数字化能力、开放式创新与企业绩效——创新独占性的调节效应

Digitalization Capabilities,Open Innovation,and Firm Performance:The Moderating Effect of Appropriability Regimes

数字经济时代的企业创新范式已从封闭式创新转向企业与外部主体间的开放式创新,生成适应数字经济发展的数字化能力是企业实施开放式创新并塑造可持续竞争优势的关键。基于动态能力理论,以企业如何从创新中获利为逻辑线索,构建数字化能力驱动开放式创新的调节中介效应模型,利用353家中国制造企业的调查数据与回归分析,实证检验数字化能力、开放式创新与企业绩效的内在联系,并考察创新独占性对上述关系的调节效应。结果表明:以数字整合与数字重组为构成的数字化能力有助于企业充分利用内外部数据资源,是数字经济时代提升企业绩效的一种重要动态能力;在企业创新活动的具体表现上,数字化能力通过推动开放式创新的实施这一中介机制促进企业绩效的持续改善;高水平的创新独占性不但为企业从创新中获利提供保障,而且会增强数字化能力经由开放式创新提升企业绩效的作用效果。

The innovation paradigm in the digital economy era has shifted from closed innovation to open innovation between firms and external innovators.To cope with the opportunities and challenges in the digital economy,more and more firms have begun to join in the management practice of digital transformation.They expect to generate digitalization capabilities that dynamically match the market environment by integrating and reorganizing data resources(both intra-organizational and inter-organizational),so as to promote the formation of sustainable competitive advantages.However,a survey by Accenture shows that many firms are suffering from the dilemma of strategic misalignment,insufficient investment,and incompetence in the process of digital transformation.In particular,the lack of digitalization capabilities has become a crucial obstacle preventing firms from implementing open innovation in the digital economy.At the same time,digitalization capabilities have attracted extensive attention from academia.Some researchers have explored the multi-dimensional structure of digitalization capabilities based on qualitative analysis,while others have examined the effects of digital technology application capabilities such as digital platforms and big data analysis on firm performance,operation management,and technological innovation.Although previous studies have carried out exploratory work on digitalization capabilities,the conclusions are still difficult to be aggregated into systematic understanding and cognition,and the interaction mechanism between digitalization capabilities and open innovation remains ambiguous.How to promote open innovation and profit growth through digitalization capabilities has become an important issue to be discussed in innovation management literature.The purpose of digital transformation is not only to enhance the interconnection between firms and external innovators but more importantly to generate digitalization capabilities that adapt to market competition during the application of digital technologies.To bridge the gaps in previous studies,the study propose that generating digitization capabilities to integrate and reconfigure data resources is the key driving factor for firms to implement open innovation in the digital economy.Building on the theories of dynamic capabilities and profiting from innovation,this study constructs a moderated mediation effect model and empirically examines the interplay of digitalization capabilities,open innovation,and firm performance by using the survey data of 353 Chinese manufacturing firms and investigates the moderating effect of appropriability regimes from the perspective of value capture.Three key conclusions can be drawn from our research.First,digitalization capabilities enable firms to effectively integrate and reorganize data resources,which is an available approach to improve firm performance.From the perspective of dynamic capabilities,firms can acquire,integrate,and utilize internal and external data resources more efficiently under the enabling effect of digitalization capabilities,and promote the digital transformation of value-creation activities such as new product development,manufacturing,and marketing.A high level of digitalization capabilities means that firms can flexibly use digital technologies to establish extensive connections with external innovators,and expand their behavioral boundaries and business scope,which helps firms achieve excellent performance in sustainable product or service innovation.Second,digitalization capabilities improve firm performance by facilitating the implementation of open innovation.The trajectory of technological innovation in the era of the digital economy has expanded from internal innovation activities to open innovation between firms and external innovators.Digitalization capabilities support high-quality information management and intelligent decision-making,enhance the intelligence level of firms in assessing user demands and changes in the market environment,build contextualized information communication and knowledge transfer media for different open innovation activities,and then improve firm performance through value co-creation with external innovators.Third,the greater the effect of appropriability regimes,the more significant the role of digitalization capabilities in improving firm performance through open innovation.Under the protection of efficient appropriability regimes,firms can fully release the potential of digital technologies,realize technological innovation,and obtain considerable profit returns through knowledge transfer and value co-creation with external innovators.