弱合法性场域下制度创业与差异化竞争的最优区分——基于知识付费领域的多案例研究

The Optimal Distinctiveness between Institutional Entrepreneurship and Differentiated Competition in Weak Legitimacy Field:Based on the Multiple Case Study in the Domain of Knowledge Payment

制度创业是解释数字经济时代新兴产业崛起的重要理论视角。但是近年以知识付费领域为代表的产业发展表现出与过去研究不同的制度创业过程和结果,其根本原因在于它们处于弱合法性场域这一特殊情境下。因此,需要新的理论对制度创业以及后续过程进行更系统、深入和延续性的补充。本文以"最优区分"思想为理论基础,通过对喜马拉雅FM、得到APP和知乎LIVE的多案例研究,分析弱合法性场域下从制度创业到差异化竞争这一连续性的企业成长过程。研究发现弱合法性场域下知识付费平台的制度创业过程,是一种基于多维度合法性逻辑和差异化逻辑协奏平衡的战略选择。在制度创业早期,多家企业共同通过不同合法性维度的整合协奏建立整个产业商业模式的合法性认知;在制度创业中后期,企业在之前的基础上通过在部分维度上追求差异化并在其他维度上保持或提高合法性的补偿协奏,实现"斗而不破"的市场竞争,最终在保持整体产业合法性的基础上实现个体企业的差异化商业模式。本文整合了制度创业和最优区分的理论框架,在战略协奏观的视角下剖析了新兴知识付费平台制度创业的行动策略、内在逻辑和演化机制。

Institutional entrepreneurship is an important theoretical perspective to explain the rise of emerging industries in the era of digital economy.However,the development of the industry represented by the field of knowledge payment in recent years shows that the process and results of institutional entrepreneurship are different from what are found in previous researches.The fundamental reason is that they are in the special situation of weak legitimacy field.Therefore,new theories are needed to supplement institutional entrepreneurship and subsequent processes in a more systematic,in-depth and continuous way.Based on the theory of"optimal distinctiveness",this paper analyzes the continuous growth process of enterprises from system entrepreneurship to differentiation competition in the field of weak legitimacy through multiple case studies of Himalayan FM,Dedao APP and Zhihu LIVE.It is found that the system entrepreneurial process of knowledge payment enterprises in the field of weak legitimacy is a strategic choice based on multi-dimensional legitimacy logic and differentiated logic orchestration.In the early stage,a number of enterprises jointly establish the recognition of the legality of the business model of the whole industry through the integration of different dimensions of legitimacy.In the middle and late stage,enterprises pursue differentiation in some dimensions and maintain or improve the legitimacy in other dimensions through compensation coordination,so as to realize the market competition of"fighting without breaking",and finally realize the distinctive business model of individual enterprises on the basis of maintaining the legitimacy of the whole industry.This paper integrates the theoretical framework of institutional entrepreneurship and optimal distinctiveness,and analyzes the action strategy,internal logic and evolutionary mechanism of institutional entrepreneurship of the emerging knowledge payment platform from the perspective of strategic orchestration view.