数字平台治理机制对机会集的影响——基于多主体互动视角的研究

The Impact of Governance Mechanism on Opportunity Set in Digital Platforms:The Perspective of Multi-actor Interaction

数字平台企业与其他主体通过有效互动形成机会集是实现快速成长的有效途径,其中治理机制是实现多主体有效互动的重要手段。从研究现状看,多主体互动视角下机会集概念和维度不清晰,治理机制对机会集的作用机理不明确。运用多案例研究方法,以数字平台为研究对象,从多主体互动视角剖析机会集概念和维度并揭示治理机制对机会集的影响机理。研究发现:①机会集是数字平台内多主体以资源为基础进行互动所开发的一系列机会(已经开发和尚待开发的机会)的有机集合,其维度包含机会规模、创新性、多样性和关联性;②正式治理机制、非正式治理机制及其交互作用通过促进平台企业与平台内其他主体的资源交换,积极影响机会集。研究结论对于揭示机会集形成的内在机制及运营实践具有重要理论价值和实践启示。

In recent years,the rapid development of digital technology has promoted the emergence of platform entrepreneurship.Platform firms represented by ByteDance and Xiaomi set up digital platforms to effectively interact with other actors,promote a series of related products/services and form opportunity sets.The formation of opportunity set is conducive to the rapid growth of actors in platforms in the highly uncertain entrepreneurial environment,and also plays an important role in promoting social and economic development.However,practice is ahead of theory.The existing literature mainly explores the concept,dimensions and influencing factors of opportunity set from the single-actor perspective.In digital platforms,digital technology makes the products/services highly related,and the characteristics of opportunity set are particularly obvious.Moreover,the digital platform is a typical multi-actor interaction form,and multiple actors′effective interaction is particularly important for the formation of opportunity set.Yet few scholars have explored the formation mechanism of opportunity set of digital platform from the multi-actor interaction perspective.Governance mechanism is an important means to ensure the effective interaction between platform firms and other actors and promote the formation of opportunity set.However,previous studies mainly focus on the influence of governance mechanism on opportunity development of a single actor in the platform,while the governance mechanism on opportunity set is still unclear.Therefore,this paper uses the multi-case study method,taking ByteDance and Xiaomi digital platforms as research objects,to analyze the concept and dimension of opportunity set from the multi-actor interaction perspective and reveal the influence mechanism of governance mechanism on opportunity set.By collecting the secondary data of these two digital platforms from multiple sources,and conducting the coding analysis based on grounded theory,we get the following research conclusions.Firstly,the opportunity set is an organic set of a series of opportunities(including developed opportunities and potential opportunities to be developed)developed by multiple actors interacting on the basis of resources on digital platforms,and its dimensions include opportunity scale,innovativeness,variety and relevance.Secondly,formal governance mechanism,informal governance mechanism and their interaction have positive impacts on opportunity set by promoting resource exchange between platform firms and other actors in platforms.Specifically,as the institutional guarantee and internal motivation of resource exchange between platform firms and other actors,formal governance mechanism facilitates resources′efficient integration through rapid exchange of resources,promotes the continuous discovery and creation of more innovative,varied and relevant opportunities,and positively influences opportunity set′s four dimensions.Informal governance mechanism can provide emotional support and direction guidance for resource exchange between platform firms and other actors,which facilitates resources′efficient configuration through rapid exchange of resources,promotes the continuous development of more innovative,varied and relevant opportunities,and positively influences opportunity set′s four dimensions.The interaction between formal and informal governance mechanism provides institutional guarantee for resources exchange between platform firms and other actors,and also enhances the flexibility.It is conducive to flexible resources configuration through resources′rapid exchange in the uncertain environment,deriving more innovative,varied and relevant opportunities,and positively influencing opportunity set′s four dimensions.This research makes contributions in both theory and practice.Theoretically,on the one hand,this paper improves the concept of opportunity set,systematically puts forward the dimensions of opportunity set and reveals its connotation from the multi-actor interaction perspective based on digital platforms(relevance is a new dimension;other dimensions are concepts put forward by existing research and redefined in this paper),which lays the foundation for the construction of opportunity set theory.On the other hand,following social exchange theory and considering the important role of resource exchange in transforming governance mechanism into resource action and promoting the formation of opportunity set,this paper opens the black box of the influence of governance mechanism on opportunity set from the perspective of resource exchange,and enriches opportunity development theory.In practice,this study can help platform firms to understand formal and informal governance mechanism and their relationships,and consider the logic of opportunity set formation from the multi-actor interaction perspective.These are beneficial for platform firms to promote efficient resource exchange by rationally utilizing two complementary types of governance mechanism,and facilitate the formation of opportunity set.