【作者】 周丽虹；

【导师】 王国庆；

【作者基本信息】 暨南大学 ， 企业管理， 2010， 博士

【副题名】基于外包网络的关系嵌入性和动态能力视角的实证研究

【摘要】 “外包能否提高企业的绩效”是外包战略研究的核心问题。过往对于该问题的研究主要基于交易成本理论和资源基础理论,围绕外包强度(程度)对于企业绩效的影响而进行,认为外包可以通过对交易的恰当治理而降低成本,并通过将自身资源聚焦于核心业务的发展而提高企业的核心能力,从而提高企业的绩效。然而实践和实证研究的结果却并不完全支持这一结论,而上述理论也无法解释现实中大量存在的核心业务外包现象。针对交易成本理论和资源基础理论在外包研究中存在的不足,本文提出,根据关系观,企业竞争优势的来源不仅仅存在于企业内部,还存在于企业之间的互动关系之中。因此,外包战略对于企业绩效的影响不仅取决于外包业务的数量,还取决于与外包网络成员企业之间构建起的战略伙伴关系,而该伙伴关系可以通过两种方式影响企业绩效：一是直接作用于企业绩效,二是通过影响外包强度对企业绩效的影响而间接作用于企业绩效。外包强度和外包伙伴关系共同决定了企业外包的效果。另一方面,根据能力理论的发展,从长期来看,核心能力可能成为核心刚性而不利于企业的发展,因此,在探讨外包对于企业绩效的影响时应区分短期绩效和长期绩效,而企业的动态能力在外包强度与企业绩效之间具有一定的调节作用。结合关系观和企业网络理论,本文通过外包网络的关系嵌入性来度量外包企业与外包网络成员企业之间的伙伴关系,在将企业绩效区分为短期绩效和长期绩效的基础上,运用多元回归分析实证检验了外包战略的两个因素——外包网络关系嵌入性和外包强度对于企业绩效的直接影响,外包网络关系嵌入性对企业绩效的间接影响以及动态能力的调节作用,并通过结构方程模型深入探讨了外包网络关系嵌入性对企业绩效的直接影响机制。本文的调查对象为珠三角地区的制造企业,得出的主要结论如下：1.外包网络的关系嵌入性对企业的短期绩效和长期绩效均有显著的直接促进作用。其三个维度——联结强度、信任和知识共享均与企业的短期绩效和长期绩效正相关,但三者对企业绩效的作用机制是不同的,联结强度完全通过知识共享而影响企业绩效,信任则部分通过知识共享而影响企业绩效,知识共享是决定外包网络关系嵌入性影响企业绩效的关键因素。外包网络关系嵌入性还可通过与外包强度的交互作用而间接影响企业绩效,但仅核心业务外包网络关系嵌入性与核心业务外包强度的交互作用与企业的短期绩效正相关。2.外包强度也对企业绩效有直接影响。其中,非核心业务外包强度与企业的短期绩效正相关,非核心业务外包强度对企业的长期绩效、核心业务外包强度对企业的短期绩效和长期绩效均无显著影响。动态能力在非核心业务外包强度与企业长期绩效之间具有调节作用,其三个维度——适应能力、吸收能力和创新能力的调节作用均显著,适应能力最强,吸收能力次之,创新能力最弱。3.在外包强度和外包网络的关系嵌入性两个因素的共同作用下,外包战略对企业绩效有显著的促进作用。无论是核心业务外包还是非核心业务外包均与企业绩效正相关。在两个因素中,外包网络关系嵌入性的影响比外包强度大,而外包网络关系嵌入性对企业绩效的直接影响比间接影响大。因此,外包网络的关系嵌入性对企业绩效的直接影响最为重要。也就是说,外包战略对企业绩效的影响主要来源于与供应商之间形成的外包网络中蕴含的社会资本、知识资源及相应的关系租金,而非外包的数量。4.外包战略对企业短期绩效和长期绩效的影响因素是不同的。对企业的短期绩效来说,非核心业务外包强度、非核心业务外包网络的关系嵌入性、核心业务外包网络的关系嵌入性、核心业务外包强度与核心业务外包网络关系嵌入性的交互作用均与企业的短期绩效正相关,但对企业的长期绩效来说,仅外包网络的关系嵌入性与企业的长期绩效正相关。综上所述,本文从以下三方面解释了过往对于该问题的研究无法得出一致结论的原因：1.忽视了外包伙伴关系对企业绩效的影响；2.未区分短期绩效和长期绩效,3.未考虑企业自身的动态能力对于外包效果的影响。根据上述研究结论,本文对企业制定和实施外包战略提出了以下建议：1.转变对外包战略的认识,明确外包伙伴关系对企业发展的重要意义,充分利用外包网络中的关系资产提高企业绩效。2.努力提高自身的动态能力水平,提高非核心业务外包的长期收益。3.根据自身短期和长期发展的需要,合理配置自身资源,提高外包收益。更多还原

【Abstract】 "The performance effect of outsourcing" is the core issue of outsourcing study. Previous researches argue that a firm can reduce costs and redirect its attention to its core competences by outsourcing the non-core activities. They base their arguments primarily on the theories like the transaction cost economics and resource-based view, and take the outsourcing intensity (or the outsourcing level) as their main consideration of outsourcing strategy. But the empirical studies and the practice of outsourcing are not in line with their arguments, and the problem of why so many core activities are outsourced in practice could not be resolved by these theories too.Since the relational view points out that the relationship with external suppliers can deliver competitive advantage, and a firm could improve its performance by outsourcing items and then building idiosyncratic and valuable relationships with suppliers, we posit that the performance effect of outsourcing strategy could be desided in two ways:the outsourcing intensity and the supplier relationships, and the supplier relationships both has direct and indirect effects on firm performance. On the other hand, as the core competences could be core rigid in long run and hinder the firm’s long-term development, we argue that the outsourcing effect on firm performance of long-term and short-term are different, and the dynamic capabilities could moderate the performance effect of outsourcing intensity.Bring the relational view and the interfirm networks theory together, we take the relational embeddedness in the outsourcing networks as the relationships with suppliers. By differentiating the firm performance with long-term and short-term, we use the Multinomial Regression testing the direct performance effects of the two factors-the relational embeddedness in the outsourcing networks and the outsourcing intensity, and check out whether the relational embeddedness in the outsourcing networks and the dynamic capabilities could moderate the performance effect of outsourcing intensity. The Structure Equation Modeling is also used to examin the underlying mechanism that facilitate the acquisition of firm performance through the relational embeddedness in the outsourcing networks.Hypotheses are tested with survey data on the implementation of outsourcing strategy and consequences for organizational performance in the sample of 202 companies of the manufacturing industry in Pearl River Delta, and the findings are as follows:1. The relational embeddedness in the outsourcing networks has direct positive impact on the firm’s long-term and short-term performance. All dimensions of it positively correlate with the firm performance, but the ways that they affect the firm performance are different. The relationship between the strength of ties and the firm performance is totally mediated by the knowledge sharing, while the relationship between the trust and the firm performance partially mediated by the knowledge sharing. Consequently, knowledge sharing is the critical mechanism facilitating the acquisition of firm performance from the relational embeddedness in the outsourcing networks. The interaction of the relational embeddedness in the core activities outsourcing networks and the core activities outsourcing intensity also has positive impact on firm’s short-term performance.2. The outsourcing intensity has direct impact on the firm performance too. But only the outsourcing intensity of non-core activities has positive impact on the firm’s short-term performance. The dynamic capabilities with its three dimensions all could moderate the long-term performance consequence of non-core activities outsourcing. Among the three dimensions of dynamic capabilities, the adaptation capabilities have the strongest moderating effect, the second is absorptive capabilities, and the last is the innovative capabilities.3. Under the jointly effect of the relational embeddedness in the outsourcing networks and the outsourcing intensity, the outsourcing strategy are positively related with the firm performance. Both core activities outsourcing and non-core activities outsourcing could improve the firm performance. But the performance consequence mainly desided by the relational embeddedness in the outsourcing networks.4. The outsourcing strategy impact the firm’s long-term and short-term performance in different ways. In short-term, non-core activities outsourcing intensity, the relational embeddedness in the core and nor-core activities outsourcing networks, and the the interaction of the relational embeddedness in the core activities outsourcing networks and the core activities outsourcing intensity all positively correlate to the firm performance, while in long-term, only the relational embeddedness in the outsourcing networks has positive impact on firm performance.In conclusion, we have three explanations for the paradox of previous study of outsourcing: (1) Neglecting the influence of the supplier relationships; (2) No differentiation of short-term and long-term performance; (3) Overlooking the moderating effect of dynamic capabilities. We provide implication for the outsourcing practice as follows:(1) Rediscovering the outsourcing strategy, paying more attention to the supplier relationships, and making much of the relational rent to improve the outsourcing consequences. (2) Enhancing the dynamic capabilities to raise the long-term performance of outsourcing. (3) Reasonably allocating firm’s resources to improve the outsourcing consequences in line with the firm’s short-term and long-term development schedule.更多还原