Research On Firms' Organizational Patterns For Technological Innovation In The Environment Of Knowledge Agglomeration And Uncertainty

In the era of knowledge economy, the two most typical features are knowledge agglomeration and environmental uncertainty. The two most typical features of knowledge economy era are knowledge agglomeration and environmental uncertainty. It has been an urgent task for both technological innovation researches and practices to explore an organizational pattern that can help them effectively achieve and use the knowledge resources brought by knowledge agglomeration, and avoid potential uncertainty when knowledge-intensive firms are allocating innovation resources. Therefore, based on the researches about knowledge agglomeration, organizational pattern of technological innovation and modular organization, this paper conducted a comprehensive framework, and confirmed it with three studies, focusing on the core theme that which way is more efficient to allocate innovation resources in the environment of knowledge agglomeration and uncertainty.Study one analyzed whether organization modularity can help firms get the flexibility to choose from various technological innovation strategies through a case study. The existing researches on firms'technological innovation paid too much attention on the cooperation between them, but neglected the question about what kind of organizational pattern they should take to make the inter-firm cooperation successfully, which plays an important role on firms crossing organization boundary and adopting effective organizational pattern for technological innovation. Based on an embedded explanatory multiple case study of three companies, we found that organizational modularity can help the firms cross the organization boundary to cooperate with others, enhance the their dynamic capabilities needed to adapt to the uncertain environment, and provide a structural basis for the their flexibility to choose from a variety of technological innovation strategies. This study also identified three typical features of this modular organizational pattern.Study two analyzed the relationship between organization structure and firms' innovation under environmental dynamism based on the Monte Carlo model. In most strategic management and organization theory literature, organization usually can't get efficiency and flexibility simultaneously:the organization with too little rules will result in its inefficiency, while too many rules will lead to the lack of flexibility. Through mathematical model and simulation program on the relationship between organization structure and firms'innovation in dynamic environment, we found the rules system based on the correct understanding of dynamic environment can help organization achieve high efficiency and flexibility simultaneously in uncertain environment, and the process of constructing this rules system is exactly the formation process of the design rules of the modular organization.Study three empirically analyzed the mechanism that organizational modularity and knowledge base affect firms'technological innovation in the environment of knowledge agglomeration and uncertainty. Based on the questionnaire and empirical analysis on 225 high-tech enterprises, the results show that:the dynamic capabilities are the capability base of firms'innovation activities, and organizational modularity and knowledge base are the structural and knowledge foundation of dynamic capabilities, dynamic capabilities plays mediating roles between organizational modularity and innovation performance, knowledge base and innovation performance. Knowledge agglomeration and environmental uncertainty moderate the relationship between dynamic capabilities and innovation performance; knowledge agglomeration is significant for the formation of firms'knowledge base, and increasing the level of organizational modularity is an effective way for firms responding to the environmental uncertainty.On this basis, the paper systematically summarized the conclusions of the three sub-studies, and the theoretical progress:(1) complemented and expanded the researches on the organizational pattern of technological innovation by demonstrating the modular organizational pattern can help firms achieve high dynamic capabilities and the flexibility to choose from a variety of innovation strategies in uncertain environment; (2) rethought and confirmed the problem of firms'efficiency and flexibility in dynamic environment, and the optimal structure in uncertain environment in strategic management and organizational theory through analyzing the dual role of rules, pointed out that the formation of design rules help firms allocate innovation resources with modular organizational pattern, and achieve efficiency and flexibility simultaneously in dynamic environment; (3) the comprehensive theoretical model of organization modularity and knowledge base impacting firms'innovation through dynamic capabilities in the environment of knowledge agglomeration and uncertainty, was significant to the researches on organization modularity impacting firms'innovation, knowledge base impacting firms'innovation and firms'independent innovation.These theoretical progress also provides a new way for knowledge-intensive frims'technological innovation practice:establishing design rules for complex innovation projects, can provide a structural basis for the flexibility to choose from a variety of innovation strategies, improve their own knowledge base, achieve dynamic capabilities needed to adapt to environmental changes, and ultimately improve their innovation performance in in the environment of knowledge agglomeration and uncertainty.Finally, we summarized the limitations and future directions.