A Research On The Influence Of Inter-Organizational Dependence And Institutional Pressure From Focal Enterprise On Management Innovation Of Supporting Enterprise

Supporting enterprises generally focus on specific technical areas and pay relatively less attention on management innovation.Hence,supporting enterprises have some certain shortcomings in management capabilities.It is of great significance for supporting enterprises to carry out management innovation properly.Supporting enterprises can gain great competitive advantage and grow into an “invisible champion” enterprise in specific areas.The supporting enterprises depend on focal enterprises to survive.However,focal enterprises bring not only opportunities but also pressures and challenges to supporting enterprises.The existing literature mainly regards focal enterprises as the “helper” for the innovation activities of supporting enterprises,but the external pressure directed by the focal enterprises to supporting enterprises has not been discussed in depth.Will the external pressure that focal enterprises exert on supporting enterprises relying on their power advantages restrain or drive the management innovation of supporting enterprises? How can supporting enterprises make strategic responses to the external pressures from focal enterprises to carry out management innovation more effectively? The existing literature has no clear answers.In addition,as the continuous deepening of the new generation of information revolution,the era of digital economy has quietly arrived and data empowerment has gradually become a catalyst for firms' innovation activities.Then,can data empowerment help supporting enterprises to carry out management innovation more effectively under the external pressure brought by focal enterprises?This research focuses on the core question of “how the external environmental pressure from focal enterprises drives the management innovation of supporting enterprises?”Integrating power-dependence theory and new institutionalism theory,and based on the analysis paradigm of "Environmental motivation-strategic behavior-innovation result",this paper establishes a process model in which the dependence between focal and supporting enterprises and the institutional pressure from focal enterprises drive the management innovation of supporting enterprises,by the mediating effect of the supply chain integration of supporting enterprises.Moreover,this paper explores the moderate effect of data empowerment on the relations above.Using questionnaire survey method,this study obtains 317 samples from the suppliers of a large-scale manufacturing enterprise in China.Using multiple regression analysis,bootstrap analysis and other methods,this study empirically tests the research hypotheses and conceptual framework,and draws the following conclusions.(1)The dependence of supporting enterprises on focal enterprises can promote supporting enterprises to carry out management innovation.Based on Chinese management context,the inter-organizational dependence can be divided into three dimensions: calculative,emotional,and structural dimensions.It is found that the above three kinds of dependence can promote supporting enterprises to adopt and implement management innovation,and structural dependence has the strongest impact.(2)The institutional pressure exerted by focal enterprises on supporting enterprises can promote supporting enterprises to carry out management innovation.Considering the complexity of the sources of institutional pressure and the role of focal enterprises in shaping an industry's institutional environment,this study focuses on the institutional pressure imposed by focal enterprises,and divides it into three dimensions:regulatory,normative and cognitive dimensions.It is found that the above three types of institutional pressure can promote supporting enterprises to adopt and implement management innovation,and cognitive institutional pressure has the strongest impact.(3)The dependence between focal and supporting enterprises and the institutional pressure from the focal enterprises have a significant positive interaction effect on the management innovation of supporting enterprises.In other words,the two factors can jointly promote the management innovation of supporting enterprises.(4)As strategic responses to external pressures,the supply chain integration of supporting enterprises plays an important mediating role in the process in which the dependence between focal-supporting enterprises and the institutional pressure from focal enterprises promote management innovation of supporting enterprises.Moreover,the mediating effect of internal supply chain integration is greater than the external supply chain integration.(5)On the basis of resource-based theory and dynamic capability theory,data empowerment can be divided into two dimensions: date resource empowerment and data coordination empowerment.First,both data resource empowerment and data coordination empowerment can positively moderate the relation between the inter-organizational dependence and management innovation adoption/implementation of supporting enterprises.Second,data resource empowerment can only positively moderate the relation between focal enterprise institutional pressure and management innovation adoption of supporting enterprises,while data coordination empowerment can positively moderate the relation between the focal enterprises institutional pressure and management innovation adoption/implementation of supporting enterprises.Third,data resource empowerment can only positively moderate the relation between the external/internal supply chain integration and the adoption of management innovation,while data coordination empowerment can positively moderate the relation between the external supply chain integration and management innovation adoption/implementation.This study achieves the following innovation points and theoretical contributions.(1)In view of the complexity of inter-organizational dependence and institutional pressure,this study clarifies the conceptual connotation of focal-supporting enterprises interdependence and institutional pressure from focal enterprises,integrates power-dependence theory and new institutionalism theory,analyzes the effect of these two inter-organizational factors on the management innovation of supporting enterprises,supplements the related research on interorganizational dependence and institutional pressure in the Chinese managerial context,and expands the theoretical perspective of management innovation research.(2)This study identifies that supply chain integration is an important intermediate path for external environmental pressures to drive supporting enterprises to carry out management innovation,opens up the "black box" of the influence mechanism of focal-supporting enterprises interdependence and institutional pressure from focal enterprise on management innovation of supporting enterprises,finds that the management innovation of supporting enterprises are complex processes full of blindness and rationality,bridges the conflicting viewpoints of different research schools of management innovation.(3)Through introducing data empowerment as a moderate variable,this study reveals the boundary conditions of the effect of inter-organizational dependence and institutional pressure on management innovation of supporting enterprise,clarifies that supporting enterprises should consolidate their digital resource base and strengthen digitalization under external environmental pressure,enriches research related to data empowerment.