关键词: 领导文化距离, 突破性创新绩效, 任务互依, 知识隐藏

Abstract:      Radical innovation is an effective way for firms to achieve technological transcendence and gain competitive advantage. However, established studies have paid little attention to the issue of group relatedness in radical innovation, especially the lack of due exploration on the influence mechanism of cultural distance on radical innovation performance. Therefore, based on transaction cost theory, this paper constructed a moderated mediation model by exploring the influence of leadership cultural distance on radical innovation performance and the transmission mechanism. After analyzing the path regression coefficients to test the hypotheses one by one, the empirical results showed that: (1) Leadership cultural distance can inhibit individual passion for innovation and breakthroughs through knowledge hiding, which in turn reduces radical innovation performance. The positive effects of knowledge and sharing on radical innovation have been generally recognized by the academic community, but the underlying logic of radical innovation has rarely been discussed. Based on this, this study introduces knowledge hiding as a mediating bridge in exploring the interaction between leadership cultural distance and radical innovation performance, and examines the underlying mechanisms by which leadership cultural distance inhibits radical innovation. The findings have important theoretical value for a comprehensive study of radical innovation, and also explain the Chinese story through the local cultural context of Chinese-style management, and guide Chinese-style management practice from the perspective of transaction cost theory.(2) Task interdependence plays a moderated effect in the mechanism of influence of leadership cultural distance on radical innovation performance. Previous studies lacked the examination of group affiliation elements when exploring the influencing factors of radical innovation performance. This study introduces task interdependence into the research framework from the perspective of social interdependence theory and explores the moderating effect of task interdependence on the mechanism of the effect of leadership cultural distance. The findings not only validate the association between task interdependence and leadership cultural distance for the first time, but also theoretically clarify the research boundary of the effect of leadership cultural distance on radical innovation performance through positive dependence.Then, this paper has made the following practical revelations: (1) Reducing cultural distance is essential as a management initiative to promote radical innovation, combining a focus on group connectedness with the implementation of innovation strategies in Chinese business management. Therefore, managers need to be wary of a "circle culture" of particularistic and selfish treatment that undermines radical innovation through a pattern of disparate order. Moreover, managers need to be aware that formal or informal networks can greatly enhance interpersonal communication with members and increase the degree of closeness and cooperation among employees, thus weakening the negative effects of the inherent disorderly pattern on individual innovation.(2) The interdependence of tasks helps employees to be intrinsically motivated to work on innovation and thus improve their radical innovation performance. Particularly for the differential leader-member relationship, when faced with high cost, high risk and high uncertainty in the innovation breakthrough process, employees generally tend to protect themselves or hide their knowledge rather than value team performance. For this reason, in Chinese management practice, companies should place special emphasis on cooperative work goals to facilitate inter-group cohesion. At the same time, managers can develop fair and appropriate reward systems to enhance the interdependence of inter-group goals, which in turn is more conducive to radical innovation performance.

Key words: leadership cultural distance, radical innovation performance, task interdependence, knowledge hiding