT relevant research.Third,from the perspective of interaction effects,with the increasing competition of global technology,it is of vital importance to study the interaction effect of strong ties and weak ties.Based on segmentation of cognition situations from the above three dimensions,the need to examine whether changes of strong tie will influence the weak tie’s effect on technology innovation performance,and whether changes of weak tie will influence the strong tie’s effect on technology innovation performance,will become urgent for SWT effects research in the future.