专业化知识搜寻、管理创新与企业绩效：认知评价的调节作用

本研究基于探索/利用双元分析框架,将管理创新划分为利用式管理创新和探索式管理创新两个维度,并将知识搜寻和认知评价的理论观点整合到现有管理创新采纳与实施过程理论模型中,构建了一个研究模型,以考察双元管理创新的采纳过程及其实施对企业绩效的影响。本文以我国华南地区468家制造型企业为问卷调查对象,对上述研究模型进行实证检验,结果表明:(1)科学型知识搜寻主要促进探索式管理创新;市场型知识搜寻对利用式和探索式管理创新均有正向影响;供应链型知识搜寻主要促进利用式管理创新;(2)科学型知识搜寻与探索式管理创新间的关系同时受到风险性认知(负向)、匹配性认知(正向)和复杂性认知(负向)的调节效应影响;市场型知识搜寻与利用式管理创新间的关系仅受到复杂性认知的负向调节效应影响;供应链型知识搜寻与利用式管理创新间的关系同时受到风险性认知(负向)、匹配性认知(正向)和复杂性认知(正向)的调节效应影响,但其与探索式管理创新间的关系仅受到匹配性认知的负向调节效应影响;(3)利用式管理创新与企业绩效呈倒U型关系;探索式管理创新与企业绩效呈正U型关系。研究结论对于厘清管理创新的复杂采纳过程及其实施机理有一定的理论贡献,同时对企业顺利开展管理创新具有一定的实践启示意义。

Specialized Knowledge Search,Management Innovation and Firm Performance: The Moderating Effect of Cognitive Appraisal

As the Chinese economy enters a new era marked by the"transition from rapid growth to high-quali-ty development", innovation plays a more prominent role as the primary driving force of economic development. Com-pared to technological innovation research, management innovation(MI)is still an emerging research area, and thereare still many issues to be further explored. First, most of the current studies have discussed MI as a single-dimen-sional variable. It remains to be further studied whether the classical explorative/exploitative ambidextrous analysisframework can depict the multidimensional characteristics of MI effectively. Second, as the most important"internalchange agents", how can the Top Management Team(TMT)members exert their influence on the adoption of MIhas not been paid enough attention in previous studies. Third, it is difficult to measure the true level of firm’s MI ac-curately from single dimension. This study measures MI based on the explorative/exploitative ambidextrous analysisframework, and constructs the theoretical and logical relationships between different dimensions of MI and firm perfor-mance. Furthermore, this study tests these relationships empirically, which may gain a deeper understanding on"howMI affects firm performance".Based on the explorative/exploitative ambidextrous analysis framework, this study divides MI into two dimensions:explorative MI and exploitative MI, and integrates the theoretical viewpoints of knowledge search and cognitive appraisalinto the existing theoretical model of MI adoption and implementation processes. Furthermore, we divide knowledge searchinto three dimensions: science-driven search, market-driven search, and supply-driven search. Then we explore thedifferentiation influence mechanisms of knowledge search on ambidextrous MI. We next divide TMT members’ cognitionof MI into three dimensions: risk cognition, fit cognition, and complexity cognition from the theoretical perspective ofcognitive appraisal, and then explore their moderating effects in the adoption process of ambidextrous MI. Taking 468 manufacturing firms in South China area as the objects of the questionnaire survey, this study tests the above researchmodel empirically using the multiple regression models by the tools of SPSS 25.0 and Amos 24.0 software.The results show that:(1)Science-driven search mainly promotes explorative MI;market-driven search has positiveimpacts on both exploitative and explorative MI;and supply-driven search mainly promotes exploitative MI.(2)Therelationship between science-driven search and explorative MI is influenced by the moderating effects of risk cognition(negative), fit cognition(positive)and complexity cognition(negative)at the same time;the relationship betweenmarket-driven search and exploitative MI is only affected by the negative moderating effect of complexity cognition, andthe relationship between supply-driven search and explorative MI is only affected by the negative moderating effect offit cognition.(3)Exploitative MI has an inverted U-shaped impact on firm performance;and explorative MI has a U-shaped effect on firm performance. This study provides a new analysis framework for the following research on MI. Byintegrating the theoretical perspectives of knowledge search and cognitive appraisal into the existing theoretical frameworkof MI adoption and implementation process, the complex process mechanism of MI adoption from the perspective ofinternal change agents is clarified. This paper also clarifies the influence mechanism of ambidextrous MI on firmperformance. In addition, this study also provides managerial implications for firms to implement MI successfully.