科研管理

科研管理 ›› 2021, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (8): 131-140.

• 论文 • 上一篇    下一篇

新兴市场企业出口战略对创新绩效的影响

熊名宁1,汪涛2,3,吴光胜2   

  1. 1.长沙理工大学经济与管理学院，湖南 长沙410114；
    2.武汉大学经济与管理学院，湖北 武汉430072；
    3.武汉大学组织营销研究中心，湖北 武汉430072
  • 收稿日期:2018-09-07 修回日期:2019-05-09 出版日期:2021-08-20 发布日期:2021-08-13
  • 通讯作者: 汪涛
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金重点项目:“全球化和网络化环境下的中国企业品牌国际化营销战略研究”（71532011,2016.01—2020.01）。

Impact of exporting strategy on innovation performance of emerging market enterprises

Xiong Mingning1, Wang Tao2,3, Wu Guangsheng2   

  1. 1. School of Economics & Management, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha 410114, Hunan,China;
    2. School of Economics and Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072,Hubei, China;
    3. Research Center for Organizational Marketing of Wuhan University,Wuhan 430072,Hubei, China
  • Received:2018-09-07 Revised:2019-05-09 Online:2021-08-20 Published:2021-08-13

摘要： 出口是最为普遍的国际化扩张战略，是促进新兴市场企业成长的重要路径。现有研究基于组织学习理论，检验了“出口学习”效应，但较少关注新兴市场企业出口学习结果的差异。本研究通过整合组织学习和注意力基础观理论，基于世界银行2008—2012年对东欧和中亚地区企业经营环境的调查数据，运用Tobit回归，审查了出口战略对创新绩效的影响，并检验了注意力结构化分布对出口学习的调节效应。研究发现：组织注意力的结构化分布，导致了新兴市场企业出口学习结果的异质性。具体而言：（1）新兴市场企业出口战略能够提升其产品和流程创新绩效；（2）国有所有制、财务冗余会提升出口战略对流程创新绩效的正向影响；网络营销能力会提升出口战略对产品创新绩效的正向影响。

关键词: 出口战略, 组织学习, 注意力基础观, 产品创新绩效, 流程创新绩效

Abstract:    Exporting is the most common international expansion strategy and an important path to promote the growth of emerging market enterprises. Existing researches on the relationship between exporting and innovation based on the situation of developed countries. However, few studies focus on the effects of “learning-by-exporting（LBE）” in the developing countries. Due to the different level of industrial development, whether the conclusions of advanced economies can be directly applied to emerging economies is worthy to be discussed further. Thus, in this article, we focus on the heterogeneous relationship between exporting and innovation based on the emerging economies perspective. It not only provide theoretical reference, but also provide practical guidance for emerging market enterprises.
    The existing research on the impact of export strategies on innovation performance is relatively inadequate. On the one hand, the prior research pay more attention on the national or industrial level, yet little research focus on the firm level. The lack of research at the micro level may mislead the firm′s strategy in international practice. On the other hand, existing research focuses on the productivity. It has not test what kind of knowledge are the firms learned and how to learn in export markets. Meanwhile, previous studies pay less attention to the mechanism of exporting on production efficiency. Therefore, the question of why there are significant differences in the results of LBE is difficult to understand. Moreover, existing research implicit enterprises can automatically realize LBE by simply contact with external novel knowledge, thus neglecting the organization′s initiative in the learning process. 
    The LBE effect is rooted in organizational learning theory: learning occurs requires the firm to consciously absorb new knowledge in exporting activities rather than from the exporting activity itself. Knowledge is a multi-dimensional concept, including product innovation and process innovation. Existing research also shows that firms will selectively absorb external knowledge based on their own organizational strategy. Therefore, it is difficult to explain and understand the heterogeneity in LBE if researches ignore the selectivity of firms in the absorption of knowledge. Although organizational learning theory has recognized the selectivity of external knowledge absorption and application processes, it still cannot explain the difference in the accumulation of original knowledge when firms expand internationally through exporting. The attention-based review（ABV）is a good complement to the shortcomings of organizational learning theory. ABV considers that the organization′s selective absorption of knowledge depends on the organization′s attention on different issues. The organization′s attention structure controls the organization′s issues and the value and rationality of the answers to the questions, thus affecting the distribution of attention. At the organizational level, this structured distribution is primarily determined by the organization′s rules of the game and organizational resources. Therefore, this paper will integrates the organizational learning theory and ABV to explore the heterogeneous impact of exporting strategies on innovation performance for emerging market enterprise.
    This study is based on Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) panel data. From the fourth round (2008-2009), the independent variables, control variables, and moderator variables are extracted; and then the fifth round of dependent variable data is matched. According to the industry, the observations of non-manufacturing and foreign-invested shares accounted for more than 50%, and 1083 samples were obtained. On this basis, this study also deletes samples with missing values and outliers for some variables. Finally, 1015 sample data were obtained. Tobit regression was selected for data test.
The study found that the structural distribution of organizational attention led to the heterogeneity of the LBE outcomes for emerging market enterprise. Specifically: (1) Emerging market enterprise′s exporting strategy can enhance its product and process innovation performance; (2) State ownership and financial slack will enhance the positive effect of export strategy on process innovation performance; e-marketing ability will enhance the positive effect of export strategy on product innovation performance.
    Our research contributes to existing literature in several ways. This study further examines the moderation mechanism of managers′ attention in LBE, indicating that it is not an international expansion activity itself; it is a strategic decision at the relevant organizational level, which is the key to achieve the value of resources and knowledge gained in the international market. By integrating the theory of organizational learning and ABV, it reveals the heterogeneity of LBE. It is confirmed that in different situations, emerging market firms have different needs and motivations for product and process innovation. Previous literature has emphasized that firms have different preferences for product and process innovation in the context of industry dynamics. This study further shows that the organization′s attentional structured distribution will affect the company′s preference for specific innovation knowledge in the international market, and then affect the relationship between exporting strategy and innovation performance. Therefore, it can be inferred that this learning difference is not only due to the impact of knowledge spillovers in the international market, but also depends on the decision-making of managers for the emerging market enterprises. The findings help to better understand the complex relationship between exporting strategy and innovation performance.
    There are several implications that derive from this study. For international business managers: Firstly, it is necessary to pay attention to relevant innovation knowledge in the international market. Secondly, it is necessary to consciously absorb innovative knowledge that is more closely matched to strategic needs. Due to the complexity of information in the international market, managers′ attention is relatively scarce. In order to make better use of the new knowledge in the international market, on the one hand, it is necessary to rationally allocate attention resources; on the other hand, it is necessary to better understand the role of organizational game rules and organizational resources in the organization to enhance the innovation output.
    Of course, the present research also has its limitations. First, limited to data availability, this article cannot make a more direct measurement of the organization′s learning process. Future research can be conducted through a survey method. Second, this study reveals the heterogeneity of LBE from the perspective of attention-based review. However, there may be other heterogeneity dimensions. Finally, this study can be further tested in other emerging economies such as China, India, and Brazil.

Key words: exporting strategy, organizational learning, attention-based view, product innovation performance, process innovation performance