Social Trust and Open Innovation in an Informal Economy: The Emergence of Shenzhen Mobile Phone Industry
This study examines how social trust facilitates firms’ collaborative efficiency in an informal economy. We extend the open innovation theory to explain the straightforward role of social trust in the Shenzhen mobile phone industry. This single case study yields two principal findings. Fir...
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doaj-e80a2f6631fc4c15a4ad4b32ba8987a92020-11-25T02:33:56ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502020-01-0112377510.3390/su12030775su12030775Social Trust and Open Innovation in an Informal Economy: The Emergence of Shenzhen Mobile Phone IndustryYu-Chun Chen0Min-Nan Chen1Department of Business Administration, National Formosa University, Yunlin 63201, TaiwanDepartment of BioBusiness Management, National Chiayi University, Chiayi 60054, TaiwanThis study examines how social trust facilitates firms’ collaborative efficiency in an informal economy. We extend the open innovation theory to explain the straightforward role of social trust in the Shenzhen mobile phone industry. This single case study yields two principal findings. First, social trust fosters the efficient integration of value chains for mobile phone development. Four types of informal entrepreneurs with high social trust built on homogenous sanctioned ethnic groups (i.e., Fujian, Hunan, Chaoshan, and Wenzhou) collaboratively conform to the chip vendors, independent design houses, integrators, manufacturers and channel retailers in the Shenzhen mobile phone industry. These four groups of informal entrepreneurs achieve ethnic legitimacy by organizing the value chains with mobile feature phones built on Shenzhen mobile phone modes. Second, social trust among the four sanctioned ethnic groups is a critical determinant for shortening the time-to-market of new products and catalyzes product specialization to effectively respond to market needs in the Shenzhen mobile phone industry. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for research on social trust and open innovation in informal institutions.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/3/775open innovationinformal economyshenzhen mobile phone industrysocial trust |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Yu-Chun Chen Min-Nan Chen |
spellingShingle |
Yu-Chun Chen Min-Nan Chen Social Trust and Open Innovation in an Informal Economy: The Emergence of Shenzhen Mobile Phone Industry Sustainability open innovation informal economy shenzhen mobile phone industry social trust |
author_facet |
Yu-Chun Chen Min-Nan Chen |
author_sort |
Yu-Chun Chen |
title |
Social Trust and Open Innovation in an Informal Economy: The Emergence of Shenzhen Mobile Phone Industry |
title_short |
Social Trust and Open Innovation in an Informal Economy: The Emergence of Shenzhen Mobile Phone Industry |
title_full |
Social Trust and Open Innovation in an Informal Economy: The Emergence of Shenzhen Mobile Phone Industry |
title_fullStr |
Social Trust and Open Innovation in an Informal Economy: The Emergence of Shenzhen Mobile Phone Industry |
title_full_unstemmed |
Social Trust and Open Innovation in an Informal Economy: The Emergence of Shenzhen Mobile Phone Industry |
title_sort |
social trust and open innovation in an informal economy: the emergence of shenzhen mobile phone industry |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Sustainability |
issn |
2071-1050 |
publishDate |
2020-01-01 |
description |
This study examines how social trust facilitates firms’ collaborative efficiency in an informal economy. We extend the open innovation theory to explain the straightforward role of social trust in the Shenzhen mobile phone industry. This single case study yields two principal findings. First, social trust fosters the efficient integration of value chains for mobile phone development. Four types of informal entrepreneurs with high social trust built on homogenous sanctioned ethnic groups (i.e., Fujian, Hunan, Chaoshan, and Wenzhou) collaboratively conform to the chip vendors, independent design houses, integrators, manufacturers and channel retailers in the Shenzhen mobile phone industry. These four groups of informal entrepreneurs achieve ethnic legitimacy by organizing the value chains with mobile feature phones built on Shenzhen mobile phone modes. Second, social trust among the four sanctioned ethnic groups is a critical determinant for shortening the time-to-market of new products and catalyzes product specialization to effectively respond to market needs in the Shenzhen mobile phone industry. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for research on social trust and open innovation in informal institutions. |
topic |
open innovation informal economy shenzhen mobile phone industry social trust |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/3/775 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT yuchunchen socialtrustandopeninnovationinaninformaleconomytheemergenceofshenzhenmobilephoneindustry AT minnanchen socialtrustandopeninnovationinaninformaleconomytheemergenceofshenzhenmobilephoneindustry |
_version_ |
1724811379090653184 |