双层次合作网络构建对企业探索性创新绩效的影响

The impact of two-level collaboration network construction on firms’exploratory innovation performance

本文整合吸收能力理论、社会网络以及探索性创新等相关研究,考察企业内发明人合作网络密度,企业在组织间合作网络的中心度和结构洞对企业探索性创新绩效的直接影响,以及企业内发明人合作网络密度的调节作用。研究结果表明,企业在组织间合作网络的中心度位置与企业探索性创新绩效呈倒U型关系;企业在组织间合作网络的结构洞位置与企业探索性创新绩效呈负向关系。进一步研究发现,随着企业内发明人合作网络密度的增加,中心度与企业探索性创新绩效间的倒U型曲线变得平坦;这表明较高的网络密度在缩小发明人对外部机会和异质性知识考虑范围的同时,也降低了高中心度带来的知识转移和整合的困难。随着企业内发明人合作网络密度的增加,结构洞与企业探索性创新绩效间的负向关系减弱;这表明较高的网络密度改善了企业对外部异质性知识的吸收效果,进而缓解了结构洞位置给企业探索性创新绩效带来的负向效应。

Exploratory innovation is an important activity for firms to get sustainable competitive advantage.However,due to technology inertia and resource constraint,collaboration has become a basic organization form to improve firm’s exploratory innovation capability.Previous research has investigated the relationship between collaboration network and innovation performance from the perspective of interorganizational collaboration network,intra-organizational collaboration network or multi-level network.However,few studies are conducted by combining network structures of interorganizational collaboration network level with those of intra-organizational collaboration network level.Integrating absorptive capability theory,social network and exploratory innovation related research,this paper builds the research framework integrating intra-organizational inventors’collaboration network density,firms’degree centrality and structural hole in the interorganizational collaboration network,and analyzes the impact of intra-organizational inventors’collaboration network density,firms’degree centrality and structural hole on firms’exploratory innovation performance,and the moderating effect of intraorganizational inventors’collaboration network density.And then,using 32 global nanotechnology firms in 2005-2014 as samples,an empirical test is conducted by random effect panel poison regression model to test hypothesis.Finally,this paper puts forward conclusions and suggestions on firms’intra-organizational collaboration network management and interorganizational collaboration network embeddedness to improve their exploratory innovation performance.The results show that,firms’degree centrality in the interorganizational collaboration network has an inverted U-shaped relationship with firms’exploratory innovation performance;as the level of degree centrality increases from slight to moderate,firms’exploratory innovation performance increases;as the level of degree centrality increases from moderate to great,firms’exploratory innovation performance declines.This indicates that increased degree benefits for firms to get heterogeneous knowledge,and then improves firms’exploratory innovation performance;when the degree exceeds critical value,firms easily form“path-dependent”and reduce the intention of creating new knowledge,thus preventing firms’exploratory innovation performance.Firms’structural hole in the interorganizational collaboration network has a negative effect on firms’exploratory innovation performance.This implies that firms in structural hole usually have few direct intense connection and low trust relationship with other firms,thus not ensuring the effective transfer of heterogeneous knowledge.Furthermore,with intra-organizational inventors’collaboration network density increasing,both the positive effect of degree centrality when degree centrality is relatively low and the negative effect of degree centrality when degree centrality is relatively high are flatter.This means higher network density narrows the range of heterogeneous knowledge to be considered by inventors in a firm,and decreases the difficulty of knowledge transfer and integration that high degree centrality brings to the firm.With intra-organizational inventors’collaboration network density increasing,the negative relationship between structural hole and firms’exploratory innovation performance weakens.This means higher network density improves the absorption effect of outer heterogeneous knowledge and alleviate the negative effect of structural hole.Thus,intra-organizational inventors’collaboration network density has no direct effect on firms’exploratory innovation performance,but plays an important moderating effect.The function of intra-organizational collaboration network is to recognize and absorb external knowledge,thus influencing the effect of firms’absorbing heterogeneous knowledge from other collaborators.