基于技术追赶动态过程的后发企业市场认知演化机制研究

后发企业在技术追赶过程中,既存在显性的技术能力劣势,又面临隐性的市场认知劣势,因此在构建技术能力之外还需通过改变市场认知才能突破追赶困境,然而现有研究尚未将市场认知作为独立的理论视角,且市场认知演化的关键过程及其内在机制仍未被充分揭示。本文通过对海天在注塑机领域实现赶超的案例研究,探究了后发企业在技术追赶过程中市场认知的演化过程及其机制。研究发现:(1)后发企业在"追赶—超越追赶—行业前沿"3个阶段中,市场认知相应地经历了"合法化身份—差异化形象—引领性地位"的连续演化过程。(2)在此过程中,模拟机制、转换机制和塑造机制依次发挥了重要作用。其中,后发企业通过由类比行动和获取外部资源构成的模拟机制,获得了市场合法化身份;通过由疏离行动和重组内部价值构成的转化机制,取得了市场差异化形象;通过由分化行动和重构未来方向构成的塑造机制,实现了市场引领性地位。据此,本文提出一个在技术追赶动态情境下市场认知演化的阶段式过程理论模型,明确了市场认知演化的前因、机制和结果,为后发企业克服市场认知劣势,最终摆脱技术追赶困境提供了管理启示。     

后发企业如何从追赶到前沿?——双元性学习的视角

中国企业正在从追赶到超越追赶,甚至走到创新前沿,面临从"追赶者"到"领导者"转型的挑战。双元性学习组合了探索与利用两种不同学习的优势,因而成为后发企业突破超越追赶困境的关键机制。本文通过海天集团1994~2015年技术追赶过程的纵向案例分析,发现后发企业由追赶到超越追赶再到创新前沿转型的过程中,双元性学习由"分隔型双元"向"过渡型双元"再向"自洽型双元"演化,同时技术体制多样性提供的技术方向、市场空间多层次性提供的需求支撑,以及企业能力累积性提供的平台基础共同驱动了这一演进过程。研究结论深化了对后发企业从追赶到创新前沿转型机制的理解,也从双元性学习视角为后发企业追赶提供了一种新的解释机制。     

以资源重构为中介的平行搜索对后发企业协同追赶的影响研究

在技术和市场双轮驱动的转型背景下,后发企业如何摆脱“落后-追赶-落后”的追赶困境以实现技术和市场协同追赶值得关注。基于创新搜索、资源重构以及后发追赶相关理论,探究平行搜索对后发企业协同追赶的影响以及资源重构的中介机制,以212份调查样本进行实证分析并通过Bootstrap方法检验中介效应,揭开了平行搜索影响后发企业协同追赶的“黑箱”机制。研究表明：领先搜索与跟随搜索对后发企业协同追赶均有促进作用;领先搜索正向影响资源重组却负向影响资源重置,而跟随搜索对资源重组和资源重置的影响与之相反;资源重组和资源重置均对协同追赶有促进作用,二者在领先搜索和跟随搜索与协同追赶之间发挥部分中介作用。     

差异化与同质化的统一——基于双元战略的后发企业市场追赶研究

双元性学习对后发企业市场追赶具有重要作用,但现有文献对双元理论追逐目标的研究仍停留在探索目标及利用目标上。本文通过对拼多多2015—2021年市场追赶的纵向案例进行分析,发现企业在追赶过程中采用以差异化及同质化为追逐目标的共时型双元战略,这种组合产生的学习优势帮助后发企业在没有技术创新的情况下实现市场追赶。研究结论不仅补充了双元理论中的追逐目标,而且明确后发企业在追赶过程中没有技术创新仍能实现市场追赶。     

基于技术追赶过程的后发企业能力重构演化机制研究

后发企业最终实现技术追赶得益于能力重构.然而,在技术追赶动态过程中,后发企业如何进行能力重构演化机制尚不明确.通过对圣龙的案例分析,本研究发现:市场动态性从外部为后发企业的技术追赶提供机会窗口,主导逻辑则从内部为后发企业的技术追赶提供认知引导.具体而言,初始追赶阶段的市场动态性低,后发企业通过定位逻辑实现能力演化;超越追赶阶段的市场动态性中,后发企业通过杠杆逻辑实现能力转换;行业前沿阶段的市场动态性高,后发企业通过机会逻辑实现能力替代.本研究强调了不同程度市场动态性的重要性,引入了主导逻辑视角,揭示了能力重构演化机制的内在规律.本研究既丰富了技术追赶理论,又为后发企业追赶实践提供了管理启示.     

后发企业如何从追赶到超越?——基于机会窗口视角的双案例纵向对比分析

中国的后发企业正逐渐从追赶向超越追赶甚至创新前沿演进。机会窗口视角整合了技术、需求、制度多层次情境因素,是解释后发企业成功追赶的重要理论基础。本研究通过两家中国安防行业后发企业追赶过程的纵向案例对比分析,探究了后发企业在以国内领先为目标的追赶阶段与以国际领先为目标的超越追赶阶段,机会窗口与企业创新战略的匹配关系对后发企业追赶绩效的作用机制:(1)技术机会窗口与技术探索性创新战略的匹配,在追赶和超越追赶阶段都会更好地促进后发企业追赶绩效的提升。(2)需求机会窗口与市场探索性创新战略的匹配,在追赶阶段会更好地促进后发企业追赶绩效的提升;需求机会窗口与市场利用性创新战略的匹配,在超越追赶阶段会更好地促进后发企业追赶绩效的提升。(3)制度机会窗口与技术利用性创新战略的匹配,在追赶和超越追赶阶段都会更好地促进后发企业追赶绩效的提升。     

企业自主创新、模仿创新行为与市场结构的演化研究

本文运用演化博弈理论研究企业自主创新行为、模仿创新行为与市场结构的演化,研究表明,在满足一定的条件下,市场中进行自主创新投资的企业的比例以及市场结构将演化稳定。政府的宏观调控对于企业自主创新行为以及市场结构的演化起着至关重要的作用。     

后发企业如何构建创新网络—基于知识架构的视角

构建创新网络是后发企业快速进行技术追赶的重要路径。那么,针对不同的企业,构筑什么样的创新网络是有效的? 为了深化以往的创新网络研究,从知识架构的视角出发,聚焦于网络层次的合作伙伴配置,构建了以产业特征为情境条件,知识基宽度/深度为焦点企业特征,知识异质性/质量为创新网络节点组成特征,高创新追赶绩效为结果变量的逻辑模型。结论显示,有三种相应的架构类型能够获取高创新追赶绩效。此外,在不同的产业特征情境下,不同的企业分别可以采用相应的架构类型取得更好的绩效。以此,为后发企业构建有效创新网络提供了理论和实践的借鉴。     

Toward a learning-based view of internationalization: The accelerated trajectories of cross-border learning for latecomers

Integrating the conventional models with the emerging models, we propose a learning-based view of internationalization for multinational enterprise (MNE), especially for MNE latecomers as the new species of MNE from the emerging economies. Built upon the duality lens and transaction value perspective, this learning-based view frames the pattern of cross-border learning in terms of both learning motive and learning capability as a learning trajectory, with distinctive entry strategies as the primary applications of such learning trajectories. The learning trajectories on the dimensions of exploitative and exploratory learning as well as unilateral and bilateral leaning jointly constitute an overall framework of MNE evolution with cross-border learning as its central theme, especially in the process of an accelerated internationalization. In particular, we frame cross-border alliance as a special form for bilateral learning in terms of co-exploitation and co-exploration, which motivates and enables the accelerated internationalization of MNE latecomers. Finally, we identify four major learning-based issues as new “big questions” to reflect the emerging paradigm shift from hierarchy-based unilateral exploitation to network-based bilateral exploration with the theme that hierarchy is best for exploiting the extant core competence, while strategic alliance is best for exploring a novel core competence.     

Serve or skip: the power of rejection in online bottleneck matching

We consider the online matching problem, where n server-vertices lie in a metric space and n request-vertices that arrive over time each must immediately be permanently assigned to a server-vertex. We focus on the egalitarian bottleneck objective, where the goal is to minimize the maximum distance between any request and its server. It has been shown that while there are effective algorithms for the utilitarian objective (minimizing total cost) in the resource augmentation setting where the offline adversary has half the resources, these are not effective for the egalitarian objective. Thus, we propose a new Serve-or-Skip (SoS) bicriteria analysis model, where the online algorithm may reject or skip up to a specified number of requests, and propose two greedy algorithms: GriNN(t) and \({{\textsc {Grin}}^*(t)}\). We show that the SoS model of resource augmentation analysis can essentially simulate the doubled-server-capacity model, and then examine the performance of GriNN(t) and \({\textsc {Grin}^*(t)}\).     

Tools for Comparative Analysis of Alternatives: Competing or Complementary Perspectives?

A third generation of environmental policy making and risk management will increasingly impose environmental measures, which may give rise to analyzing countervailing risks. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of all risks associated with the decision alternatives will aid decision-makers in prioritizing alternatives that effectively reduce both target and countervailing risks. Starting with the metaphor of the ripples caused by a stone that is thrown into a pond, we identify 10 types of ripples that symbolize, in our case, risks that deserve closer examination: direct, upstream, downstream, accidental risks, occupational risks, risks due to offsetting behavior, change in disposable income, macro-economic changes, depletion of natural resources, and risks to the manmade environment. Tools to analyze these risks were developed independently and recently have been applied to overlapping fields of application. This suggests that either the tools should be linked in a unified framework for comparative analysis or that the appropriate field of application for single tools should be better understood. The goals of this article are to create a better foundation for the understanding of the nature and coverage of available tools and to identify the remaining gaps. None of the tools is designed to deal with all 10 types of risk. Provided data suggest that, of the 10 types of identified risks, those associated with changes in disposable income may be particularly significant when decision alternatives differ with respect to their effects on disposable income. Finally, the present analysis was limited to analytical questions and did not capture the important role of the decision-making process itself.     

Bringing IT Back: An Analysis of the Decision to Backsource or Switch Vendors

Whereas the decision to outsource information systems (IS) has been an important focus in IS research and practice, the decision to switch vendors or to backsource has received little attention. Evidence suggests that in practice, however, the decision to backsource or to switch vendors is becoming increasingly common as firms vie for ways to continue to cut information technology (IT) costs and improve IT service levels. This research specifically examines the factors associated with the decision to backsource or to switch vendors. Based on a sample of 160 IT managers involved with application development, we compare and contrast the perceptions of those who switched vendors, backsourced, or continued in an outsourcing relationship for application development. Our findings suggest that product quality, service quality, relationship quality, and switching costs are related to the decision to backsource application outsourcing. However, service and product quality did not influence the decision to switch vendors. Rather, firms that made the decision to switch vendors reported high levels of service and product quality but low levels of relationship quality and switching costs.     

From sovereign to subject: Applying Foucault's conceptualization of power to leading and studying power within leadership

This article uses Michel Foucault's conceptualization of power to rethink how power operates within leadership relations. Foucault (1980:220) defines power as a “a structure of actions, bearing on the actions of those who are free.” This idea is explored, noting how it differs from much leadership theorizing which defines power in terms of a leader's position or personal characteristics. Foucault's assertions that “power is everywhere” (1988, 12), that it is relationally based and is best perceived through its effects are examined. We identify implications for researching power from this perspective, including the appropriateness of methods capable of mapping social, historical, and institutional dynamics. We offer four analytic strategies: beginning from power's outcomes, investigating points of resistance, proactively identifying hidden dynamics and attending to networked alliances. Insights generated from this approach highlight the contingent, ephemeral nature of power and help explain the indeterminacy leaders often experience when wielding it in practice.     

Staying Close to the Core: Lessons from Studying the Costs of Unrelated Alliances in Spanish Banking

This article analyses whether alliances create shareholders value, and if this value differs depending on the similarity of the partners' businesses, or on the similarity of the partners' businesses with that of the alliance. Using data from 467 equity and non-equity based strategic alliances from 1996-1999 involving at least one listed Spanish bank, we find that, overall, alliances create shareholder value, but that the returns to shareholders are significantly higher when alliance activity is closer to the core business of the banks, than when alliances involve unrelated activities. Although there is no evidence that unrelated strategic alliances destroy value on average, the results obtained show that banks need to assess the benefits and costs of diversification strategies carefully, as their likelihood of success is initially smaller.     

Risk Analysis of Chemical, Biological, or Radionuclear Threats: Implications for Food Security

If the food sector is attacked, the likely agents will be chemical, biological, or radionuclear (CBRN). We compiled a database of international terrorist/criminal activity involving such agents. Based on these data, we calculate the likelihood of a catastrophic event using extreme value methods. At the present, the probability of an event leading to 5,000 casualties (fatalities and injuries) is between 0.1 and 0.3. However, pronounced, nonstationary patterns within our data suggest that the "reoccurrence period" for such attacks is decreasing every year. Similarly, disturbing trends are evident in a broader data set, which is nonspecific as to the methods or means of attack. While at the present the likelihood of CBRN events is quite low, given an attack, the probability that it involves CBRN agents increases with the number of casualties. This is consistent with evidence of "heavy tails" in the distribution of casualties arising from CBRN events.     

CEO self-discipline in power use: A key moderator for the effect of CEO power

The effect of CEO power depends ultimately on how it is used (i.e., a CEO’s approach to power use), which may vary from one CEO to another. Notwithstanding extensive research on the effect of CEO power on organizational outcomes, researchers have thus far paid very limited attention to how the effect depends on individual differences. In this study I propose a new construct of CEO self-discipline in power use—defined as a CEO’s appeared conformance to the prescribed leadership norms (in particular, norms regarding how leaders should use their power)—and examine how it moderates the effect of CEO power. With a longitudinal dataset from the U.S. computer hardware and software industries, I found that CEO self-discipline in power use weakened the positive effect of CEO power on performance extremeness and improved the effect of CEO power on firm performance.     

Polysemy of Values or Conflict of Interests: A Multi-Disciplinary Analysis

The concept of Value is one that has opened onto many reflections throughout history, leading to the emergence of a plurality of visions, some converging, but most diverging. Nowadays, the word `Value' is frequently used, but with a definition which varies with every discipline. This makes it a polysemous and transverse notion. In this article, we present several visions anddefinitions, which have appeared in philosophy, sociology, economics, finance, marketing, management and design. Our multidisciplinary approach is not intended to select or discard any definition, but firstly we wish to enhance the polysemy of the word Value and the similarities and differences between disciplines. Secondly, we wonder if the fuzzy meaning of Value in all these disciplines is due to a confusion with the notion of `interest'. Following this idea, we propose a model of agents and interactions of the economic environment.