产业集群社会资本能够打破传承期家族企业创新约束吗?——基于战略参考点转移的研究

Can Social Capital intheIndustrial Cluster Break the Innovation Constraints of Family Businesses in Transgenerational Succession:Research Based on the Reference Point Shift

探究传承期家族企业的创新问题,对正面临代际传承和国家创新驱动发展战略双重挑战的家族企业具有重要的理论和现实意义。基于战略参考点理论,本文提出对于传承期的家族企业而言,产业集群社会资本是驱动其战略参考点转移以及缓解创新约束的关键因素。对产业集群家族企业调查数据进行统计分析的检验结果表明:处于传承期的家族企业以保持家族控制这一内部导向的战略参考点为主导,从而抑制其创新活动;随着产业集群社会资本的提升,传承期家族企业战略参考点会“由内转外”,具有更强的外部导向,因此能够缓解传承期对家族企业创新的抑制。拓展研究发现,产业集群社会资本通过提升传承期家族企业风险承担能力促进其创新行为。无论是以创新投入还是以新产品创新作为家族企业创新行为的反映,以上结论均得到支持。研究揭示了产业集群社会资本对传承期家族企业战略参考点变化的重要作用,有助于引导和鼓励家族企业提高传承期的创新投入,最终实现“基业长青”。

Family businesses are crucial for the implementation of national innovation-driven strategies.After 40 years of reform and opening up,Chinese family businesses have entered a period of intergenerational succession.According to PwC s 2018 Global Family Business Survey China Report,77%of leaders in family businesses in themainland of China identified innovation as their main challenge.Academic research has shown that the innovation level of Chinese family businesses has significantly decreased in transgenerational succession.Therefore,exploring the issue of reduced innovation investment in family businesses during transgenerational successionhas important theoretical and practical significance for national innovation-driven development strategies andfamily businesses that are facing the challenges of intergenerational succession.The test results of statistical analysis on survey data of family businessesin industrial clusters indicate that family businesses in the transgenerational succession are dominated by maintaining family control as an internal strategic reference point,thereby suppressing their innovation activities.With the increase of social capital in the industrial cluster,the strategic reference points of family businesses in transgenerational succession will shift from internal to external,with stronger external guidance,thus alleviating the inhibition of innovation in transgenerational succession.Expanding research shows that social capital in the industrial cluster promotes innovative behavior by enhancing family businesses risk-takingduring transgenerational succession.The above conclusions are supported whether innovation investment or new product innovation is used as a reflection of family business innovation behavior.This paper expandsprevious literaturein the following three aspects.Firstly,using the collective knowledge structure of family businesses decision-making teams as the internal explanatory mechanism,it provides a theoretical explanation that the strategic reference points of Chinese family businesses during the transgenerational succession can undergo“internal to external”shift under the influence of social capital,enriching the research results of shifts in the strategic reference points of family businesses.Secondly,from the perspectives of strategic reference point theory and social capital theory,thispaper deepensthe understanding of the innovative behavior and mechanism of family businesses and expandsresearch on innovation in family businesses in transgenerational succession.Thirdly,existing research only focuses on social capital at the individual level and does not involve social capital at the organizational level.In the context of China,industrial clusters provide a new research perspective.The paper reveals the important role of social capital in the industrial cluster in the strategic reference point shifts of family businesses during the transgenerational succession.On one hand,it guides and encouragesfamily businesses to increase innovation investment intransgenerational succession,ultimately achieving“built-to-last”;on the other hand,it helps the government to play a macro regulatory role and promote the development of industrial clusters towards higher formats.