结合制造与服务逻辑发展企业创新能力——基于海尔集团的纵向案例研究

Development of firms’ innovation capabilities by combing manufacturing logic and service logic: A longitudinal case study based on Haier Group

服务逻辑向制造业延伸正在成为全球产业发展的重要趋势。在此情境下,制造企业如何实现创新能力发展这一关键问题并未得到有效回答。针对此问题,本文从制度逻辑观出发,对制造企业结合制造与服务逻辑实现创新能力发展的过程与机理予以系统分析。通过对海尔集团1984-2017年服务化转型历程的纵向案例分析发现:海尔通过在组织内部持续调整制造与服务逻辑关系,实现了创新能力多样性与独特性的双重发展。进一步的机理研究发现:当企业调整制造与服务逻辑向心性时会引发能力习得,从而获得新的能力;当企业调整制造与服务逻辑兼容性时会引发能力转型,从而修改已有能力。本研究突破了以往研究只关注服务逻辑的视角局限,从多元逻辑共存视角回答了服务化过程中制造企业创新能力发展问题;揭示了企业在不同阶段结合多元逻辑方式、推动创新能力持续发展的作用机理;为从制度视角解读创新能力的异质性发展提供了理论依据;也为制造企业服务化与创新发展提供了实践参考。

With the increasingly fierce competition in manufacturing industry,service transformation has become a popular strategic choice for manufacturing companies to create differences and build competitive advantages. The extension of service logic to manufacturing field is becoming an important trend of global industry development. Studies have shown that goods and services integration can be one of the most important ways for China’s manufacturing enterprises to enhance their innovation capabilities and achieve transformation and upgrading. However,these studies focused more on service logic as a substitute for manufacturing logic,ignoring the possibility of coexistence and the interactions between them. Thus the development of innovation capability were seemed as an automatic capability-switching process. Based on this perspective,they failed to explain: how do manufacturing enterprises achieve development of innovation capabilities and what is the process has it experienced? What are the mechanisms behind that drives capacities development? These answers are important to understand how organizations combine conflicting institutional logic strategically to purse the development of innovation capabilities and gain competitive advantages. However,the existing literatures give no clear answers to them.In response to these questions,our research combines institutional logic perspective and capability theory to systematically analyze the process and mechanisms about how manufacturing firm integrates manufacturing logic and service logic to achieve innovation capabilities development. We conducted a longitudinal single case study and analyze Haier Group’s servitization transformation,in the period from 1984 to 2017. During this period the focal firm experienced four types of logic multiplicity within organization. These four types are estranged stage,dominant stage,contested stage and aligned stage according to the chronological order. In these four stages,Hair’ s innovation capability portfolio evolved from a pure product innovation capability which was shaped by manufacturing logic to compound product and service innovation capabilities which were shaped by manufacturing logic and service logic simultaneously. Manufacturing logic brings efficiency-oriented feature to innovation capabilities and service logic brings customer-oriented feature to them. Our findings also show that the innovation capabilities development of manufacturing is not a switching process caused by the replacement of dominant logic. The continuous developing of innovation capabilities is accompanied by the continuous reforming of relationship between multiple logic which refer to manufacturing logic and service logic. Specifically,when organizations reform the centrality between above two logic,they can shape the diversity of innovation capabilities;when they reform the compatibility of these two logic,the uniqueness of innovation capabilities can be influenced. In fact,the increase of centrality between service logic and manufacturing logic leads manufacturing more willing to adopt organizational practices and routines of innovation from service field and thus enriching their portfolio of innovation capabilities.On the other hand,the increase of compatibility of these two logic leads to the re-composition of normal elements from different logic and adjusting the extant innovation routines which formed under the guidance derived from a single logic and thus gaining unique innovation capabilities. In summary,in the service transformation,Haier combined manufacturing logic and service logic differently in different stages and then instantiated them in organizational principles,guiding further organizational practice such as improving their innovation capabilities. First,the redefinition of organizational principles are caused by the re-arrangements of centrality and compatibility of multiple logic within an organization. Second,the improvement in centrality of manufacturing logic and service logic brings more reference groups to organizational actors,which lead to the adoption of new organizational routines and realizing capability acquisition. The improvement in compatibility of these two logic causes firms to adjust the extant action rules,which lead to the mending of organizational routines and achieving capability transformation. Finally,taking turns occurrences of capability acquisition and capability transformation promote the dual development of diversity and uniqueness of innovation capabilities.This research breaks through the limitations of relevant researches which focus on the single role of service logic. It answers how manufacturing company develop its innovation capability from the perspective of institutional logic. It reveals varied ways that focal firm combined manufacturing and service logic at different stages in order to promote innovation capabilities. The explorations on mechanisms of innovation capability development fill the gap in previous studies which failed to explain how service logic influence innovation routines together with the established manufacturing logic. Our framework links the two dimensions of logic multiplicity to the characteristics of innovation capabilities. These findings and insights provide a theoretical basis for interpreting the heterogeneity of capability from the view of institutional theory. We illustrate the value of our framework by showing how it helps explain the capabilities differences for organizations blending service logic and manufacturing logic together. Also,this case study gives experience on managerial practices for the traditional manufacturing which attempt to achieve development through servitization.