旅游业连锁董事网络中企业行为路径研究——基于社会网络视角

Firm’s Behavior in Interlocking Directorate Networks in Tourism:A Social Network Perspective

旅游业是由多个旅游支持行业构成的旅游行业网络,具有与生俱来的关系属性。面临"由旅游业内部单一主体驱动转向跨行业多元主体共同驱动"这一重大变革,如何构建有效的网络关系以获取或控制旅游资源是突破企业成长瓶颈的关键问题。该研究以2006-2016年旅游及相关行业上市公司为样本,聚焦于连锁董事网络,利用社会网络分析方法,探索网络特征及其演化过程,并基于不同战略导向提炼网络背景下企业行为路径及其规律。研究结果表明,网络背景下的企业行为呈现明显的阶段性特征,拓展网络关系和寻求中介位置作为企业不同成长阶段的典型路径,最终将导致整体网络趋于"关系强化型"或"结构离散型"。研究结论在充分考虑企业作为网络中行动者的主动性的前提下,以资源获取和资源控制为战略导向,揭示了网络情境下企业行为路径的一般规律,为破解旅游企业在连锁董事网络背景下的成长机制提供了理论依据和战略决策指引。

Tourism is essentially a network comprising multiple supporting industries, among which innate relationships exist. There has been a major change from an internally driven tourism industry to one where the impetus derives from multiple actors across different industries;accordingly, to break the impasse for firms’ growth under formal institutions, determining how to gain or control tourism resources by building effective network relationships has become a critical issue. The present study examines Chinese listed firms in tourism and related industries from 2006 to 2016, and it focuses on interlocking directorate networks. By means of social network analysis, this study investigates network characteristics and their development;it proposes a framework for analyzing firms’ behavior in a network context by considering different types of strategic orientation. To determine the features of tourism networks and track the behavioral paths of tourism firms, this article presents an analysis of the development of interlocking directorate networks in tourism in three ways. First, using the 11-year longitudinal data as the full sample, this study identifies the trends and characteristics of interlocking directorate networks in China’s tourism industry. Second, through an analysis of a sub-sample of stable network actors over the 11-year period, this report determines the dynamic development of network structures by means of two key indicators: centrality and structural holes. Third, this study examined all tourism firms(including those related directly to tourism, hospitality, and restaurants) over the 11-year period as a second sub-sample: a comparative analysis was conducted between this sub-sample and the previous one;in the context of a dynamic interlocking directorate network for tourism, this comparative analysis more accurately reflected the characteristics and development trends of tourism firms’ behavior. The results indicate that interlocking directorate networks are a ubiquitous phenomenon in tourism and related industries. The characteristics of firms’ behavior in such networks showed significant differences according to stage. Two typical development paths for firms became evident:one sought to expand the network relationship;the other sought an intermediary position to capture unique resources. Thus, these two paths led to the whole network being characterized as having a"relationship-strengthening type"or a"structural-discreteness type". With regard to informal institutions, interlocking directorate networks have gradually become a key channel for firms to acquire and control external resources. The clear behavioral path differences outlined above reflect changes in firms’ strategic orientation. In the development of interlocking directorate networks in tourism, firms change from simply improving network centrality to identifying the structural holes toward improving that centrality. That change reflects firms’ strategic orientation in different development stages, i. e., from simple resource acquisition to effectively using resource control in resource reacquisition. In conclusion, by focusing on actors’ initiatives in the network, this article proposes a theoretical framework for selecting a development path based on firms’ strategic orientation(resource acquisition and resource control). This paper provides a theoretical basis and outlines managerial implications for firms on how to behave in interlocking directorate networks. The study clarifies how industrial alliances should be established in the context of a sharing economy for tourism toward promoting the enhancement and networked development of that industry.