Research On The Relationship Between Top Management Team Heterogeneity And Firm Performance:Strategic Flexibility As A Mediator Variable

Under the background of economic transformation, The internal and external environment of enterprises in our country more and more complicated, The competition between enterprises has become increasingly fierce. Under Dynamic complicated environment, As responsible for the entire enterprise to organize and coordinate the top management team, Determining the strain capacity of enterprises in market competition and decision-making ability, Thus decided to enterprise development, Relates to the rise and fall.TMT heterogeneity has always been the hot spot of the Upper Echelons theory research, Relationship between TMT heterogeneity and firm performance of most studies based on the Upper Echelons theory.With strategic flexibility as an mediator variable to further explore the relationship between top management team heterogeneity,firm performance, studing relationship among top management team, strategic flexibility and the firm performance from a new perspective.Based on the resource-based theory and dynamic capability theory, With TMT heterogeneity and firm performance as the theme, studing TMT heterogeneity (age, tenure heterogeneity and education heterogeneity) impact on firm performance effect, And TMT heterogeneity by mediator variable strategic flexibility impact on firm performance. For our country at present the system environment, Developing and fostering strategic flexibility and improving firm performance, provide theoretical support and practical countermeasures. The main research conclusions are as follows: First, To investigate the TMT heterogeneity effects to the firm long-term performance and short-term performance. Second, Explore top management team heterogeneity impact on strategic flexibility (resource flexibility, coordination flexibility).Third, Discuss strategic flexibility (resource flexibility, coordination flexibility) effects on firm long-term performance and short-term performance Fourth,Discuss strategic flexibility (resource flexibility, coordination flexibility) mediator variable. With the mature the Upper Echelons theory,Scholars in top management team to join the mediator variable between heterogeneity and results,To open the "black box "between top management team heterogeneity and firm performance.This article discusses mediator variable of strategic flexibility(resource flexibility, coordination flexibility)between top management team heterogeneity and the firm performance.Through 30 companies of Shenyang, Dalian, Beijing and other places issuing questionnaires, recovering of 41 effective questionnaires are made a pilot test of small sample. Through literature analysis and in-depth interviews, determine the formal questionnaire,survey the questionnaire,In Shenyang, Dalian, Beijing, Harbin, Weihai and other places of the small and medium-sized enterprises as samples, recovery total of 167 valid questionnaires from 147 companies. The variable of this study is designed, using more mature scale to measure. In view of the strategy flexibility individual item changes, the item analysis and exploratory factor analysis. Use SPSS 13.0 and AMOS5.0 statistical software for the variables in the questionnaire validity and reliability test. Finally, through the multiple regression analysis, validation of TMT heterogeneity impact on firm performance, as well as the strategic flexibility mediator variable between TMT heterogeneity and firm performance.This thesis mainly research logical relationship among TMT heterogeneity, strategic flexibility and firm performance. The empirical test results as follows:First, The age heterogeneity of firm long-term performance, short-term performance has a significant negative impact, the greater the age, poor firm performance status; Tenure heterogeneity has significant effect of firm short-term performance, but no significant influence on long-term performance, the longer the term, firm’ short-term performance more bad; Education heterogeneity had no significant impact on firm’s long-term and short-term performance. Second,Age heterogeneity and tenure heterogeneity has not significantly influence of resource flexibility and coordination flexibility; Education heterogeneity has a significant negative impact on resource flexibility and coordination flexibility, namely the degree is higher, the lower firm resource flexibility and coordination flexibility.Third, resources flexibility has a significant positive effect for a long time for firm’s performance, the more resource flexibility, the higher the firm long-term performance; Resources flexibility has no significant impact on short-term performance; Coordination flexibility has a significant positive influence on firm’s long-term performance and short-term performance,the better coordination flexibility, the better firm’s long-term performance and short-term performance.Fourth, Resource flexibility has partial mediator variable among age heterogeneity,long-term performance and short-term performance; Resource flexibility has no intermediary variable among education heterogeneity,short-term performance and long-term performance; Resources flexibility plays a partial mediator variable between Tenure heterogeneity and firm long-term performance, while has no mediator variable between term heterogeneity and firm performance; Coordination flexibility plays partial mediator variable among age heterogeneity, long-term performance and short-term performance; Coordination flexible in has no mediator variable among education heterogeneity, long-term performance and short-term performance; Coordination flexibility has partial mediator variable between tenure heterogeneity the long-term performance, and there is no mediator variable between term heterogeneity and short-term performance.This study argues that top managers should be aware of the importance of top management Tenure heterogeneity and strategic flexibility. Strategic flexibility as modulators of firms cope with environmental changes, certainly extend affect firm performance, therefore, top managers should be aware of the importance of strategic flexibility. When performing strategic flexibility, TMT should focus on resources flexibility and coordination flexibility. Firm top managers should consider to invest more energy and money, for improving firm resource flexibility, using utility of resources, improve firm performance. At the same time, firms in the process of production management also should pay attention to coordination flexibility, improve business abilities to utilize the existing resources, such ability by adjusting the resource combination or found new uses of resources to reduce the negative influence on firms environmental uncertainty.