Research On Knowledge Flow Based On Enterprise Innovation Networks

As innovative paradigm evolves, the organizational knowledge flow among enterprises has experienced a change from "Linear Model" to "Network Model". Knowledge flow is a process when an organization with high knowledge potential sends knowledge to another organization with low knowledge potential, including innovation, coding, transferring and spreading, sharing and communicating of knowledge. Since 1970s, knowledge innovation depending on inner strength has been considered the major method of enhancing competitive capability. This innovative model required enterprises to produce constant new knowledge by themselves. It was an inner innovation model or closed innovation. "Linear Model" knowledge innovation was the basic knowledge innovation paradigm. Since 1990s, enterprise innovation network emerges as an organization and becomes a new organizational style of innovation. Innovation network refers to those organizations that develop advanced technical products by acquiring, integrating, creating and applying different knowledge and technique. This is an important organization model for cooperative innovation among enterprises. The reasons for its emergence are:the enhancement of specialized labor division and the acceleration of innovation require the enterprise to cooperate with several innovation bodies in order to achieve the development and popularization of the product, which is the outer motivation; the inner motivation, from the perspective of knowledge complexity theory, is the complexity of innovation of current technology and knowledge.This thesis deems that it is the core nature that the knowledge flow is within the innovation network organizations. The innovation network, on one hand, is based on the knowledge flow among organizations, and on the other, provides an effective organizational method for mutual learning among organizations. The evolution of the innovation network depends on each phase of knowledge flow. The title of this thesis is "Research on Knowledge Flow Based on the Innovation Network", aiming to study the differences between the knowledge flow within organizations and the traditional "Linear knowledge flow" under the condition of network innovation model and the features emerging in the knowledge flow, in order to further analyze the network structure, the network path and path dependence of the knowledge flow, the influence of the social network relationship on the knowledge flow and factors affecting the efficiency of knowledge flow. This thesis is supposed to be taken as reference for theoretical studies on relevant problems concerning knowledge flow, for all varieties innovation bodies in innovation network to further grasp the law of the knowledge flow during network innovation and reduce the uncertainty of knowledge innovation cooperation and improve the cooperation innovation efficiency of knowledge. In addition, the suggestion in the conclusion part of this thesis has in reality a significant meaning for enlightening such innovation bodies as enterprises to utilize innovation opportunities of the network and outer knowledge resource to implement knowledge innovation, to transfer managing perspective and to establish knowledge management strategy from a network perspective.The thesis consists of eight chapters and is divided into four parts in general:1.literature review of and relevant theories; 2. Normative analysis; 3. Empirical study; 4. Conclusion.1. This part takes a retrospect view on documents related to knowledge flow and illustrates the theoretical background of this thesis. The study that the available documents have on the constitution of network organization knowledge, knowledge flow carrier, the factors affecting knowledge flow and the knowledge flow models is the conceptual base of the application part of this thesis; the labor division theory, innovation network theory and social capital theory constitute the theoretical base of this thesis.2. Normative analysis. Based on analyzing the basic connotation of knowledge flow in innovation network, the features of knowledge flow in innovation network and the method of knowledge flow in network, this part, with reference to relevant documents of knowledge flow, applies network theory and social capital theory to implement a normative study on "the mechanism and network structure of knowledge flow in innovation network" and "the path of knowledge flow in innovation network". This thesis makes an analysis on knowledge flow from the macro level of innovation network, each knowledge level among organizations and the micro process of knowledge flow among organizations. The focus is on the analysis of micro process of knowledge flow. While analyzing the micro process, this thesis deems that the following factors should be added into the traditional model of knowledge flow process:the situational factors, different knowledge flow carriers among organizations, potential difference among organizations and the factors of social network relations. This thesis has made an innovative proposal of a relational model between the lifecycle of innovation network and phases of knowledge flow, which scientifically illustrates the relations between the emerging, rising, stabilizing, declining phases of innovation network and the acquiring, communicating, applying, accepting and assimilating phases of knowledge flow. One of the important factors affecting the micro process of knowledge flow is the network structure of knowledge flow. This thesis induces the constitution of knowledge node flowing network into "point network structure" and "divergent network structure", and has made a comparison on the efficiency of processing knowledge flow between these two network structures. The highlight in the part analyzing the path of network knowledge flow is the dual network path model of knowledge flow proposed in this thesis:all the knowledge nodes in each organization may have direct or indirect connections to each other via knowledge nodes between formal, informal networks and other networks. The most distinguished feature of the formal network is formality, which is equipped with relevant mechanism and collaboration agreement among organizations as assurance. It is in favor of tacit knowledge flow due to the collective learning function of the innovation network during the collaborative innovation. In the innovation network, knowledge can flow via the flowing of labor factors, material facility and appliances. The action of knowledge exchange is embedded in social relations. The knowledge flow process proposed in this thesis is the combination of technological process and social process, aiming to analyze how the social network relation affects the knowledge flow and innovation among organizations. This thesis has made an exploratory analysis on social network path of knowledge flow from the theory of "strong tie" and "weak tie", and deems that those two ties play different roles in the knowledge flow process. Due to the high homogeneity, strong tie has disadvantage in providing effective knowledge, which means strong tie with high connection is not suitable for thorough innovation. Weak tie can bring more diversified knowledge compared with strong tie. The role that "Weak tie" plays among knowledge nodes is mainly reflected by its function as a knowledge bridge among different knowledge bodies, which has a better effect of knowledge distribution.3. Empirical study. The aim of this part is to analyze the factors affecting the efficiency of knowledge flow in innovation network and comparative degree of the effects. By reading documents and making actual questionnaire, the author of this thesis has designed a model of factors affecting knowledge flow efficiency based on innovation network. In this model, the thesis takes knowledge flow efficiency as an explained variable, the factors (the customized degree of knowledge, the will of knowledge delivery from the knowledge source and its capability, the knowledge absorbing awareness and capability of the knowledge receiver and the trust mechanism among knowledge nodes in network) explaining variables, and the network structure (the density of innovation network, the path length between knowledge nodes and vertex degree of network knowledge nodes) moderator variables. Since the establishment of this model, the author applied research results of each factor made by scholars from home and abroad to design measurement items for explained variable, explaining variables and moderator variables. The author designed a questionnaire on the basis of the pre-designed measurement items, and modified it according to the actual comments of the surveyors; as to the function of informal network relations, the author made some interviews with several surveyors, which played a part for improving the content of network structure questionnaire. All the measurements to the items on the questionnaire are subjective evaluations, and measured by Likert Scale. This method requires the surveyor to give evaluation rating according to their own cognition. In actual survey,93 valid questionnaires are collected. After the reliability analysis on the data, SPSS statistical analysis software is applied to utilize factor analysis, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis to make a statistical analysis on the data and to have a brief discussion and analysis on the initial statistical test results.4. Conclusion. Based on the thorough study of this thesis, the following suggestions are made to organize knowledge management from the perspective of network:1). This thesis proposes that in the paradigm of innovation network, the netting process makes the knowledge flow more complex and socializing, which has a significant meaning for enlightening the enterprises to manage knowledge from a network perspective.2). This thesis has made empirical analysis on the factors affecting knowledge flow based on network, especially the analysis on the influence of the network structure, which has an important meaning for enlightening organizations to do a better job of micro knowledge management under the network condition.3). While emphasizing the knowledge flow mechanism and the function of the network during the process of knowledge innovation, enterprises should put full emphasis on the function of informal network path, since the spreading speed of informal communication is faster than formal communication, which plays a key role in enlightening the knowledge innovation of organizations.4). Organizations should attach full importance to the building of cross-organization learning ability. The process of knowledge flow is a process of learning, which requires not only the knowledge supplier and exporter to learn, but also the knowledge receiver and importer to learn.5). This thesis has tried to explore the path dependence problem of knowledge flow. Based on such aspects as encouraging the employees to develop diversified network relations, to choose from knowledge flow paths of wide variety, to balance the strong tie and the weak tie and to strengthen collective learning of network, in order to unlock the path of knowledge flow and avoid the the rigidity of enterprises'core competence.