供应商供应网络位置与企业绩效:网络认知能力的作用

Supplier Supply Network Position and Manufacturer Performance:The Effects of Network Awareness Capability

从供应商的供应网络视角考察企业如何管理和利用供应商的资源和能力。在简要梳理已有研究的基础上,探讨供应商供应网络位置对制造企业绩效不同维度(运作绩效和创新绩效)的影响,并研究制造企业网络认知能力的调节效应。通过问卷调查获取237个中国制造企业样本数据,应用多元层次回归分析方法进行实证检验。研究结果表明,占据优势网络位置的供应商对制造企业运作绩效和创新绩效的提升具有显著的推动作用,而网络认知能力加强了供应商供应网络位置与制造企业绩效之间的关系,即制造企业的网络认知能力越强,企业通过选择并利用具有优势网络位置的供应商所实现的运作绩效和创新绩效越大。最后对制造企业的供应商管理实践提出相关建议。

Suppliers are becoming increasingly important for manufacturers .The traditional practices in manufacturers′supplier management used to focus more on the dyadic relationships （ e.g., manufacturer-supplier relationship ） , however , a dyadic framework cannot fully explain the behaviors of a supplier and variations in a manufacturer ′s performance, since it ignores the fact that suppliers are embedded in their own extended supply networks rather than existing in isolation .The extended supply network shapes the competitive priorities of a supplier and translates into resource and reputational advantages .Thus, the impact of sup-pliers′extended supply network should be considered in the supplier management .The manufacturer needs to look at suppliers′structural embeddedness （ i.e., the structural position of the supplier in an extended supply network ） to better evaluate and uti-lize those suppliers′resources and capabilities .However, what the positional value of suppliers is produced for the manufacturer remains poorly understood , and it is more a lack of focus on the impact of effective governance of the manufacturer . Based on the brief review of relevant literatures , this study examines a conceptual model specifying the impacts of a supplier sup -ply network position on the manufacturer′s operational and innovation performance as well as the moderating effects of the manu -facturer′s network awareness capability .Taking Chinese manufacturers as research objects , a large-sample questionnaire survey is conducted , and in total , 237 valid sample data was collected .Then we test the reliability and validity of the scale and adopt multiple hierarchical regressions to examine the hypotheses by SPSS and AMOS statistical software . The research results are described as follows .Firstly, the supplier supply network position positively and significantly boosts the improvement of the manufacturer′s operational performance and innovation performance .Secondly , the network awareness capa-bility positively moderates the relationship between supplier supply network position and manufacturer performance , which indi-cates that the higher level of network awareness capability of the manufacturer , the stronger the impacts of supplier supply net-work position on the improvement of the manufacturer′s operational and innovation performance . This study makes in depth discussions on the potential of supplier supply network position to improve the operational and innova -tion performance of manufacturers , which has practical significance to guide the practices in Chinese manufacturers ′supplier management.Meanwhile, this study also highlights the manufacturer′s capability to increase the level of understanding and utili-zation of the positional advantages of suppliers to promote the transforming relationships between supplier supply network position and manufacturers′performance .However , the limitations of the study are also included .