企业数字化、协调成本与决策模式转型

Firm's Digitalization,Coordination Cost and Enterprise Decision-Making Mode Transformation

新一轮信息技术革命给企业管理决策带来了前所未有的冲击,企业决策模式与数字化转型如何有效匹配是制造业成功转型的关键。基于不完全契约理论发展一个企业决策模型,在考虑不确定性与协调性的基础上,探索数字经济条件下企业决策模式选择问题,并运用世界银行统计的中国120个城市共11658家企业调查数据进行实证检验。结果显示:(1)企业的协调性需求会提高协调成本,而企业面临的环境不确定性则会提高适应成本,进而影响企业的纵向分工结构;(2)企业的协调性需求促使企业采用集权决策结构,而企业所面临的环境不确定性则会促使企业采用分权决策结构;(3)数字化能够通过影响垂直方向的信息沟通效率来降低适应成本,进而提高集权倾向,但是数字化对水平方向信息沟通效率的提升则会降低协调成本,进而推动决策结构走向分权。进一步地,协调性需求对两者的权衡有极大影响。当企业协调性需求很低时,数字化能提高企业的分权倾向;当协调性需求很高时,数字化提高分权倾向的边际效应越来越小,当协调性需求高于个某个临界时,数字化甚至会提高集权倾向。由此得到对企业构建与数字经济时代匹配的决策模式的管理启示。

The new round of information technology revolution has brought unprecedented impact to enterprise management decision-making.How to effectively match enterprise decision-making mode and digital transformation is the key to the successful transformation of manufacturing industry.Based on incomplete contract theory,this paper develops an enterprise decision model,and explores the choice of enterprise decision mode under the condition of digital economy on the basis of considering uncertainty and coordination.Furthermore,the empirical test is carried out based on the data of 11,658 enterprises in 120 cities in China collected by the World Bank.The findings are as follows:(1)The coordination needs of enterprises will increase the coordination cost,and the environmental uncertainty faced by enterprises will increase the adaptation cost and thus affect the vertical division of labor structure of enterprises;(2)The coordination needs of enterprises promote the adoption of centralized decision-making structure,while the environmental uncertainties faced by enterprises will promote the adoption of decentralized decision-making structure;(3)Digitization can reduce adaptation costs and thus increase centralization tendency by affecting vertical information communication efficiency,but the improvement of horizontal information communication efficiency by digitization will reduce coordination costs and promote decentralization of decision-making structure.Further,the need for coordination greatly influences the trade-off between the two.When the need for coordination is very low,digitalization can improve the decentralization tendency of enterprises.When the coordination demand is high,the marginal effect of digitalization on enhancing decentralization tendency is smaller and smaller.When the coordination demand is higher than a certain critical point,digitalization will even increase the centralization tendency.The research conclusion of this paper can provide management enlightenment for enterprises to construct decision mode matching the era of digital economy.