母体支持型裂变创业企业如何构建商业生态系统?——基于资源编排视角的双案例研究

How to Build a Business Ecosystem for Spin-off Enterprises Supported by Parent Enterprises? A Comparative Case Study Based on Resource Orchestration Theory

近年来,从微观视角解读商业生态系统构建成为理论界的热点问题。鉴于构建商业生态系统对企业资源和能力的特殊要求,现有研究或者重视在位企业安排多样主体,或者强调新企业颠覆在位企业的统治地位,但是忽视了新企业构建与在位企业协同共生的商业生态系统情境。母体支持型裂变创业是指受到母体企业正式支持并从母体内部裂变形成独立企业的创业形式,其蕴含的资源禀赋与嵌入的关系特征为补足当下的研究缺憾创造了条件。本研究以资源编排理论为透镜,对由海尔裂变产生的两家新企业构建商业生态系统的全过程进行探究,归纳出“母体裂变情境”“生态基石结构化”“生态协同能力化”“生态联动杠杆化”四个核心构念,并在此基础上识别出“探索式”和“利用式”两条不同的商业生态系统构建路径。其中,新企业裂变时面临的母体企业情境是引发不同路径的直接原因。这些发现为商业生态系统动态研究、资源编排理论以及裂变创业双元创新做出了理论贡献,也为试图构建商业生态系统的在位企业和裂变创业企业提供了实践启发。

Business ecosystem is widely defined by the alignment structure of the multilateral set of partners that need to interact in order for a focal value proposition to materialize, which makes the research of the construction of business ecosystem from the micro perspective become a hot issue. Due to the requirements of building a business ecosystem for resources and capabilities, some literature focuses on incumbent enterprises, emphasizing their arrangement for other actors. The other studies pay attention to new ventures, calling them as subversives of existing ecosystem. These studies, however,ignore the important context that new ventures synergize and symbiosize with existing enterprises to build a business ecosystem.The spin-off enterprises supported by parent enterprises refer to an entrepreneurial form in which the entrepreneur leaves the parent enterprise to form an independent enterprise formally supported by the parent enterprise. With the characteristics of resource endowment and embedding relationship, this form affords an opportunity to supplement this gap. In view of the characteristics of the situation, the question of “how to build a business ecosystem for spin-offs supported by parent enterprises” emphasizes the process of new enterprises using parent resources, dealing with the relationship with parent enterprises,and re-connecting other partners. Therefore, the resource orchestration theory, which emphasizes the dynamic allocation of resources, provides a suitable perspective for interpreting this process.On this basis, this study explores the whole process of constructing ecosystem for two spin-off enterprises from Haier and summarizes four core constructs, including “spin-off situation of parent”“structuring of ecological basis” “bounding of ecological synergy”, and “leveraging of ecological linkage”. On this basis, two different paths of business ecosystem construction called exploration and exploitation have been identified, and the “spin-off situation of parent” is the direct reason for the difference. Specifically, one company adopts an “exploratory” construction process, which experiences three processes: constructing niche resources, shaping leading ability, and uniting horizontally. The direct antecedent of this path lies in the parent reconstruction situation faced by the new venture.Another company adoptes the construction process of “utilization”, which experiences three processes:allocating parent resources, shaping connection ability, and intergrating vertically. The direct antecedent of this path lies in the parent expansion situation faced by the company’s fission entrepreneurship.The conclusion of this study attempts to interpret the process of “how parent-supported fission entrepreneurial enterprises build a business ecosystem”, which reveals the relevant specific mechanisms and two heterogeneous business ecosystem construction paths. These findings not only make theoretical contributions to the dynamic research of business ecosystem, the resource orchestration theory, and the dual innovation of spin-off enterprises, but also provide practical inspiration for incumbent enterprises and spin-off enterprises that try to build an ecosystem.