Board Characcteristics,Board's Cognitive Complexity And Strategic Deviation Of The High-technology Enterprises

With China's economic transformation and the enhancement of environmental uncertainty,enterprises in high-technology industries are faced with heavy pressure to survive,so the strategic deviation of enterprises in high-technology industries has become the focus of their survival and growth.Although the enterprises in high-technology industries are in the same external environment and their resource elements are similar,there is a difference in the propensity of each enterprise for strategic norms of the industry.Therefore,this paper makes an in-depth discussion on the reasons leading to the strategic deviation and strategic connformity of enterprises within the high-technology industries.In this paper,relevant theories such as ininstitutional theory,upper echelons theory and board of directors strategic participation are sorted out,relevant studies on various variables are sorted out and summarized,and propose the preliminary research framework.Based on data from 2015-2018 in the high-tech indusries listed as follows: 1)Software and information technology services;2)Internet and related services;3)Computer,communications and other electronic equipment manufacturing;4)Pharmaceutical manufacturing;5)Automobile manufacturing industries,text analysis of the board of directors' report and combined with empirical test,the following conclusions are drawn: The average education level of the board of directors negatively affects the strategic deviation of the enterprises in high-technology industries;Both of the average education level and the compensation of the board of directors positively affect the cognitive complexity of the board of directors;The cognitive complexity of the board negatively affects the strategic deviation of the enterprises in high-tech industries;The cognitive complexity of the board of directors plays an intermediary role in the relationship between the average education level of the board of directors and the strategic deviation of the enterprises in high-tech industries;This paper does not support the view that the proportion of female directors has a significant impact on the cognitive complexity and strategic deviation of the board.Specifically,(1)The higher the average education level of the board of directors,the more alert to the potential risks brought by strategic deviations,and the more to raise objections to strategic deviations,thus hindering the implementation of strategic deviations.(2)The higher the average educational background of the board of directors,the stronger the ability to improve the cognitive complexity through learning and training.Besides,such directors can pay attention to more things from a broader perspective,interpret information from a more diversified perspective,finally improve their cognitive complexity;(3)The higher the compensation of the board of directors is,the more significant the incentive effect to the board of directors will be.Therefore,the board of directors will actively participate in various meetings,share information and discuss actively,thus improving their cognitive complexity.(4)The higher the cognitive complexity of the board of directors,the deeper the understanding of the complex relationship between the environment,strategy and the enterprise.Being in high-tech industries with strict technical norms,such directors have an better understanding of the importance of following industry norms and the adverse consequences of strategic deviation,thus hindering the implementation of strategic deviation.(4)The average educational background of the board of directors first positively affects their cognitive complexity,and then negatively affects the strategic deviation.This paper not only combines a variety of theoretical perspectives such as institutional theory and upper echelons theory,but also deeply explores the board's cognition through the text analysis,and discusses the phenomenon of the high-tech enterprises' deviation from strategic norms of the industries in light of the characteristics of the board,revealing the mechanism that leads to the strategic deviation of enterprises in high-tech industries.This paper deepens the research on strategic deviation of enterprises,and extends the integration of multiple theories to apply them in the field of strategic management,which also provides practical reference for high-tech industries enterprises to choose their strategic preference.