网络信息不对称性、嵌入性与组织学习绩效研究

运用计算机仿真方法,研究学习网络形成过程中人际之间信息对称性和嵌入性两个因素如何影响组织学习绩效和社会网络特征。结果表明,在信息对称情况下,低嵌入性网络有利于探索式学习,高嵌入性网络有利于利用式学习;在信息不对称情况下,信息不对称性抑制组织学习绩效,而且,高嵌入性网络倾向于形成路径依赖,对知识学习的抑制程度高于低嵌入性网络,导致高嵌入网络学习绩效低于低嵌入网络。在所形成的社会网络中,信息对称网络的网络集聚系数小于信息不对称网络;信息对称的嵌入性网络的集聚系数变化过程呈现从高往低的变化特点。     

The Roles of Worker Expertise,Information Sharing Quality,and Psychological Safety in Manufacturing Process Innovation: An Intellectual Capital Perspective

This paper examines the roles of three elements of intellectual capital in implementing process innovations. Building upon prior literature, we develop a model describing how worker expertise, information sharing quality, and psychological safety work together as elements of the human, structural, and social dimensions of intellectual capital to influence the technical success of manufacturing process innovation (MPI) projects. Results of an analysis of data describing 179 MPI projects in US firms strongly support a multidimensional, process‐oriented view of intellectual capital's effects on MPI project technical performance. We also find that the incrementalness of an MPI project plays a moderating role over the relationship between worker expertise and MPI performance. Our study provides insights on how intellectual capital can be more effectively accumulated in a project environment.     

Task Design,Team Context,and Psychological Safety: An Empirical Analysis of R&D Projects in High Technology Organizations

High technology organizations need to develop new products or processes that address the dual goals of exploration and exploitation. The competing viewpoints and the asymmetric nature of market returns associated with these goals in R&D projects can heighten stress levels among project team members and reduce their psychological safety. While current research calls for greater focus on task design for improving psychological safety, we know little about how team contextual factors affect this relationship. This study develops and tests a conceptual framework that examines the moderating role of R&D team contextual factors, namely, relative exploration and project‐organization metric alignment on the relationship between a key task design variable, namely, team autonomy, and psychological safety. Relative exploration captures the extent to which exploration goals are emphasized over exploitation goals in an R&D project, while project‐organization metric alignment measures the extent to which project metrics are aligned with broader organizational metrics. Furthermore, we examine the performance consequences of psychological safety in R&D projects. The empirical analysis is conducted using primary data collected from multiple informants across 110 R&D projects in 34 high technology business units. Our results indicate that relative exploration and project‐organization metric alignment have contrasting moderating effects. Furthermore, the effect of psychological safety on project performance is found to be indirect and mediated through team turnover. Implications of the study findings, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Managing Knowledge Creation in High‐Tech R&D Projects: A Multimethod Study

R&D projects in high‐tech organizations bring together diverse knowledge domains to quickly develop new products and processes. The fast‐paced context of high‐tech organizations makes it challenging to create new knowledge and solve complex problems. Managing these R&D projects requires understanding both the mechanisms and the type of knowledge created to achieve project objectives. This research conducts a two‐phased multimethod study to understand knowledge creation in high‐tech R&D projects. The first phase uses qualitative data to develop a theory on knowledge creation in R&D projects. The second phase involves a survey that collects data from R&D projects to test the theory. Results from the case study find that R&D projects benefit from two types of knowledge – objective and intuitive. The case analyses show that intuitive and objective knowledge creation in high‐tech organizations occurs by creating not only diverse but also psychological safe project teams. The large‐scale survey finds that team diversity positively influences objective knowledge creation while psychological safety affects intuitive knowledge creation. Surprisingly, the results show that team diversity negatively affects intuitive knowledge creation. A post hoc analysis takes a more granular look at diversity and shows that different kinds of diversity have different effects on knowledge creation. This helps to better explain how to manage innovation across boundaries. Finally, the analysis shows that both objective and intuitive knowledge influence R&D project performance. Taken together, these results help explain how to manage innovation across functional boundaries to create knowledge and enhance R&D project performance.      

Effect of Formal Contracts,Relational Norms and Trust on Performance of Joint Research and Development Projects

This paper examines the effect of governance mechanisms – formal contracts, relational norms and trust – on the performance of exploration and exploitation joint research and development (R&D) projects. While the authors acknowledge the need for a twofold approach, transactional and relational, to understand the interfirm exchange governance, the joint action of formal contracts and relational governance has been caught between the complementary or substitutive forces involved in interorganizational relationships. Using survey data on joint exploration and exploitation R&D projects developed by the European biotechnology companies, the synergies of both mechanisms and their effects in improving project performance are investigated. The analysis suggests that contracts and relational norms and trust act as complementary mechanisms, but while contracts are more effective in exploitation projects, relational norms and trust are more powerful in improving the performance of exploration projects.     

CEO网络嵌入性与企业价值

以社会网络理论为理论依据,本文构建了CEO网络嵌入性与企业价值关系的概念模型,提出CEO网络嵌入性与企业价值变化正相关的假设。运用结构方程方法的模型发展策略,选取2009年A股非金融保险业上市公司为样本,对概念模型与实证数据进行契合,得到一个在统计上与样本数据能够良好适配的理论模型。通过对模型进行实证检验,证实了本文所提出的理论假设和概念模型的合理性。     

Team‐Level Antecedents of Individuals' Knowledge Networks*

Individuals' knowledge networks are widely considered to contribute substantially to the effectiveness and efficiency of organizations. While the positive effects of knowledge networks as a primary driver of social capital have recently received considerable research attention, potential determinants of individuals' network building have not yet been adequately addressed. In this study, we investigate how certain team‐level properties affect team members' development of knowledge networks through the course of a team project. Using data from 430 team leaders and team members pertaining to 145 software development projects, we test cross‐level hypotheses using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). The results indicate that the team's perception of the organizational knowledge‐sharing climate, the team's networking preference, and the team's perceived importance of networking for project success positively affect individuals' network building. Furthermore, a team's perception of the adequacy of its technical competency and a team's perception of the adequacy of its material resources inhibit team members' individual network development. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

The Role of Project and Organizational Context in Managing High‐tech R&D Projects

High‐tech organizations often struggle to manage different types of R&D projects. Evidence from research and practice suggests that managers frequently categorize and manage projects based on the extent of change triggered in product, process, technology, and market dimensions. However, this can create challenges in high‐tech organizations. This study investigates how high‐tech organizations manage R&D projects based on their learning goals. First, we argue for the benefits of categorizing R&D projects based on the degree of exploration and exploitation learning goals. A qualitative case study from four high‐tech business units involving 10 R&D projects helps understand the different types of projects based on their learning goals. The case study shows that R&D projects in high‐tech organizations typically fall into three categories based on their learning goals: Radical innovation projects, Incremental innovation projects, and Hybrid projects. Second, we iterate between literature and evidence from our qualitative data to theorize how project context and organizational context affect project performance depending on the type of project. The data for the empirical analysis come from a multilevel survey of 110 R&D projects across 34 high‐tech business units. Results show the importance of designing project and organizational context differently for the three types of R&D projects. Collectively, this study offers a new perspective on how to manage high‐tech R&D projects.     

Coping with Diversity in Alliances for Innovation: The Role of Relational Social Capital and Knowledge Codifiability

Alliances are increasingly considered a key element for innovation, especially in knowledge‐intensive firms. While this is true, the mere membership to alliances does not explain innovation performance, and thus the alliance's characteristics that determine high performance must be examined. This research address the question of how the diversity of partners in a certain alliance for innovation affects innovation performance, and how this influence can be moderated by certain characteristics, such as the relational dimension of social capital and the type of knowledge shared among partners. The empirical analysis of a sample of 90 biotech companies shows that there is an inverted U‐shaped relationship between alliance partner diversity and innovation performance and confirms the positive moderating effects of relational social capital and knowledge codifiability. These findings contribute to the current research on alliances for innovation by providing empirical evidence on why some alliances perform better than others. Also, the results suggest that the study of alliance partner diversity, as a determinant of alliance performance, should not be addressed in isolation.     

Competitive intelligence embeddedness: Drivers and performance consequences

The proliferation of Web-based information sources and social media draw firms' attention to these channels as sources of competitive intelligence (CI). To date, research has focused mainly on information collection techniques rather than on CI uses and its influence on firm performance. We define CI embeddedness as the extent to which management and employees incorporate CI in daily routines, so that actionable knowledge is transferred throughout the organization. A survey of 124 decision makers reveals positive impact of Web CI sources as well as alliances with information providers on CI embeddedness. Furthermore, while CI embeddedness shows no direct influence on firms’ performance, it has a mediated effect on performance through customer satisfaction.     

Forms of Network Resource: Knowledge Access and the Role of Inter‐Firm Networks

The leveraging of inter‐firm networks is increasingly considered to be a strategic resource that can potentially be shaped by managerial action. In recent years, scholars have turned to the concept of social capital to understand how the transfer of knowledge occurs within and across firms. However, this has resulted in an overstretching of the social capital concept. The aim of this paper is to refine and add specificity to the current broad application of the social capital concept. It is argued that although the social capital concept explains investments in networks based on a network logic relating to sociability and socialization, it does not explain investments in networks based on a logic relating to economic expectations. These expectations result in network participation that is more calculative than networks containing social capital. The paper introduces the notion of ‘network capital’ to explain the resources contained within inter‐firm networks that do not necessarily equate with the type of trust and obligations associated with social capital. Network capital is defined as an investment in calculative relations through which firms gain access to knowledge to enhance expected economic returns. It is argued that while network capital can be strategically managed, particularly to influence knowledge flow, the nature of social capital is such that it is very difficult to manage. It is concluded that the network capital–social capital framework opens a number of avenues in terms of future research, especially in relation to the extended resource‐based view of the firm and theories of open innovation.     

Solutions to the Exploration/Exploitation Dilemma: Networks as a New Level of Analysis

This paper reviews the extant literature on the exploration/exploitation dilemma. Based on a systematic analysis of structural, behavioural, systemic and temporal solutions, the authors are able to show that the learning literature continues to struggle with the question of how exactly an organization can separate exploration and exploitation and at the same time enable necessary knowledge exchange and cooperation between these two notions. Paying closer attention to networks might enable future research to answer this question. In particular, a combination of structural aspects of networks and social ties has the potential to explain how the solutions currently on offer can be implemented successfully, how organizations can combine several of them, and how they can shift between them.     

Perceptions of demotion decisions: A social capital perspective

This article examines how demotees and co-workers understand involuntary demotion decisions, using a social capital lens. Drawing on data based on semi-structured in-depth interviews from 23 demotees and 46 co-workers (two co-workers of each demoted worker), we find that the likelihood of being demoted is determined by several factors. The personal characteristics of the demotee influence three aspects of social capital: 1) the quality of the employee-management relationship, 2) the ability to socialise with other organizational members and 3) visibility in the organization. Our findings contribute to the relational embeddedness perspective of social capital as well the growing body of literature on the dark side of social capital in organizations by showing how a lack of social capital impacts on demotion decisions. Relevant implications for organizations and HR practitioners for utilizing demotion as a HR tool are discussed.     

Managing Interdependence: The Effects of Outsourcing Structure on the Performance of Complex Projects*

The outsourcing of complex activities has become a common organizational practice. Yet very little research has focused on the implications of how these activities are divided up among outsourcing partners. Drawing on structural contingency theory, we argue that: (1) because activities within stages of complex projects are highly interdependent, outsourcing structures where owner firms do not maintain high levels of dominance over the activities that are performed will pose control and coordination challenges, leading to poor project performance; (2) the adverse effects of poorly structured outsourcing arrangements will spill over to subsequent project stages when activities are interdependent across project stages; and (3) dividing activities among large numbers of contractors or distributing work evenly among contractors exacerbates coordination and control problems further contributing to poor project performance. Our empirical analysis of 323 capital facility construction projects supports our predictions. Overall, these results provide strong evidence that some outsourcing structures are more costly than others and that because of the nature of complex projects the detrimental effects of poorly structured outsourcing are often not completely observable at the time activities are completed. We discuss the implications of our findings for capital construction and for outsourcing more generally.     

Sozialkapital als theoretische Fundierung relationaler Forschungsans?tze

The concept of social capital has recently emerged as a paradigm in social sciences. It builds on the assumption that network embeddedness can be a source of advantage for both individuals as well as corporate actors. Originating in sociology, social capital has also found its way into management studies. The aim of this paper is to introduce the different concepts of social capital, to describe and to evaluate the state-of-the-art of applications in business research, and to develop a conceptual framework for an integrated theory of social capital. As a result, a significant contribution of social capital theory and related empirical studies in the field of business research can be observed. Nevertheless, further research is needed to develop a theory which connects the different concepts of social capital. Moreover, a closer link between relational and attribute-based explanations is required.     

企业内部知识转移中个体中心度、吸收能力对绩效的影响

以往关于社会资本对企业内部知识转移影响的研究,通常提取一些基本的人口统计学特征作为控制变量,考察联系特征和结构特征对知识转移的影响,而对吸收能力的讨论却较少。本文将个体在社会网络中的结构特征和个体吸收能力结合起来,分别考察在情感网络和咨询网络中,个体的中心度以及中心度与吸收能力的交叉对个体绩效的影响。结果发现情感网络对个体绩效没有显著影响。在咨询网络中,个体出度对绩效有正作用,而且该作用依赖于个体吸收能力。     

Lessons from the Celltech Case: Balancing Knowledge Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Renewal

This article applies the lens of the knowledge exploration/exploitation dilemma to the renewal of Celltech Plc. From a theoretical perspective it has often been argued that as a firm matures, exploitation of current organizational knowledge drives out exploration of new ideas, and that this increases the likelihood of firm failure. This same literature gives few clues as to how balance can be maintained, or decline reversed. Our case study documents the decline of Celltech, its rejuvenation from near bankruptcy in 1990, and its subsequent ability to prosper to become the eighth largest biotech firm in the EU in terms of market capitalization. Through the Celltech case we show empirically that renewal based on exploration is possible even in a firm where exploitation has come to dominate. This case also illustrates how a balance between exploration and exploitation can be maintained for over half a decade, despite the theoretical tendency stated in the literature for exploitation to dominate. We offer insights into the process of maintaining a balance, including reorganization to release internal diversity to stimulate exploration, creation of a common language, and building systems to institutionalize the maintenance of a balance between exploration and exploitation.     

创新网络嵌入与高技术企业研发人员创新绩效关系研究

 创新驱动的实质是人才驱动,企业技术管理的重要核心之一是人员管理。研发人员是高技术企业的核心人力资本和主导资源,具有典型的稀缺性、创造性、主导性、体验性以及高信息需求等异质性特征,能否采取切实有效措施满足研发人员的异质性需求,激活其创新潜力和活力,是提升高技术企业创新绩效和管理技术人员的关键。        聚焦于高技术企业研发人员的异质性需求特征,运用创新网络嵌入理论,提出创新网络嵌入、创新效能感与创新绩效的关系假设模型;借鉴成熟量表,设计相关测量变量的调查问卷;利用Spss 19.0和Amos 21.0软件,对北京、上海、武汉、广州等地高技术企业研发人员的269个调查数据进行分析,考察创新网络嵌入对研发人员创新绩效的影响和作用机理,并验证创新效能感的中介作用。        研究结果表明,高技术企业研发人员的创新网络结构嵌入对创新过程和创新结果均具有显著正向影响,而关系嵌入仅对创新过程具有正向影响;创新网络结构嵌入和关系嵌入对创新效能感均具有显著正向影响,创新效能感对创新过程和创新结果具有显著正向影响;创新效能感在研发人员结构嵌入和关系嵌入对创新过程的影响中起完全中介作用,在结构嵌入对创新结果的影响中起部分中介作用。        从技术人员创新绩效管理的微观视角入手,探究高技术企业研发人员创新绩效的内涵、实质和影响因素,对高技术企业研发人员的创新网络嵌入与创新绩效的关系、创新效能感的中介作用以及创新网络嵌入与创新绩效的关系研究中关系嵌入悖论进行实证检验和解读,提出提升高技术企业研发人员创新绩效的创新网络嵌入式开发策略,包括聚焦产学研战略协同和集群创新、强化关系网络建设和位置管理、营造宽松氛围以提升创新效能感等。     

内部社会资本对知识能量与组织创新的影响——华南地区企业的实证研究

以华南地区的145家企业为对象,对企业内部社会资本、知识能量、组织创新与组织绩效之间的相互关系进行了实证研究。证实了内部社会资本对组织知识能量的蕴蓄有正向的影响;内部社会资本对组织创新有正向的影响;知识能量影响组织创新并进而影响组织的绩效;组织创新可分为管理创新和技术创新,技术创新对管理创新有显著的正向影响;技术创新和管理创新都对组织绩效有直接影响的正向。     

Subsidiary embeddedness as a determinant of divisional headquarters involvement in innovation transfer processes

This paper conceptualizes divisional headquarters as an important hub-firm within the MNE, orchestrating innovation transfer processes between subsidiaries. It is argued that the internal and external embeddedness of a subsidiary hosting an innovation development project subsequently influences divisional headquarters involvement in the transfer of that innovation. In this way, embeddedness, i.e., the relationships that firms have with each other in the innovation development phase, is brought to the fore as an important factor for MNE subsidiaries hosting innovation development projects for explaining the involvement of divisional headquarters in a subsequent transfer. This highlights divisional headquarters as an active orchestrator of innovation transfers within the MNE. Data from 169 innovation transfer projects as well as 146 internal and 121 external embedded relationships at subsidiary level support the argument of embeddedness as a driver of divisional headquarters involvement in subsidiary innovation transfer projects. From a business network perspective, the findings highlight the role of internal and external embeddedness during innovation development in the subsequent involvement of divisional headquarters in the transfer phase. Embeddedness is not only important for subsidiaries in the innovation development phase but also for divisional headquarters involvement in, and orchestration of, innovation transfer.