Influence Mechanism Of Knowledge Base And Cooperative Network On Firms’ Dual-innovation Performance

Knowledge base and cooperative network are important factors affecting the technological innovation of firms.As an important starting point for firms to carry out innovation activities,knowledge base determines the direction and path of firms’ innovation activities to a great extent.While the cooperative network is also an effective way for firms to break through their own technological inertia and resource constraints by absorbing external heterogeneous knowledge,so as to improve innovation output.They have an important impact on firms’ dual-innovation performance in an interactive way.Many researchers have discussed the pairwise relationship between knowledge base,cooperative network and dual-innovation performance of firms.However,there are few studies have discussed the interactive influence of knowledge base and cooperative network on firms’ dual-innovation performance systematically,and few studies have analyzed the complex nonlinear relationship between variables and the multi-path influence mechanism,which provides a new research perspective and opportunity for carrying out this study.On the basis of previous studies,this study focuses on the analysis of 285 focal firms in the new energy vehicle industry from the interactive perspective of knowledge base and cooperative network based on resource-based theory,knowledge-based view and social network theory,using social network analysis method and machine learning methods,such as K-means clustering,CART decision tree and Bayesian network analysis.This study mainly solves the following four problems:(1)There are many characteristic indicators of knowledge base and cooperative network that affect the dual-innovation performance of firms.How to select the representative characteristic indicators and measure them? Through literature review,the initial characteristic indicators are obtained and measured,and then the redundant characteristic indicators are screened and eliminated with the help of correlation analysis,and finally the important characteristic indicators are selected.(2)Based on the characteristics of knowledge base and cooperative network,what different groups can the focal firms be divided into? What are the characteristics of each group? According to the characteristic differences of different firms,the group division,characteristic analysis and naming of the focal firms are realized with the help of K-means clustering algorithm.(3)For different firm groups,what are the differences in the combination of multi-factors and complex nonlinear relationships between variables? The CART decision tree algorithm is used to analyze the decision rules in different firm groups,so as to the multi-factors combination and complex nonlinear relationship of knowledge base and cooperative network affecting the dual-innovation performance of firms are explored.(4)Based on the analysis results of decision rules,what are the different ways that the knowledge base and cooperative network influence firms’ dual-innovation performance in different firm groups? By analyzing the correlation and contribution of the characteristics of relevant variables with the help of Bayesian network analysis method,we identify and find the multi-path influence mechanism of the knowledge base and cooperative network affecting firms’ dual-innovation performance in different firm groups.The results show that:(1)According to the characteristic differences of knowledge base,the focal firms can be divided into four firm groups: wide-ranging type,all-round development type,weak and expansive type,advantageous specialization type.In different firm groups,the breadth,depth,scale,unrelated diversity and related diversity of knowledge base jointly affect the performance of exploratory innovation in the form of two-way combination.Only the scale of knowledge base and the unrelated diversity of knowledge base affect the performance of exploitative innovation independently or in combination.(2)According to the characteristic differences of cooperative network structure,the focal firms can be divided into four firm groups: sparse cooperation type,extensive cooperation type,close cooperation type and decentralized cooperation type.In different firm groups,the three characteristics of degree centrality,closeness centrality and structural hole affect the performance of exploratory and exploitative innovation independently or in combination.However,the clustering coefficient has no impact on the performance of exploratory and exploitative innovation.(3)According to the characteristic differences of knowledge base and cooperative network structure,the focal firms can be divided into four firm groups: strong foundation & extensive cooperation type,domain expertise & close cooperation type,balanced development & sparse cooperation type and weak foundation & decentralized cooperation type.In different firm groups,the breadth,depth,scale,related diversity of knowledge base and degree centrality and structural hole jointly affect the performance of exploratory innovation in the form of different combinations.However,only three characteristics including the scale and related diversity of knowledge base and structural hole affect the performance of exploitative innovation independently or in combination.(4)In different firm groups,the influence paths of knowledge base and cooperative network on dual-innovation performance are different,and the influence degree of each characteristic variable on dual-innovation performance is also different.For the same type of firms,there are multiple paths to improve dual-innovation performance,and different characteristic combinations can affect dual-innovation performance through complementary ways.Based on the identified effective paths improving the dual-innovation performance,specific firms can purposefully find out the optimal development paths which are suitable for themselves by adjusting the allocation of firms’ resources from the perspective of knowledge base and cooperative network,and finally achieve the goal of improving dual-innovation performance in the way of "all paths lead to the same destination".Under the background and development trend of knowledge economy and network economy,this study discusses the combination of multi characteristic factors,complex nonlinear relationships,multi-path influence mechanism of knowledge base and cooperative network affecting dual-innovation performance of firms,and puts forward rich management enlightenment and suggestions based on the research results.It not only enriches and expands the relevant research on the impact of knowledge base and cooperative network on the exploratory and exploitative innovation performance of firms,but also promotes the cross integration and development of resource-based theory,knowledge-based view,social network theory,innovation theory and other relevant theories to a certain extent by combining the methods of social network analysis and data-driven analysis.At the same time,it is also an effective exploration in the research paradigm of management,which provides a certain reference for future research in related fields.In addition,the related research conclusions not only provide some management enlightenment for the practice of firms’ technological innovation,but also provide theoretical reference for government departments to formulate industrial planning and implement innovation driven policies.