The Influence Path Of SMEs’ Absorptive Capacity On Corporate Entrepreneurship In The Multi-Dimensional Perspective

Over the years,our country has repeatedly advocated independent innovation and been a powerful nation of science and technology.The environment also drives Chinese enterprises to pursue innovation and entrepreneurship in order to obtain sustainable competitive advantages.More and more enterprises are adopting a new way of entrepreneurship——corporate entrepreneurship,which is not only a ―trial and error‖ to activate internal and external resources and respond to environmental changes,but also a―landing strategy‖ to integrate innovation and entrepreneurship from a strategic perspective.The general consensus is that corporate entrepreneurship exists only in large enterprises and is a ―panacea‖ for the weakness of enterprises vitality.However,corporate entrepreneurship is also a winning way for small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs)to achieve rapid growth,which is a new method to retain outstanding talents,stimulate endogenous motivation and cope with market crisis with limited resources.The shortages of resources,information asymmetry and lack of innovation capacity of SMEs have become the constraint of innovation and entrepreneurship.Absorptive capacity is a powerful tool for SMEs to reduce resource constraints in the process of innovation and entrepreneurship,as well as a "strategic" factor to improve their entrepreneurial capacity.The influencing mechanism of absorptive capacity on corporate entrepreneurship is not clear.Absorptive capacity is a social process,a resource process,and a strategic process,including the enterprise’s cognition,resources and learning capacity.corporate entrepreneurship is closely related to organizational cognition,resources and strategies.Therefore,this study systematically explores the influencing mechanism of absorptive capacity on SMEs’ corporate entrepreneurship from the perspective of cognition,resources and strategy.The first study is to explore the direct effect of absorptive capacity on corporate entrepreneurship.Firstly,the relationship between potential and realized absorptive capacity was investigated according to the multi-dimension of absorptive capacity.Secondly,the influence of potential and realized absorptive capacity on exploratory and exploitative entrepreneurship is explored.Finally,the moderating effect of cultural balance is discussed.The empirical results show that(1)Potential absorptive capacity has a positive effect on realized absorptive capacity;(2)Potential and realized absorptive capacity has a positive effect on exploratory and exploitative entrepreneurship,and realized absorptive capacity has a mediating effect between potential absorptive capacity and exploratory and exploitative entrepreneurship;(3)Organizational culture balance has a positive moderating effect on the relationships between realized absorptive capacity and exploratory and exploitative entrepreneurship.The second study explores the influence path of absorptive capacity on corporate entrepreneurship from the perspective of organizational cognition,attempts to explain the influence of absorptive capacity on corporate entrepreneurship through organizational alertness and sense-giving,and resolves the controversy on the relationship between organizational alertness and corporate entrepreneurship to some extent by revealing the moderating effect of sense-giving.The empirical studies finds that(1)Organizational alertness plays a partial mediating role of the relationship between potential and realized absorptive capacity and exploratory and exploitative entrepreneurship;(2)Sense-giving plays a partial mediating role of the relationship between potential and realized absorptive capacity and exploratory entrepreneurship;(3)Sense-giving can significantly enhance the facilitation of organizational alertness to exploratory and exploitative entrepreneurship.The third study discusses the influence of absorptive capacity on corporate entrepreneurship from the perspective of resource action.Resource bricolage is considered as the mediating variable between absorptive capacity and corporate entrepreneurship of SMEs,and environmental dynamism is regarded as the moderating factor of the mediating path.The empirical studies indicate that resource bricolage partially mediates the relationship between potential and realized absorptive capacity and exploratory and exploitative entrepreneurship,and environmental dynamism positively moderates the mediating path of the relationship between potential and realized absorptive capacity and exploitative entrepreneurship.The fourth study discusses the influence of absorptive capacity on corporate entrepreneurship from the perspective of strategic management.Entrepreneurial orientation and strategic flexibility are regarded as successive variables between absorptive capacity and corporate entrepreneurship.Empirical findings show that(1)Entrepreneurial orientation partially mediates the relationship between potential absorptive capacity and exploratory entrepreneurship,and between realized absorptive capacity and exploitative entrepreneurship;(2)Strategic flexibility partially mediates the relationship between potential and realized absorptive capacity and exploratory and exploitative entrepreneurship;(3)Entrepreneurial orientation and strategic flexibility play a chain mediating effect between potential and realized absorptive capacity and exploratory and exploitative entrepreneurship.To sum up,this study focuses on the influence path of absorptive capacity on corporate entrepreneurship from the perspectives of organizational cognition,resource action and strategic management,clarifies the relationship beyween potential and realized absorptive capacity and its’ influence on exploratory and exploitative entrepreneurship in SMEs,and establishes a multi-level theoretical framework for analyzing the relationship between absorptive capacity and corporate entrepreneurship.The paper systematically and deeply explains the influence mechanism of absorptive capacity on corporate entrepreneurship,improves the complete logical chain of converting absorptive capacity into corporate entrepreneurship.The conclusions not only enrich the theoretical research on SMEs,absorptive capacity and corporate entrepreneurship,but also have important value for SMEs to strengthen knowledge management,improve absorptive capacity,establish early warning mechanism,effectively manage collective cognition,integrate resource and implement strategic management to promote corporate entrepreneurship,and provide guidance for the sustainable development of SMEs in the ultra-competitive environment.