| In the context of the knowledge economy,collaborative innovation has risen to become the mainstream mode for enterprise product and technological innovation.Under this new model,external connections of businesses,mutual communication and coordination,and resource transfer have all become essential components of collaboration.Within these processes,not all members of a company or department can be involved.Only a few representative members often serve as external representatives of the enterprise,responsible for information exchange,resource acquisition,coordination management,strategic communication,and project advancement.These members are referred to as the company’s "boundary personnel." The role of boundary personnel in corporate innovation is becoming increasingly prominent,gradually attracting the attention and research of scholars.By reviewing the literature related to boundary personnel,this article identifies several shortcomings in existing research:1.While existing studies have analyzed the impact of boundary personnel from various perspectives such as relationships,interactions,and capabilities,there is limited research exploring the relationship between boundary personnel’s sense of injustice and corporate innovation performance from a fairness viewpoint.2.Research on boundary personnel’s sense of fairness has mainly focused on the impact produced by this "sense of fairness." However,the relationship between a "sense of injustice" and innovation performance has not been given enough attention.3.When examining the effect of boundary personnel’s sense of fairness or injustice on their cognition and behavior,current research generally places boundary personnel and their counterparts in an "equal" relationship for discussion.This approach overlooks the influence of the "status difference" inherent among boundary personnel.4.There’s a lack of discussion in current research about the mechanism between boundary personnel’s sense of injustice,"knowledge management behavior," and innovation performance in the context of collaborative innovation.5.In discussions about boundary personnel’s sense of fairness,existing research has simply juxtaposed procedural fairness,distributive fairness,and interactional fairness,analyzing their impact on related outcome variables.However,these studies have not considered the "substitution" effect between different types of fairness,nor the degree of this "substitution" effect.Similarly,these issues have not been clearly discussed in studies on the sense of injustice,which requires further analysis.Based on the aforementioned research gaps,this paper,grounded in organizational fairness theory,social exchange theory,and the knowledge-based view,integrates previous research findings to construct a theoretical relationship model among boundary personnel’s perceived injustice,"knowledge management behavior," and innovation performance in different status contexts.Using this model as a foundation,the primary research questions of this paper are:1.Focusing on boundary personnel from enterprises that are knowledge providers(dominant party)in collaborations,this study explores and analyzes the mechanisms underlying the relationships between boundary personnel’s perceived injustice,knowledge hiding,and innovation performance.Additionally,the moderating roles of attentional focus and personality traits are discussed.2.Centering on boundary personnel from enterprises that are knowledge recipients(subordinate party)in collaborations,the study delves into the mechanisms connecting boundary personnel’s perceived injustice,knowledge seeking,and innovation performance.The moderating effect of boundary personnel’s role orientation is also examined.3.When considering boundary personnel in mutual dependency relationships,the paper analyzes the relationships between boundary personnel’s perceived injustice,knowledge exchange,knowledge integration,and innovation performance.Discussions also encompass the moderating roles of emotional regulation,interpersonal relationships,and third-order modulations.4.This research further refines and combines the concept of boundary personnel’s perceived injustice,conducting an in-depth analysis of the fairness "conflicts" that arise within combinations.This reveals the "substitution" effect of perceived injustice and its mechanisms influencing innovation performance.To study the aforementioned issues,this paper utilized questionnaire surveys to gather data on related variables.After data filtering,valid questionnaires were obtained.Subsequently,the paper conducted data characteristic analysis,reliability,and validity tests,etc.Based on this,software tools such as SPSS 25.0,AMOS 24.0,and PROCESS3.3 were used to carry out regression analysis and Bootstrap tests on the hypotheses mentioned in the article,leading to the following conclusions:Firstly,for boundary personnel in enterprises that hold dominant positions in cooperative relationships,a positive perception of unfairness in the cooperation can enhance the company’s innovative performance.Conversely,a negative perception of unfairness can hinder the improvement of innovative performance.Secondly,when boundary personnel of the dominant party perceive positive unfairness,they are more inclined to opt for reasonable knowledge hiding with the least negative impact,rather than evasive hiding or feigned ignorance hiding.However,when they perceive negative unfairness,they are more likely to choose evasive hiding and feigned ignorance hiding,rather than reasonable hiding.Moreover,reasonable knowledge hiding contributes to improving innovative performance,while evasive and feigned ignorance hiding can obstruct it.Knowledge hiding mediates the relationship between boundary personnel’s perception of unfairness and innovative performance.Lastly,after examining the modulating effects of focus and personality traits,as well as the three-tier modulating effects,it was found that a promotional focus strengthens the relationship between positive unfairness perception and knowledge hiding,while a defensive focus strengthens the relationship between negative unfairness perception and knowledge hiding.Extraverted personality traits enhance the modulating effect of the promotional focus on the relationship between boundary personnel’s positive unfairness perception and both feigned ignorance hiding and reasonable hiding.Introverted personality traits,on the other hand,weaken the modulating effect of the promotional focus on the relationship between boundary personnel’s positive unfairness perception and evasive hiding,feigned ignorance hiding,and reasonable hiding.Secondly,for enterprises that are in a disadvantaged position in cooperative relationships,both the positive and negative perceptions of unfairness held by their boundary personnel can have a positive impact on the company’s innovative performance.This suggests that boundary personnel from the disadvantaged side have a relatively higher tolerance for unfairness.Additionally,boundary personnel,when perceiving positive unfairness,are more inclined to opt for local searches to acquire knowledge rather than cross-boundary searches.However,in the face of negative unfairness perception,they tend to choose both local and cross-boundary search methods to gain knowledge.Furthermore,regarding the impact on innovative performance,the influence of local search presents an inverted U-shaped relationship.Both local and cross-boundary searches serve as mediators between perceptions of unfairness and innovative performance.Lastly,both the "friend" and "businessman" role orientations of boundary personnel amplify the relationship between their positive perceptions of unfairness and both local and cross-boundary searches.However,under negative unfairness,the "friend" role orientation weakens the relationship between negative unfairness perception and both local and cross-boundary searches.Meanwhile,the "businessman" role orientation strengthens the relationship between negative unfairness perception and local search,but its modulating effect on the relationship between negative unfairness perception and cross-boundary search is not significant.Lastly,through research,it was found that: Firstly,in interdependent cooperative relationships,the positive perceptions of unfairness by boundary personnel positively influence innovative performance,while negative perceptions of unfairness have a detrimental effect.Additionally,the perceived unfairness by boundary personnel impacts both parties’ knowledge exchange and the internal knowledge integration within enterprises,subsequently affecting innovative performance.In other words,knowledge exchange and integration play a sequential mediating role between boundary personnel’s perceptions of unfairness and innovative performance.Secondly,regardless of whether boundary personnel form positive or negative perceptions of unfairness,the emotional regulation strategy of cognitive reappraisal can attenuate their relationship with knowledge exchange.In contrast,the emotional regulation strategy of expressive suppression doesn’t influence the relationship between positive perceptions of unfairness and knowledge exchange.However,for negative perceptions of unfairness,expressive suppression neither intensifies nor instead mitigates the negative relationship between boundary personnel’s sense of unfairness and knowledge exchange.Thirdly,in situations of positive unfairness,the personal relationships of boundary personnel not only do not weaken the negative regulatory effect of cognitive reappraisal on the relationship between a sense of active unfairness and knowledge exchange but instead enhance its regulatory effect.Conversely,in situations of negative unfairness,in situations of negative unfairness,the personal relationships of boundary personnel do not amplify the positive modulating effect of cognitive reappraisal on the relationship between their perceptions of unfairness and knowledge exchange.On the contrary,it weakens its modulating impact.Fourthly,when a company holds an advantage in tangible resources and invests more in them,it anticipates greater returns in intangible resources.Hence,the positive and negative perceptions of intangible unfairness by boundary personnel have a more pronounced impact on innovative performance.Conversely,when an enterprise has an edge in intangible resources and dedicates more to them,it expects more tangible resource returns.As a result,the positive and negative perceptions of tangible unfairness by boundary personnel significantly affect innovative performance.In essence,a company’s resource advantage influences boundary personnel’s expectations for returns,and the resultant perceptions of unfairness based on these expectations have a heightened impact on innovative performance.This study focuses on boundary-spanning personnel,examining their perceptions of fairness under varying status backgrounds.Specifically,we look into the relationship between their perceptions of injustice,"knowledge management behaviors",and innovative performance.The key innovative aspects include:1.Expanding the academic research perspective on boundary-spanning personnel:While existing studies have delved deeply into boundary-spanning personnel from angles like relationships,roles,abilities,and characteristics,there is still a lack of focus on their behaviors under unfair situations.Given that product or technological innovation is not achieved overnight and often requires long-term stable collaboration,fairness is foundational for establishing and maintaining such relationships.However,due to significant differences among collaborating parties in terms of knowledge base,personnel reserves,and technological accumulation,disparities arise in resource contributions.Coupled with varying evaluations of resource contributions and benefits,and different emphases on long-term and short-term returns,issues of unfairness frequently emerge.This evokes feelings of injustice in boundary-spanning personnel,affecting their attitudes and behaviors and further impacting collaborative innovation.Hence,this research,from a fairness perspective,emphasizes the unfair perceptions of boundary-spanning personnel in an innovative collaboration context and investigates the intrinsic connection between these perceptions and innovative performance.This enriches the study of boundary-spanning personnel and offers insights into their behaviors under perceived unfairness,having both theoretical and practical significance.2.Constructing a research framework for the relationship between boundaryspanning personnel’s perceptions of injustice and innovative performance under different circumstances: In the context of collaborative innovation,differences in knowledge resources among parties can create variations in their roles and statuses.The difference in roles and statuses then determines the varying "knowledge management behaviors" of boundary-spanning personnel.Thus,combining organizational fairness theory,knowledge-based view,and social exchange theory,this study establishes a framework of "perceptions of injustice-’knowledge management behaviors’-innovative performance" for knowledge providers,knowledge recipients,and those who play both roles.It explores the mechanisms of relationships like "perception of injustice-knowledge hiding-innovative performance" when in a dominant position(as a knowledge provider),"perception of injustice-knowledge seeking-innovative performance" in a subordinate position(as a knowledge recipient),and "perception of injustice-knowledge exchange-knowledge integration-innovative performance" in an equal position(both as a provider and recipient).This research also verifies how status in a collaboration impacts the relationship between perceptions of injustice,"knowledge management behaviors",and innovative performance.This not only enriches the "perception of fairness-attitude/behavior-performance" framework in organizational fairness theory but also aids in understanding the behavior choices of boundary-spanning personnel under different status backgrounds,laying the groundwork for further studies.3.Revealing the operational mechanisms of perceptions of injustice on innovative performance in "conflict" situations: Based on organizational fairness theory,this research categorizes perceptions of injustice into positive and negative perceptions of injustice.Combined with resource types,these are further divided into positive tangible,positive intangible,negative tangible,and negative intangible perceptions of injustice.The study then discusses the impact of these "conflicting" perceptions of injustice on innovative performance.The findings suggest that a company’s resource advantages influence its expectations for reward resource types,and these expectations "amplify" the perceptions of injustice formed by boundary-spanning personnel on such resources,resulting in a more significant impact on innovative performance.This discovery aligns with the findings of Bos et al.(1997),suggesting that different types of injustices can "compensate" for each other,exhibiting a certain "substitution" effect.However,this study also uncovers that this "compensation" or "substitution" is not absolute but is limited and influenced by corporate expectations.These findings help companies rationally understand the behaviors of their partners and their boundary-spanning personnel,addressing issues of unfairness in collaborations appropriately.4.Proposing strategies for selecting and managing boundary-spanning personnel in collaborative corporate innovation: Although existing studies have discussed the crucial role of boundary-spanning personnel in collaborative innovation,most overlook how a company’s position in a collaboration affects the cognition and behavior of boundary-spanning personnel.This study,therefore,investigates boundary-spanning personnel under different status backgrounds,analyzing their "knowledge management behaviors" in response to perceived unfairness in collaborative innovation and how these choices impact innovative performance.Additionally,this research explores the moderating effects of focus of regulation,role orientation,and emotional regulation,unveiling the underlying mechanisms behind the behavior choices of boundaryspanning personnel under various status backgrounds.This provides companies with some insights into effectively managing boundary-spanning personnel based on their position in a collaboration and individual characteristics,thereby maximizing the role of boundary-spanning personnel in collaborative innovation. |
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