R&D Intensity,Network Relationship And Firm Performance Of High-tech Start-ups

Innovation has become the key driving force for countries,regions,and enterprises to gain competitiveness and achieve sustainable development with the rapid development of digital technology.Developed economies in the world,such as Europe and the United States,have taken innovation drive as the core strategy of national economic development.A series of emerging technologies such as cloud computing,big data,new energy,and biomedicine have developed rapidly,giving birth to the explosive growth of a large number of unicorn enterprises and gazelle enterprises under the influence of this strategy.Innovation-driven strategy falls to the enterprise level mainly by increasing research and development intensity,which is one of the most important characteristics of high-tech start-ups.The key of innovation and entrepreneurship activities of high-tech enterprises is to implement an effective research and development strategy,which depends heavily on the resources and capabilities of enterprises.The research and development activities of any enterprise are in the social network according to the social network theory.A series of factors need to be obtained to support their development for high-tech start-ups.Therefore,many high-tech start-ups will obtain these key factors through an external network connection.How to improve research and development efficiency,research and development success rate,and research and development output quality by building network relationships is an important topic worth studying.This thesis studies the influence of research and development intensity of high-tech start-ups on new enterprise performance through network relationships based on this.In recent years,the research on the process,mode,and mechanism of enterprise research and development has been the focus of academic attention.Most of the current researches focus on two aspects: first,analyze the impact of government subsidies and intellectual property protection on research and development investment of enterprises from the perspective of external innovation environment;secondly,this thesis studies the relationship between certain network characteristics and new enterprise performance from the perspective of organizational behavior based on the research paradigm of "Structure-Behavior-Performance"(SCP).However,these research paradigms may ignore the positive role of innovation subjects in the construction of network relations,network opportunities,and resource development and utilization at the cross-organizational level.The network relationship optimized by innovation subjects is more conducive to the transformation of research and development investment into new enterprise performance.The consistency of innovation tendency positively affects the relationship among research and development intensity,network relationship,and new enterprise performance of high-tech new ventures in this mechanism.Therefore,this thesis takes high-tech start-ups as the main body,opens the black box of the impact of research and development intensity on the performance of new enterprises,and emphasizes how research and development investment can improve the efficiency of research and development achievement transformation through the strengthening of network relationships(network centrality,network density).At the same time,it has the opportunity to attract more potential partners to actively seek cooperation and continuously improve the core competitiveness and management capability of enterprises.Finally,strategic partners consistent with the long-term development goals and innovation direction of enterprises are screened out through the concept of consistency of innovation tendency.At this time,it is easier to produce breakthrough innovations in products and services by increasing research and development investment.Consistency of management concepts and values among partners can promote collaborative innovation among partners,and form collaborative evolution of management mode through long-term cooperation and rule-making,thus enhancing the effect of overall research and development investment and network relationship on new enterprise performance.This thesis makes a systematic study on the relationship between research and development intensity and new enterprise performance of high-tech start-ups based on the perspective of innovation tendency consistency.Firstly,the variables and related theories studied are combed through literature review,and the concept of consistency of innovation tendency is preliminarily defined.After that,this thesis puts forward a theoretical model based on typical case analysis and research hypothesis of the influence of research and development intensity on new firm performance through network relationship under the adjustment of innovation tendency consistency,deeply excavates the mechanism of research and development intensity on new firm performance,and constructs a conceptual model of research and development intensity-network relationship-new firm performance.18 hypotheses are put forward according to relevant theories and practical experience.Then,518 valid questionnaires from Beijing,Tianjin,Pearl River Delta,Yangtze River Delta,and Northeast China were obtained using a questionnaire survey.The normative empirical research is carried out through hierarchical regression analysis and the Bootstrap method,and the main results are as follows:1.The basic role of research and development activities has been clarified.It emphasizes the positive impact of research and development funds and research and development personnel investment on the performance of new enterprises.This process highlights the subjective initiative of high-tech new ventures to build network relationships by increasing research and development efforts,thus making network analysis from static network analysis to dynamic network analysis.2.This thesis constructs a conceptual model of the intermediary relationship of"research and development intensity-network relationship-new enterprise performance”based on the consistency perspective,which highlights the importance of network effect.This thesis interprets network relations from two aspects of network centrality and network density,and examines the multiple mediating effects of network relations(network centrality and network density)between research and development intensity and new enterprise performance through empirical research,opening the black box between research and development intensity and new enterprise performance.3.This thesis draws lessons from previous studies and puts forward the construction of innovation tendency consistency based on the resource-based view,social network theory and knowledge management theory,which makes up for the lack of previous research on innovation tendency consistency.At the same time,the research on the direct effect of the consistency of innovation tendency as a moderator variable is increased,which improves the applicable scope of its theory.The consistency of innovation tendency can directly regulate the influence of network relationships(network centrality and network density)on the performance of new enterprises.Moreover,it emphasizes the moderating effect of the consistency of innovation tendency on the mediating effect of network relationships(network centrality,network density),optimizes the contingency and key role of research and development intensity in effectively developing network resources through network relationships,and further enriches the social network theoryThe main innovations of this study are as follows:1.This thesis explores the variables of research and development intensity,network relationship(centrality,density),and new enterprise performance under a framework using high-tech start-ups as samples.This thesis mainly studies the mechanism of research and development intensity-network relationship,network relationship-new enterprise performance,research and development intensity-new enterprise performance.Most of the existing studies show that the basic logic of research and development intensity affecting the performance of new enterprises is the improvement of enterprise capability and innovation output brought by research and development.The important role of network relationship in research and development investment has not been fully clarified even under the background of open innovation.This thesis analyzes the influence of network relationships on enterprise performance based on the moderating effect of the consistency of innovation tendency and emphasizes the mediating role of network relationships in the influence of research and development intensity on new enterprise performance.2.It explores the mediating role of the network relationship between research and development intensity and new firm performance.Effective research and development activities are necessary conditions for high-tech start-ups to restructure their network relationships.Increasing research and development intensity(research and development capital investment and research and development personnel investment)of high-tech start-ups can not only enhance their competitive advantages but also improve their network centrality and density,thus creating conditions for them to identify,develop,integrate and utilize opportunities and resources through network relationships.A network relationship is a basic condition for high-tech start-ups to obtain external resources and then integrate internal and external resources.However,the network relationship without control and governance is highly uncertain.High-tech start-ups can reconstruct the network relationship by increasing research and development efforts,which is embodied in the improvement of network centrality and network density.Then,through the network effect,the efficiency of research and development achievements transformation is improved,and diversified knowledge and resources in the network are obtained,thus obtaining more opportunities to improve enterprise performance.3.The consistency of innovation tendency can enhance the influence of network centrality and network density on the performance of new enterprises.Based on the existing literature,this paper proposes a construct of innovation tendency consistency based on the social network theory,and discusses the consensus of cooperative innovation goal,management philosophy and culture.In the process of realizing strategic goals in the R & D ability,R & D attention degree,R & D resource investment and other aspects of the adaptability.Consistency of innovation tendency is the key to ensure effective utilization of R&D resources and achieve corporate goals.It is of great significance for high-tech start-ups to formulate innovation strategies and implement R&D plans.The enhancement of network centrality and network density will indeed help enterprises to access more network resources,but it is necessary to optimize network relations in accordance with the principle of consistency,so as to effectively identify,develop and utilize network resources and make innovation activities more meaningful.At the same time,determining and adjusting innovative partners concerning the principles of consensus and adaptability in strategic management will help reduce the uncertainty of the network and contribute to the realization of expected performance.The consistency of innovation tendency is the key factor to optimize the innovation network of new high-tech enterprises.The stronger the consistency,the more helpful the network relationship is for new high-tech enterprises to identify,develop and utilize network opportunities and resources,and then achieve the expected goals.