元素—架构双元知识搜寻对企业创新绩效的影响:创新战略的调节作用

The Affect of Component-architecture Knowledge Search and Its Ambidexterity on Enterprise Innovation Performance:The Moderating Role of Innovation Strategy

基于组织搜寻理论和战略协同理论,探讨元素—架构双元知识搜寻对企业创新绩效的影响,以及创新战略在二者关系间的调节作用。结果显示:元素知识搜寻对创新绩效具有倒U型影响,架构知识搜寻对创新绩效具有线性正向影响,双元知识搜寻平衡对创新绩效具有正向影响。知识搜寻策略与创新战略存在适配性:探索式创新正向调节元素知识搜寻与创新绩效间的关系,对架构知识搜寻与创新绩效关系的调节效应不显著;利用式创新正向调节架构知识搜寻与创新绩效间的关系,对元素知识搜寻与创新绩效关系的调节效应不显著。结论拓展了外部知识搜寻研究视角,可为企业合理选择知识搜寻策略和创新战略提供理论支持。

In the era of a knowledge economy,knowledge is increasingly becoming the key factor to promote innovation.However,it's difficult for enterprises to achieve technological breakthroughs and meet diversified market demands only by relying on internal knowledge accumulation.Searching and acquiring knowledge from outside has become a strategic choice for enterprises to enhance their innovation capabilities.The influence of knowledge search on innovation performance of enterprises has always been the focus of academic research.Existing research has explored the influence of external knowledge search on innovation performance from the perspectives of knowledge search degree and search boundary.However,few scholars consider knowledge search from the perspective of knowledge structure.According to the content and characteristics of knowledge,Henderson divided the knowledge structure into two categories of component knowledge and architecture knowledge.Component knowledge is the knowledge about the core design concept of components.Architecture knowledge is the knowledge about the combination of component knowledge.From the new perspective of component-architecture knowledge search,it is of great significance to explore the differential influence of two types of knowledge search on innovation performance.Furthermore,due to the limited resources of enterprise,component/architecture knowledge search also competes for the limited resources and energy of enterprises.It will inevitably squeeze out the architecture knowledge search activity by paying too much attention to the component knowledge search activity,and vice versa.Therefore,how to coordinate the dual knowledge search and rationally allocate resources among different knowledge search strategies is related to the efficiency of innovation activities.However,present research on the balance of dual knowledge search is still in its infancy.Therefore,exploring the influence of knowledge search ambidexterity on enterprise innovation performance is of great significance for promoting the development of theory and guiding innovation practice.Knowledge search activities are always embedded in certain situations.The effect of external knowledge search on innovation performance depends on whether it matches with internal and external factors of the enterprise.External knowledge search ultimately serves enterprise innovation activities,and its effectiveness will be influenced by enterprise innovation strategy such as exploratory/exploitative innovation.Therefore,it’s important to confirm whether the different choice of innovation strategies will affect the relationship between knowledge search and innovation performance.To empirically examine the hypotheses,this paper collected a firm-level data set in the Chinese context.The survey object is technology-based enterprise,most of which pay attention to R&D investment and have urgent technological innovation needs.In this study,questionnaires were distributed and collected by on-site and online methods.Finally,we received 220 responses with a response rate of 73.3 per cent.We verify the hypothesis by constructing the multiple linear regression model.The results show that component knowledge search has an inverted U-shaped effect on innovation performance,architectural knowledge search has a linear positive effect on innovation performance,knowledge search ambidexterity has a positive effect on innovation performance.knowledge Search strategy and innovation strategy are compatible,exploratory innovation positively moderates the relationship between component knowledge search and innovation performance,but does not have a significant moderating effect between architectural knowledge search and innovation performance;exploitative innovation positively regulates the relationship between architectural knowledge search and innovation performance,but does not have a significant moderating effect between component knowledge search and innovation performance.This paper explores the influence of external knowledge search on innovation performance from the perspective of knowledge structure,enriching the perspective of knowledge search research.Specifically,based on organizational search theory and strategic synergy theory,this article explores the impact of component-architectural knowledge search on innovation performance.Furthermore,this article explores the moderating role of innovation strategy,which further promotes the research of organizational ambidexterity in the field of knowledge management.This study also provides theoretical guidance for the choice of knowledge search strategy and innovation strategy for companies.There is adaptability between knowledge search strategy and innovation strategy.Therefore,when making innovation strategies,enterprises should consider the ability of two kinds of knowledge search and attach importance to the synergy between them.Although some new attempts have been made in this paper,there are still some limitations.First,this study only analyzes the moderating effect of innovation strategy on the influence of knowledge search strategy on enterprise innovation performance from the perspective of internal situation,and future research can also analyze from the perspective of external situation.Secondly,this study focuses on the direct effect of external knowledge search strategy on enterprise innovation performance,and future research can introduce intermediary variables such as knowledge integration and knowledge creation to explore the path of external knowledge search on enterprise innovation performance.Finally,although this paper explores the influence of ambidexterity knowledge search balance on enterprise innovation performance,it doesn't specifically divide the types of balance.Future research can further distinguish the balance dimension to test whether it has a differential influence on innovation performance.