研发合作中伙伴多样性对企业创新绩效的影响机理

The Influence Mechanism of Partner Diversity on Enterprise Innovation Performance in R&D Collaboration

开放式创新背景下,研发合作是企业提升创新绩效的重要方式,合作伙伴往往具有多样性。鉴于现有研究主要致力于探讨外部伙伴多样性对创新绩效的直接影响和边界条件,较少涉及内部伙伴多样性和作用机制,可基于内部和外部两个视角对研发合作中伙伴多样性对创新绩效的影响进行分析,探索协同创新广度和深度在两者间的中介作用。基于2001—2019年553家高新技术上市公司面板数据,采用负二项回归模型进行实证检验发现,类型多样性对创新绩效具有正向促进作用,层级多样性与创新绩效呈倒U型关系;协同创新广度和深度均在类型多样性、层级多样性与创新绩效间起部分中介作用,且相比而言,协同创新广度的中介作用更强;与开发性创新相比,类型多样性对探索性创新具有更大的促进作用,而层级多样性的提升则先抑制开发性创新,再抑制探索性创新。在实践中,企业为更好地通过研发合作开展创新活动,提升创新绩效,一要积极采取开放式创新模式,对外与不同类型伙伴合作,对内与集团不同层级伙伴合作,整合内外部创新资源与要素,同时警惕层级多样性过高对企业创新造成负面影响;二要提高研发合作管理能力,拓展研发合作创新协同的广度和深度特别是广度,搭建伙伴多样性与企业创新间的桥梁;三要根据伙伴多样性对二元创新的差异化影响,因地制宜发挥伙伴多样性优势,优先开展探索性创新活动,提高创新质量。

In the context of open innovation,R&D collaboration has become an important way for enterprises to improve innovation performance;and partners tend to be diverse.Previous research has often focused on the direct impact of external partner diversity on innovation performance and boundary conditions;however,the research on internal partner diversity and mechanism is lacking.The authors analyze the effect of partner diversity on the innovation performance in R&D collaboration from both internal and external perspectives,and explore the mediating role of breadth and depth of collaborative innovation.Using panel data of 553 high-tech listed companies in China during the period 2001-2019,the authors apply negative binomial regression models to make an empirical study.The results show that partner type diversity has a positive effect on innovation performance,while there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between organizational layer diversity and innovation performance;the breadth and depth of collaborative innovation serves as mediating mechanisms between partner diversity and innovation performance,meanwhile,the mediating effect of the breadth of collaborative innovation is stronger than the depth of collaborative innovation;and partner type diversity is more conducive to exploratory innovation than exploitative innovation,while continuously increasing organizational layer diversity will restrain exploitative innovation first,then restrain exploratory innovation.In practice,to carry out innovative activities through R&D collaboration and improve the innovative performance,enterprises should,first,actively adopt an open innovation model,work with different types of external partners and the internal partners with different organizational layer,integrate internal and external innovation resources and elements,and be alert to the negative impact of excessive organizational layer diversity on innovation;second,they should increase the scope and extent of innovation collaboration,focus more on enhancing the breadth of collaborative innovation,and build the bridge between partner diversity and enterprises’innovation;and third,they should give priority to exploratory innovation activities,so as to improve the quality of innovation.