Research On Organizational Knowledge Creation And Its Realization Mechanism In Resource Dependent Context

Knowledge creation is a strong driving force for innovation and development of Chinese enterprises and has become an important source of sustainable economic development in China.The generation and creation of new knowledge depend on the specific context.The meaning and form of knowledge creation are different in different context.On the one hand,since the reform and opening up,Chinese enterprises have carried out continuous new knowledge creation activities in various fields in order to strengthen independent research and development to make up for the weak knowledge base.However,the lack of knowledge creation ability leads to the scarcity of innovation output,which in turn leads to the great desire for innovation in the current Chinese society,which is exactly the internal situation of knowledge creation faced by Chinese enterprises.On the other hand,under the background of economic globalization,Chinese enterprises have formed extensive resource dependence relationship for acquiring external resources.With the escalation of uncertainty and complexity of the external environment,external resource dependence has intensified the negative impact on Chinese enterprises and become the external restrictive situation of knowledge creation of Chinese enterprises.How to balance the paradoxical management between external constraints and internal knowledge disadvantages has become a strategic issue and challenge that Chinese enterprises must face.Based on this,this paper proposes the following research questions: How can enterprises realize knowledge creation in the context of resource dependent?Focusing on this core research question,this thesis designs three sub-research contents,analyzing the dynamic process of knowledge creation behavior,based on theoretically also analyzing resource dependence context,the tensions that it incurs,and their effect on knowledge creation.First,knowledge creation is contextual dependent,in different contexts,the theoretical framework of knowledge creation is different.Therefore,this thesis carries out the first research content,that is,in the perspective of paradox,to construct the theoretical model of knowledge creation.Second,this thesis sets the research background as a resource dependence context,in which this thesis carried out the second research content,that is,what is the impact of resource dependence on knowledge creation? Specifically,using questionnaires and empirical research method of second-hand data,first-hand and second-hand data of Chinese firms are collected to test the direct impact of resource dependence on knowledge creation.Finally,the second research content examines the relationship between resource dependence and knowledge creation,but it has not revealed the process mechanism of resource dependence affecting knowledge creation.Therefore,this thesis will carry out the third research content,that is,how does resource dependence enable knowledge creation,and what is its enabling process? This study can open up the enabling process mechanism of resource dependence affecting knowledge creation.Through studying the three core sub-questions,the research findings are as follows: First,through the longitudinal case study(i.e.DTC),it is found that the knowledge creation process is embedded in the process of responding to tension,which is faced by DTC continues to shape the knowledge creation process over time.Specifically,firm is faced with the tension between knowledge logic and market logic,resource dependence context makes this tension become salient from the original latent state,enterprises go through the process of accepting and buffering conflicts.With the passing of time,enterprises adopt simultaneous or sequential methods to deal with the tension according to the different intensity of external resource dependence,firm can also enable their dynamic transformation between the two methods through internal and external triggers and combining them.It is because of the enterprise on the basis of external resources depend on the different intensity as well as internal and external trigger factors.It is the paradoxical dynamic process that continuously enables the creation of new knowledge,and at the same time,the process of new knowledge creation is embedded in the paradoxical dynamics process.Second,through questionnaires and second-hand data,two studies examine the direct impact of multiple forms of resource dependence(i.e.,symbiotic,competitive and partner interdependence)on knowledge creation.The results of study 1 show that when knowledge creation is viewed as a single behavioral concept,symbiotic and partner interdependence have a significant positive impact on knowledge creation respectively,and the positive impact of competitive interdependence on knowledge creation is only partially supported.When knowledge creation is divided into four behaviors,it is found that partner interdependence has a significant positive effect on socialization;symbiotic interdependence has a significant positive effect on externalization.Symbiotic and partner interdependence have a significant positive impact on combination respectively.The results of the study 2 in which knowledge creation as a single behavioral indicator,show that competitive and partner interdependence have a significant positive effect on knowledge creation,while symbiotic interdependence does not have a positive effect on knowledge creation.The results of the two studies suggest that resource dependence can have a significant impact on knowledge creation,but different forms of resource dependence have different impacts on knowledge creation.These results show that the underlying mechanism of resource dependence on knowledge creation is very complex,and need more deeply reveal the influence mechanism of resource dependence on knowledge creation.Third,through the investigation of the longitudinal development process of DTC,this thesis reveals the underlying process mechanism of resource dependence to enable knowledge creation.Specifically,First,firms learning behaviors and knowledge creation depend on external resource dependence dynamics.With the increase of asymmetric dependence,firms tend to engage in exploitative learning using cooperative learning process,and firms tend to balance exploratory and exploitative learning through cooperative learning process in an asymmetrical pattern,with cooperative-exploitative learning being the dominant position.With the reduction of asymmetric dependence,firms begin to increase exploitative learning through experiential learning process,and firms tend to balance cooperative and experiential learning processes,when they engage in exploitative learning,with experiential-exploitative learning being the dominant position.With the greatly reduced external dependence,firms tend to engage in exploratory learning using experiential learning process,and firms tend to balance exploratory and exploitative learning through experiential learning process in an asymmetrical pattern,with experiential-exploratory learning being the dominant position.Second,over time,firms dynamically balance exploitative and exploratory learning in an asymmetrical pattern through alternately using cooperative and experiential learning processes,and finally realize the transition from exploitation to exploration,it also realizes the knowledge creation from copy to improvement to self-creation path.Finally,over time,the continuous dynamic interaction between external resource dependence and learning behaviors drives the evolution of knowledge creation of firms,which is an irregular,oscillating nonlinear process,eventually forms a oscillating,dynamic transformation path that is described as the nonlinear process of imitation,emulation,and finally towards knowledge creation's self-creation path.The main innovative contributions of this thesis include:(1)Establishing the paradoxical dynamic model of knowledge creation,and supplementing the existing knowledge creation theory.A unified process of the paradoxical dynamic of knowledge creation,and the process shows that knowledge creation is embedded in the paradoxes,and responding to the tensions shapes the process of knowledge creation.(2)The effects of multiple forms of resource dependence on knowledge creation are examined.Multiple forms of inter-organizational interdependence include symbiotic,competitive,and partner interdependence,the results show that the underlying mechanism by which resource dependence affects knowledge creation is very complex,and requires more in-depth exploration.(3)Constructing the process framework of resource dependence enabling knowledge creation,opening up the black-box of resource dependence enabling knowledge creation,and the process mechanism of resource-dependence context enabling knowledge creation is revealed.In sum,this thesis contributes to the literature on knowledge creation,resource dependence theory,paradox perspective and innovation,also has some practical implications for Chinese firms' managers.