Influence Of Relational Embeddedness,ambidextrous Learning On Enterprises’ Dynamic Capability In Rural BOP Market

In order to promote the rural revitalization strategy,the state has enacted various preferential policies to encourage enterprises to actively participate in the rural industry.Under the influence of these policies,a large number of enterprises have gradually settled in rural backward areas to develop their business.However,due to the characteristics of the rural BOP(Bottom/Base of Pyramid)environment,the uncertain risks faced by enterprises in the production and development of the BOP market cannot be ignored.Specifically,on the one hand,there are the characteristics of BOP areas and BOP groups,such as lower income levels,dispersed residential areas,lower education levels,cultural heterogeneity and poor infrastructure.On the other hand,the external environment that enterprises depend on for survival is characterized by technological changes such as Big Data and artificial intelligence,as well as frequent natural disasters and epidemics,and is full of fluctuations,uncertainties,and complexity.Due to the lack of capability to deal with environmental change,as Hart(2015)argues,most BOP ventures and corporate initiatives over the past decade have either failed outright or achieved only moderate success at great cost.Dynamic capabilities include sensing capability,adaptation capability and shaping capability.It can dynamically match the resources and capabilities of enterprises with the environment in order to quickly respond to the changes and opportunities in the market and business environment.In the process of adapting to the environment,it can also shape the ecosystem in which it occupies.Therefore,improving the dynamic capability of enterprises to perceive the opportunities and threats in the rural market,adapt to the local environment,and adopt new routines,processes,and norms to shape the business environment has become the key to the success of enterprises in the rural BOP market.However,those who rely only on their own resources and information cannot effectively cope with the technological and market environment.Therefore,enterprises must seek and learn knowledge and resources from external networks to obtain complementary and heterogeneous resources.This is especially important for BOP-oriented enterprises.According to social network theory,the economic behavior of an enterprise is embedded in a social network of relationships formed by interaction with other subjects,and it can obtain and share information through trust,reciprocity,communication,etc.,which is an important carrier for building dynamic capabilities.By entering the market BOP and building cooperative relationships with non-traditional organizations and individuals(such as local government,local non-profit organizations,local community organizations,small and micro enterprises,BOP groups and their opinion leaders,etc.),enterprises can obtain complementary resources,identify innovation opportunities,integrate and redeploy internal and external resources,and thus improve their dynamic capabilities.Although scholars have studied the effects of relational embeddedness on organizational performance and firm innovation,most of them are related to markets that are not BOP,and few studies have explicitly examined how relational embeddedness or its segmentation dimension affects firms’ dynamic capabilities.This raises the question of how relational embeddedness affects the black box of firms’ dynamic capabilities.Therefore,it is urgent to explore the influence mechanism of relational embeddedness on dynamic capabilities,introduce multivariate variables(mediating and moderating variables)to further analyze this process and provide a more systematic and complete theoretical explanation.Ambidextrous learning focused on the external environment can compensate for the lack of capabilities of enterprises to cope with environmental change,as rich and complementary resources and capabilities can be acquired through learning.Exploratory learning focuses on acquiring new knowledge and expands the type and scope of knowledge resources.Exploitative learning focuses on understanding and using existing knowledge and resources and expands the content and depth of knowledge resources.Existing studies have shown that ambidextrous learning is an important way for enterprises to promote organizational innovation and organizational performance through the interaction between firms and collaborative actors.Therefore,further investigation is needed to determine whether relationship building between firms and external actors influences dynamic capability through the mediating effect of ambidextrous learning.In addition,relational embeddedness is the access channel for special resources and improves the quality of resources and information exchange.How to screen,absorb and apply these resources to the business activities of enterprises in order to better play the relational embeddedness in the impact of ambidextrous learning,enterprise human capital must also be taken into account.The characteristics of enterprise human capital(including the knowledge and experience associated with corporate employees)provide an environment that supports organizational learning.Enterprise human capital can be considered a key context for the development of ambidextrous learning that is consistent with situational ambidexterity.Therefore,the contingency role of enterprise human capital between relational embeddedness and ambidextrous learning is worth further study.On this basis,this study focuses on four questions: what are the dimensions of relational embeddedness? How does relational embeddedness affect dynamic capabilities? What role does ambidextrous learning play in this process? What role does enterprise human capital play in this process? In order to solve the above research problems,this study combines the theory of ambidextrous learning,the theory of dynamic capabilities and the theory of enterprise human capital from the perspective of relational embeddedness theory,with the aim of solving the social problems of common interest in the theoretical and practical process.That is,how to promote the enterprise to obtain resources for the external environment and realize the transformation of “resource-capability-higher order capability”,exploring the relationship between relational embeddedness,enterprise human capital,ambidextrous learning and dynamic capabilities.In accordance with the scientific research paradigm combining qualitative and quantitative research,this paper follows the research concept of “background search-research question-literature review-qualitative research(exploratory multi-case study)-theoretical analysis and deduction-questionnaire design and investigationquantitative research(multilevel regression analysis)-research conclusion”.Based on the initial research proposition proposed by the exploratory case study,further theoretical analysis and theoretical deduction are conducted,research hypotheses are proposed,conceptual models are constructed,and empirical tests are conducted.Regarding the research problems,294 valid questionnaires were obtained through questionnaire design and interview,and SPSS25.0,AMOS24.0,PROCESS3.3 and other software were extensively used for data analysis and empirical testing.The main conclusions are as follows:First,the three dimensions of relational embeddedness are interrelated.Relational embeddedness includes three dimensions: mutual trust,information sharing,and joint problem-solving.The different dimensions influence each other.That is,mutual trust has a positive effect on information sharing and joint problem-solving,and information sharing has a positive effect on joint problem-solving.Second,each dimension of relational embeddedness has a direct effect on dynamic capabilities.Mutual trust positively affects on environmental sensing capability,environmental adaptation capability,and environmental shaping capability.Information sharing and joint problem-solving have a significant positive impact on environmental sensing capability and an inverted U-shaped impact on environmental adaptation and environmental shaping capabilities.Third,ambidextrous learning plays a mediating role between relational embeddedness and dynamic capabilities.1)Each dimension of relational embeddedness has a direct impact on ambidextrous learning.2)Ambidextrous learning directly affects dynamic capabilities.3)Information sharing-ambidextrous learning,joint problem-solving-ambidextrous learning plays a chain mediating role in the relationship between mutual trust and dynamic capabilities.In addition,information sharing-joint problem-solving-ambidextrous learning plays a chain mediating role in the relationship between mutual trust and dynamic capabilities.Fourth,the moderating effect of enterprise human capital.1)Education level positively moderates the relationship between mutual trust and ambidextrous learning.Education level also positively moderates the relationship between information sharing(joint problemsolving)and exploratory learning.2)Prior experience positively moderates the effect on the impact of information sharing and joint problem-solving on ambidextrous learning.Research findings enrich and improve existing theories.The theoretical contributions and innovations are mainly reflected in the following four aspects:First,the internal structure of relational embeddedness has been improved.Most previous studies assumed that mutual trust,information sharing,and joint problem solving did not affect each other,and few studies analyzed the internal relationship between the three dimensions.There is still a lack of relevant theoretical discussion and empirical research.Oriented to the market BOP,this study confirms the causal and recursive relationships among mutual trust,information sharing,and joint problem-solving,deepens the research on the internal structure of relational embeddedness,and expands the research scope and depth of relational embeddedness theory.Second,the study uncovers the process of embeddedness paradox,expands the role of relational embeddedness in explaining and predicting dynamic capabilities,and enriches the relevant research on dynamic capability theory.Existing research on the drivers of dynamic capabilities focuses on the influence of external factors at the network level and internal factors such as organizational strategy and organizational capability.Qualitative and quantitative research based on the network relationship perspective focuses on discussing the positive effects,while the negative effects are rarely examined in depth.This study explores the effects of relational embeddedness on dynamic capability from three dimensions of mutual trust,information sharing,and joint problem-solving and analyzes the negative effects of overembeddedness.It extends the research scope of relational embeddedness theory and contributes to the literature of dynamic capabilities.Third,the study demonstrates the mechanism of relational embeddedness on dynamic capabilities and refines the theoretical model of “relational embeddedness-ambidextrous learning-dynamic capability”,which describes the generation path of dynamic capabilities more comprehensively.Previous studies have separated the organic relationship between relational embeddedness,ambidextrous learning,and dynamic capabilities.Following the research framework of “resource-capability-higher-order capability”,this study examines the mediating role of ambidextrous learning between relational embeddedness and dynamic capabilities.It complements the previous view by deepening the support for the dynamic capabilities of relational embeddedness through an ambidextrous learning perspective and provides a new perspective to explain the internal logical process of relational embeddedness affecting dynamic capabilities.Fourth,from the perspective of enterprise human capital,this study explores the boundary of the influence of relational embeddedness on ambidextrous learning and analyzes the moderating effects of education level and prior experience on the three dimensions of relational embeddedness and ambidextrous learning.In doing so,it makes up for the overemphasis of existing studies on the importance of the strengths and weaknesses of relational embeddedness on corporate competence,while neglecting the analysis of contingency factors in differentiating learning competence.This study contextualizes the conclusions,which enriches research on ambidextrous learning and provides a new perspective for exploring the relationship between relational embeddedness,human capital,and ambidextrous learning.