Relationships Between Network Routines And Ambidextrous Innovations Under External Environmental Uncertainty

Innovation is the engine that drives the economy.Nowadays,it has become the practical strategic need for enterprises to carry out ambidextrous innovation with the cooperation network of technological innovation.Network routines are effective non-contractual means of governance of network cooperation,but there is few research concerning about the relationships between network routines and ambidextrous innovations,making the mechanism that different compositions of network routines affect the ambidextrous innovations still unclear.The result is that enterprises are inclined to take enormous cost to cultivate and compromise on network routines but yield bad performance in technological innovation cooperation activities.At the same time,the external environment is an important decision variable that affects the development of the organization and the construction of the network,while how the different characteristics of the external environment play differentiated roles in the relationships between network routines and ambidextrous innovations remains unexamined.Therefore,studying the influence mechanism of network routines on ambidextrous innovations under external environmental uncertainty and the relationships between the two can enrich the related research,and provide guidance to enterprises to promote ambidextrous innovations through the development and deployment of network routines as well.On the basis of studying and summarizing the relevant literature at home and abroad,this research systematically teases out the connotations and the dimensions of network routines,ambidextrous innovations and external environmental uncertainty,and the interactions among them,then clarifies the mechanism how the different components of network routines affect the enterprises' activities of ambidextrous innovation differentially,and also discusses the moderate effect of different environmental characteristics,which affects the relationship between the network routines and ambidextrous innovation.In following steps an empirical analysis is conducted with the sample data from enterprises in the Zhengzhou Hi-Tech Zone and the Zhengzhou Economic Development Zone,involving questionnaire design,data collection and statistical analysis,etc.Finally the results of the analysis are discussed in detail and corresponding management implications are given.Some conclusions of this study are drawn as follows:(1)The roles played by different components of network routines are differentiated on ambidextrous innovation,that is,there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between consensus on specification and ambidextrous innovations,and tacit understanding of behavior makes positive impact on ambidextrous innovations;(2)To the influences of different compositions of network routines,ambidextrous innovations show different sensitivity,and radical innovation in this study changes more dramatically under the influence of network routines than incremental innovation;(3)There are differences in the effects of different compositions of network routines on ambidextrous innovations in different external environments.Other than the relationship between consensus on specification and incremental innovation,environmental dynamics has significant effects on the other mutual relationships,while the moderate effects of environmental munificence on most of the relationships between network routines and ambidextrous innovations are not significant statistically.According to the conclusions of the study,corresponding management implications are put forward for the reference of enterprises.When carrying out ambidextrous innovation through network cooperation,enterprises should fully realize that different compositions of network routines have differential effectiveness on innovation,and the result of ambidextrous innovations may show differentiation facing the influence of different dimensions of network routines,so as to reasonably control and evaluate the level of development of routines,and adjust the focus of innovation activities in a targeted manner.At the same time,enterprises should make full use of different external environmental features through the reasonable development and deployment of matching network routines,to effectively promote the development of ambidextrous innovations,so as to help enterprises to maintain a long-term competitive advantage in the environment that is volatile and complex but full of opportunities.