何为越轨创新:文献综述与研究展望

What Exactly Bootleg Innovation is:A Literature Review and Future Research Agenda

越轨创新作为常规创新方式的补充,能够帮助企业在动态数字经济环境中获取持续竞争优势,因此备受理论界和实践界关注。然而,相关研究对其内涵与过程机制缺乏系统和全面认识。首先,通过梳理越轨创新研究发展历程,厘清越轨创新内涵特征,总结现有测量量表的局限性;其次,从行为主体、行为环境和行为主体-环境匹配3个角度归纳越轨创新影响因素;再次,揭示越轨创新形成过程中“是、能、愿、敢”4种内在动力,明晰越轨创新对员工、组织的双刃剑效应及其权变调节因素。最后,构建越轨创新过程模型,提出未来可从研究范式、理论基础、作用机制、时代背景等方面推进,研究框架和未来展望有助于丰富与拓展创新理论,为组织管理越轨创新活动提供参考。

In modern digital economy,employees’innovative vitality is an important source for organizations to gain competitive advantages.However,in the process of innovation,employees may ignore the veto of leaders or violate organizational norms to carry out innovation activities privately through informal ways,which is called bootleg innovation.Bootleg innovation is widespread in various sorts of organizations which brings innovative performance,however,some scholars propose that bootleg innovation may lead to a series of negative effects.Therefore,how to effectively manage bootleg innovation to exert its positive role and avoid its harm has become an important research topics in the new era.Bootleg innovation has attracted wide attention from scholars,but some inadequacies exist in the studies.The lack of consensus on the connotation of bootleg innovation leads to various conclusions on the concept definition,measurement dimensions and indicators;the research findings on the influencing factors and consequences of bootleg innovation are fragmented and not systematic and comprehensive.Therefore,on the basis of the research results at home and abroad,this paper summarizes the research themes and research frontiers of bootleg innovation,and tries to clarify the existing understanding and research limitations.The study is expected to promote the development of bootleg innovation theory research in the oriental context and provide certain references for academics and practitioners.The study first provides a framework to recognize bootleg innovation in terms of history of research development.Specifically,from the evolution of"unification"into"divergence"and then"re-unification"of the connotation of bootleg innovation,this paper classifies the history of bootleg innovation research into three major stages:"initiation","division"and"integration",explains the various interpretations of bootleg innovation in different stages,and proposes a more comprehensive connotation and characteristics based on the oriental context.The different measurement dimensions and indicator scales as well as limitations at the current stage are summarized.Then it reviews the established research findings and analyzes the influencing factors of bootleg innovation from two static and one dynamic perspectives.It is confirmed that the bootleg innovator’s personal ability,personality traits and his or her values will affect whether he or she practices bootleg innovation activities;the enterprise’s management approaches to innovation,performance,routine replication,flexible working and leaders can be influencing factors to bootleg innovation;from the dynamic perspective,the fitness of the bootleg innovator to the job(e.g.,workplace status)and the fitness of the bootleg innovator to the leader(e.g.,superior-subordinate relationship)are also important influencing factors to bootleg innovation.Moreover the innovative behavior can be influenced by both exogenous factors and endogenous factors such as employees’internal psychological motivation.Since exogenous factors can influence innovative behavior by affecting the psychology of employees,the psychological factors of bootleg innovators are explored.Given the fact that the existing research is lack of comprehensive and systematic analysis,this study adds the"I dare"perspective to the existing framework to reveal the four internal motivations of"I am","I can","I would"and"I dare"in the formation of bootleg innovation.Meanwhile opinions of different scholars differ on the role of bootleg innovation.Actually,bootleg innovation is characterized by both the legitimacy of the purposes and the illegitimacy of the means,so it indicates that bootleg innovation is a double-edged sword.Thus,this paper discusses the positive benefits and negative damages of bootleg innovation from both individual and organizational sides,and attributes a diversity of important factors that moderate its double-edged sword effect,such as workplace status and leader’s feedback behavior.Finally this study concludes with a model of bootleg innovation that provides a more comprehensive and explicit research framework.It is suggested that future research can be deepened and expanded in terms of research paradigms,theoretical foundations,mechanisms of effect and contemporary contexts.Overall,this paper enriches and extends innovation theory and provides a reference for organization to manage bootleg innovation activities.