Exploration and exploitation: The different impacts of two types of Japanese business group network on firm innovation and global learning

Asian Business & Management - Tập 10 - Trang 151-181 - 2011
Yanli Zhang1, John Cantwell2
1School of Business, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, USA
2Rutgers Business School, Newark, USA

Tóm tắt

This article examines how two types of Japanese business group networks impact on firm innovation and global learning. Both the general network and Japanese business group literature have emphasized the important role this kind of tightly knit and stable network plays in facilitating the innovation of firms. Yet little is known of the different effects of the two types of business groups on innovation: horizontal versus vertical. In this article, we argue that the horizontal business group network, owing to its inter-industry conglomerate structure, promotes innovation of a wider knowledge-exploration type, whereas the vertical business group network, owing to its intra-industry supply chain linkage, promotes innovation of a close knowledge-exploitation type. In terms of global learning, it is hypothesized that the more domestically explorative horizontal business group network imposes a constraint on international innovation, whereas the vertical business group network does not. Empirical results largely support these arguments.

Tài liệu tham khảo

Ahuja, G. (2000) Collaboration networks, structural holes, and innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly 45: 425–455. Andersson, U., Forsgren, M. and Holm, U. (2002) The strategic impact of external networks: Subsidiary performance and competence development in the multinational corporation. Strategic Management Journal 23: 979–996. Archibugi, D. and Pianta, M. (1992) Specialization and size of technological activities in industrial countries. Research Policy 21: 79–93. Asakawa, K. (1996) External-internal linkages and overseas autonomy-control tension: The management dilemma of Japanese R&D in Europe. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 43 (1): 24–32. Bartlett, C. and Ghoshal, S. (1989) Managing Across Borders - The Transnational Solution. London: Century Business. Baum, J. and Ingram, P. (2000) Inter-Organizational Learning and Network Organization: Toward a Behavioral Theory of the Interfirm. Working paper, University of Toronto Rotman School of Management. Belderbos, R. (2001) Overseas innovation by Japanese firms: A micro-econometrical analysis of patent and subsidiary data. Research Policy 30: 313–332. Benner, M. and Tushman, M. (2003) Exploitation, exploration and process management: The productivity dilemma revisited. Academy of Management Review 28 (2): 238–256. Berry, H. (2006) Leaders, laggards and the pursuit of foreign knowledge. Strategic Management Journal 27 (2): 151–168. Best, M.H. (2000) Silicon Valley and the resurgence of route 128. In: J.H. Dunning (ed.) Regions, Globalization and the Knowledge-Based Economy. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 495–484. Birkinshaw, J. and Hood, N. (1998) Multinational subsidiary development: Capability evolution and charter change in foreign-owned subsidiary companies. Academy of Management Review 23 (4): 773–795. Blau, P. (1974) Parameters of social structure. American Sociological Review 39 (5): 615–635. Bonaccorsi, A. and Giuri, P. (2001) The long-term evolution of vertically-related industries. International Journal of Industrial Organization 19 (7): 1053–1083. Brass, D., Galaskiewicz, J., Greve, H. and Tasi, W. (2004) Taking stock of networks and organizations. Academy of Management Journal 47 (6): 795–817. Brusoni, S., Principe, A. and Pavitt, K.L.R. (2001) Knowledge specialization, organizational coupling and the boundaries of the firm: Why do firms know more than they make? Administrative Science Quarterly 46: 597–621. Burt, R.S. (2005) Brokerage and Closure: An Introduction to Social Capital. New York: Oxford University Press. Cantwell, J.A. (1989) Technological Innovation and Multinational Corporations. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell. Cantwell, J.A. (1995) The globalization of technology: What remains of the product cycle model? Cambridge Journal of Economics 19 (1): 155–174. Cantwell, J.A. (2004) An historical change in the nature of corporate technological diversification. In: J.A. Cantwell, A. Gambardella and O. Granstrand (eds.) The Economics and Management of Technological Diversification. London: Routledge, pp. 265–296. Cantwell, J.A. and Zhang, Y. (2006) Why is R&D internationalization in Japanese firms so low? A path-dependent explanation. Asian Business and Management 5 (2): 249–269. Caves, R.E. (1996) Multinational Enterprise and Economic Analysis. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Coleman, J.S. (1988) Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology 94: S95–S120. Collinson, S. and Wilson, D.C. (2006) Inertia in Japanese organizations: Knowledge management routines and failure to innovate. Organization Studies 27 (9): 1359–1387. Doane, D.L. (1984) Two essays on technological innovation: Innovations and economic stagnation, and interfirm cooperation for innovation in Japan. PhD dissertation, Department of Economics, Yale University, New Haven. Dodwell. (1994/95) Industrial Groupings in Japan. Tokyo, Japan: Dodwell Marketing Consultants. Dunning, J.H. and Pearce, R.D. (1985) The World's Largest Industrial Enterprises, 1962-1983. Farnborough, UK: Grower. Dunning, J.H. and Wymbs, C. (1999) The geographical sourcing of technology-based assets by multinational enterprises. In: D. Archibugi, J. Howells and J. Michie (eds.) Innovation Policy in a Global Economy. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 184–224. Dyer, J. and Singh, A. (1998) The relational view: Cooperative strategy and sources of inter-organizational competitive advantage. Academy of Management Review 23 (4): 660–679. Dyer, J.H. and Nobeoka, K. (2000) Creating and managing a high-performance knowledge-sharing network: The Toyota case. Strategic Management Journal 21: 345–367. Florida, R. and Kenney, M. (1994) The globalization of Japanese R&D: The economic geography of Japanese R&D investments in the United States. Economic Geography 70: 344–369. Freeman, C. and Perez, C. (1988) Structural crises of adjustment, business cycles and investment behaviour. In: G. Dosi, C. Freeman, R.R. Nelson, G. Silverberg and L.L.G. Soete (eds.) Technical Change and Economic Theory. London: Frances Pinter, pp. 38–66. Frost, T.S. (2001) The geographical sources of foreign subsidiaries’ innovations. Strategic Management Journal 22: 101–123. Gambardella, A. and Torrisi, S. (1998) Does technological convergence imply convergence in markets? Evidence from the electronics industry. Research Policy 27: 445–463. Gerlach, M. (1987) Business alliances and the strategy of the Japanese firm. California Management Review 29 (1): 29–44. Gerlach, M. (1992) Alliance Capitalism: The Social Organization of Japanese Business. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Goto, A. and Odagiri, H. (1997) Innovation in Japan. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. Granovetter, M. (1983) The strength of weak ties. Sociological Theory 1: 201–233. Granstrand, O. (1999) Internationalization of corporate R&D: A study of Japanese and Swedish corporations. Research Policy 28: 275–302. Granstrand, O., Patel, P. and Pavitt, K.L.R. (1997) Multi-technology corporations: Why they have ‘distributed’ rather than ‘distinctive core’ competencies. California Management Review 30: 8–25. Griliches, Z. (1990) Patent statistics as economic indicators. Journal of Economic Literature 28 (4): 1661–1707. Gulati, R., Nohria, N. and Zaheer, A. (2000) Strategic networks. Strategic Management Journal 104 (5): 1439–1493. Hall, B. and Trajtenberg, M. (2006) Uncovering general purpose technologies with patent data. In: C. Antonelli, D. Foray, B.H. Hall and W.E. Steinmueller (eds.) New Frontiers in the Economics of Innovation and New Technology. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, pp. 389–426. Ibata-Arens, K.C. and Obayashi, H. (2006) Escaping the Japanese pyramid: The association of small and medium-sized enterprise entrepreneurs (SME Doyukai), 1947–1999. Enterprise & Society 7 (1): 128–163. Imai, K. (1989) Evolution of Japan's corporate and industrial networks. In: B. Carlsson (ed.) Industrial Dynamics. Dordrecht, MA: Kluwer, pp. 123–156. Iwasa, T. and Odagiri, H. (2004) Overseas R&D, knowledge sourcing and patenting: An empirical study of Japanese R&D investment in the US. Research Policy 33: 807–828. Japan Fair Trade Commission. (2001) The state of corporate groups in Japan: Seventh survey report. Khanna, T. and Palepu, K. (2000) Is group membership profitable in emerging markets? An analysis of diversified Indian business groups. Journal of Finance 55: 867–891. Kodama, F. (1995) Emerging Patterns of Innovation: Sources of Japan's Technological Edge. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Kogut, B. (2000) The network as knowledge: Generative rules and the emergence of structure. Strategic Management Journal 21: 405–425. Kogut, B. and Chang, S.J. (1991) Technological capabilities and Japanese foreign direct investment in the United States. Review of Economics and Statistics 3: 400–413. Kogut, B. and Zander, U. (1992) Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities and the replication of technology. Organization Science 3: 383–397. Kümmerle, W. (1999) The drivers of foreign direct investment into research and development. Journal of International Business Studies 30 (1): 1–24. Lam, A. (2003) Organizational learning in multinationals: R&D networks of Japanese and US MNEs in the UK. Journal of Management Studies 40 (3): 673–703. Lavie, D. and Rosenkopf, L. (2006) Balancing exploration and exploitation in alliance formation. Academy of Management Journal 49 (4): 797–818. Lee, K. (1998) The Sources of Capital Goods Innovation: The Role of User Firms in Japan and Korea. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Harwood Academic. Levinthal, D.A. and March, J.G. (1993) The myopia of learning. Strategic Management Journal 14: 95–112. Lincoln, J.R. and Gerlach, M.L. (2004) Japan's Network Economy: Structure, Persistence and Change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Lincoln, J.R., Gerlach, M.L. and Ahmadjian, C. (1996) Keiretsu networks and corporate performance in Japan. American Sociological Review 61 (1): 67–88. Lipsey, R.G., Bekar, C. and Carlaw, K. (1998) What requires explanation? In: E. Helpman (ed.) General Purpose Technologies and Economic Growth. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 15–54. Lundvall, B.-A. (1988) Innovation as an interactive process: from user-producer interaction to the national system of innovation. In: G. Dosi, C. Freeman, R.R. Nelson, G. Silverberg and L.L.G. Soete (eds.) Technical Change and Economic Theory. London and New York: Frances Pinter, pp. 349–369. Mansfield, E. (1986) Patents and innovation. Management Science 32: 173–181. March, J. (1991) Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. Organization Science 2: 71–87. Matusik, S.F. and Hill, C.W.L. (1998) The utilization of contingent work, knowledge creation and competitive advantage. Academy of Management Review 23 (4): 680–697. Mayer, R.C., Davis, J.H. and Schoorman, F.D. (1995) An integration model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review 20: 709–734. McGuire, J. and Dow, S. (2009) Japanese keiretsu: Past, present, future. Asia Pacific Journal of Management 26 (2): 333–351. Murtha, T.P., Lenway, S.A. and Hart, J.A. (2001) Managing New Industry Creation: Global Knowledge Formation and Entrepreneurship in High Technology. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. Nelson, R.R. and Winter, S.G. (1982) An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. Nishiguchi, T. (1994) Strategic Industrial Sourcing: The Japanese Advantage. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Nohria, N. and Ghoshal, S. (1997) The Differentiated Network: Organizing Multinational Corporations for Value Creation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Nonaka, I. and Takeuchi, H. (1995) The Knowledge-Creating Company. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Ozawa, T. (2003) Japan in an institutional quagmire: International business to the rescue? Journal of International Management 9 (3): 219–235. Ozawa, T. (2005) Institutions, Industrial Upgrading and Economic Performance in Japan. Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar. Patel, P. (1995) The localized production of global technology. Cambridge Journal of Economics 19: 141–153. Patel, P. and Pavitt, K.L.R. (1991) Large firms in the production of the world's technology: An important case of ‘non-globalization. Journal of International Business Studies 22: 121–134. Pavitt, K.L.R. (1984) Sectoral patterns of technical change: Towards a taxonomy and a theory. Research Policy 13: 343–373. Pearce, R.D. and Singh, S. (1992) Internationalization of research and development among the world's leading enterprises: survey analysis of organization and motivation. In: O. Granstrand, L. Hakanson and S. Sjolander (eds.) Technology Management and International Business: Internationalization of R&D and Technology. Chichester, UK: Wiley and Sons, pp. 137–162. Penner-Hahn, J. and Shaver, J.M. (2005) Does international research and development increase patent output? An analysis of Japanese pharmaceutical firms. Strategic Management Journal 26 (2): 121–140. Powell, W.W., Koput, K.W. and Smith-Doerr, L. (1996) Inter-organizational collaboration and the locus of innovation: Networks of learning in biotechnology. Administrative Science Quarterly 41: 116–145. Richardson, G.B. (1972) The organization of industry. Economic Journal 82: 883–896. Rosenberg, N. (1976) Perspectives on Technology. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. Rowley, T., Behrens, D. and Krackhardt, D. (2000) Redundant governance structures: An analysis of structural and relational embeddedness in the steel and semiconductor industries. Strategic Management Journal 21: 369–386. Samuels, R.J. (1987) Research Collaboration in Japan. Working paper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Scherer, F. (1983) The propensity to patent. International Journal of Industrial Organization 1 (1): 107–128. Schumpeter, J.A. (1934) The Theory of Economic Development. An Inquiry into Profits, Capital, Credit, Interest and the Business Cycle. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Soete, L.L.G. and Wyatt, S.M.E. (1983) The use of foreign patenting as an internationally comparable science and technology output indicator. Scientometrics 5 (1): 31–54. Suzuki, K. (1993) R&D spill-overs and technology transfer among and within vertical keiretsu groups – Evidence from the Japanese electrical machinery industry. International Journal of Industrial Organization 11 (4): 573–592. Teece, D.J. (1992) Competition, cooperation and innovation. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 18 (1): 1–25. Teece, D.J., Rumelt, R., Dosi, G. and Winter, S. (1994) Understanding corporate coherence. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 23 (1): 1–30. Tidd, J., Bessant, J. and Pavitt, K.L.R. (2005) Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organizational Changes. Chichester, UK: Wiley. Tsai, W. and Ghoshal, S. (1998) Social capital and value creation: The role of inter-firm networks. Academy of Management Journal 41 (4): 464–476. Uzzi, B. (1997) Social structure and competition in inter-firm networks: The paradox of embeddedness. Administrative Science Quarterly 42: 464–476. Van de Ven, A.H., Polley, D.E., Garud, R. and Venkataraman, S. (1999) The Innovation Journey. Oxford, UK and New York: Oxford University Press. Viner, J. (1960) The Customs Union Issues. New York: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Westney, D.E. (1993) Cross-pacific internationalization of R&D by US and Japanese firms. R&D Management 23 (3): 171–181. Williamson, O.E. (1975) Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications. New York: Free Press. Zaheer, A. and Bell, G.G. (2005) Benefiting from network position: Firm capabilities, structural holes and performance. Strategic Management Journal 26: 809–825.