Strategic Network Of Overseas Subsidiaries, Social Capital And Network Learning Research

From 1980s, rapid responsiveness and operation in local area have gradually increased the strategic independence of foreign subsidiaries which operate in the frontier of host country. They have gradually transformed from the accepter of parent company to important learner and knowledge contributors. Network has gradually become the important source that creates knowledge, absorbs knowledge and utilizes knowledge of foreign subsidiaries. Network learning is the theme of this paper.Begining from the strategic network structure of foreign subsidiaries; this paper discusses the social capital and network learning of foreign subsidiaries in host country network. Furthermore, this paper selects the host country network which is one of the sub-networks of strategic network and gradually important, and establishes the relation model among network structure, social capital and network learning effectiveness in the host country so as to guide foreign subsidiaries to manage host country network, improve network learning effectiveness and enhance competitive advantage.In the first place, through criticising and succeeding the social embeddedness theory, this paper brings forward three dimensions theory of embeddedness, and develops the host country network theory of foreign subsidiaries.(l) This paper decomposes the strategic network structure of foreign subsidiaries from three dimensions that are relation embeddness, position embeddness and structure embeddness. (2) This paper brings forward the difference of strategic network structure of foreign subsidiaries, and analyzes the reasons from environment stress of parent company, the strategic position of foreign subsidiaries, the resource level and distribution of resource power among network members, and the self-supervising competence of foreign subsidiaries.(3)From the evolving mechanism of serendipity and goal-directedness, this paper analyzes the evolving mechanism and process of strategic network of foreign subsidiaries. And then, this paper discusses the inducement effect that important affairs in industry, the chasing and utilizing of network member to core position, and the change of resource demand act to evolution of strategic network.In the second place, this paper developes the social capital theory of foreign subsidiaries and brings forward following conclusions.(l) Social network contributes to the forming of social capital, but social network is not equal to social capital. Economic network is one of modes forming social network.(2) Social capital is made up of four dimensions which are cognitive capital, relation capital, position capital and structure capital.(3) The economic functions of social capital include value creating and network governance.(5) The social capital of foreign subsidiaries has three sources which are developing from social network, transforming from individual social capital and transferring from social capital of parent company.(5)The forming of strategic network, social network and social capital have close relationship.(6)The establishing, balancing and anti-depreciating of social capital are three important aspects when foreign subsidiaries manage social capital.In the third place, this paper develops the network learning theory of foreign subsidiaries and brings forward following conclusions.(1) Network learning is an economic and social process that inter-actors in network create knowledge, absorb knowledge and utilize knowledge in the network environment and has social characteristic and interacting characteristic.(2) The learning effects of network embody in three aspects including the effects of knowledge share, knowledge diffusion and knowledge overflow.(3)The main bodies of foreign subsidiaries' network learning can be divided into there levels which are individual, group and organization. Their interaction realizes through feed forward learning and feed back learning.(4)Exploration learning and exploitation learning are two modes of foreign subsidiaries carry out network learning and their relationship are not either this or that but existence in the same time.(5) Network learning is realized through five mechanisms that are knowledge creation, knowledge acquiring, knowledge absorption, knowledge combination and knowledge utilization.(6)Network learning is composed of inter-organization learning and collective learning. (7) The idiographic action of network learning is determined by sixteen roles of foreign subsidiaries in the strategic network.(8) Network learning and inner-organization learning has close relationship and foreign subsidiaries could change between network learning modes and organization learning modes by eight change mechanisms.On the basis of comprehensive review to the theory of strategic network, social capital theory and network learning theory, this paper establishes the relation model among network structure of host country, social capital and network learning effectiveness and brings forward corresponding hypothesis. After measuring the variables, this paper makes a questionnaire on the foreign subsidiaries in China. Using social network method, structure equation model and hierarchical regression analysis, this paper tests all of hypothesis.The statistics outcomes display:(1) Network of foreign subsidiaries have notable influence on network learning effectiveness and idiographic conclusions are as following: the strength of relation embeddedness have notable positive influence on the effectiveness of network learning; degree centrality has notable positive influence on the effectiveness of network learning; group centrality has notable negative influence on the effectiveness of network learning; network density has notable positive influence on the effectiveness of network learning.(2)Social capital of foreign subsidiaries in host country network has notable positive influence on the effectiveness of network learning and idiographic conclusions are as following: cognitive capital has notable positive influence on the effectiveness of network learning; relation capital has notable positive influence on the effectiveness of network learning; position capital has notable positive influence on the effectiveness of network learning;structure capital has notable positive influence on the effectiveness of network learning.(3)Social capital has mediating effect between network structure and effectiveness of network learning.The conclusions are as following:position capital has mediating effect between network core and effectiveness of network learning, relation capital has mediating effect between relation embeddedness strength and effectiveness of network learning, structure capital has mediating effect between network density and effectiveness of network learning, structure capital has mediating effect between crowd core and effectiveness of network learning. Position capital has mediating effect between relation embeddedness strength and effectiveness of network learning. Relation capital has mediating effect between network core and effectiveness of network learning.There are mediating relationship in some dimensions of social capital.The relationship are as following.Cognitive capital has mediating effect between relation capital and effectiveness of network learning and between structure capital and effectiveness of network learning; Structure capital has mediating effect between position capital and effectiveness of network learning, relation capital has mediating effect between structure capital and effectiveness of network learning.(5)Learning competence moderates the relationship between network structure and effectiveness of network learning. The mechanisms are as following: the relationship between network density and network learning effectiveness is moderated positively by learning competence; the relationship between degree centrality and network learning effectiveness is moderated negatively by learning competence.(6)The learning mode moderates the relationship between network structure and network learning effectiveness. The mechanisms are as following: the relationship between relation embeddedness strength and network learning effectiveness is moderated negatively by exploration learning; the relationship between network density and network learning effectiveness is moderated positively by exploration learning; the relationship between network density and network learning effectiveness is moderated positively by exploitation learning; the relationship between group centrality and network learning effectiveness is moderated positively by exploitation learning.