A Study of The Relationship Between Social Networks and Technological Innovation of R&D Team Member

• Main Authors: Chen-Ming Hung, 洪正明
• Other Authors: Ming-Shiun Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/31262522658831475262

博士 === 國立臺北大學 === 企業管理學系 === 95 === Applying social networks analysis to technological innovation, this survey research is a qualitative and quantitative field study for R&D team member of IC design house in Taiwan. The formal qualitative study has shown the independent relationship between technique network and friendship network. In this study, the relationship between social network and technological innovation is further surveyed. A theoretical model is proposed for the relationships among social centrality, social embeddedness and technological innovation, which moderated by transaction cost. For conceptualizing, categorizing, and measuring R&D teams’ social networks, a previously qualitative research develops a R&D teams’ social networks typology that identifies three types, that is, job network, consulting network, and trust network. Based on social network theory, independent variables are designed as the centrality and embeddedness of social network. Based on transactional cost theory, moderate variables are designed as job complexity and asset specificity. Social embeddedness includes two constructs, that is, structural embeddedness and relational embeddedness. Structural embeddedness means the degree of organization control. Relational embeddedness including three constructs, that is, social ties of job/consulting/trust network. Seniority and patent are key constructs of asset specificity. Using IC design house as sampling space, the disturbance of extraneous variable can be reduced. The results show structural embeddedness influence the technological innovation insignificantly. The results show the greater of job/consulting/trust network centrality will be associated with higher technological innovation. The results also show the greater relational embeddedness of job/consulting/trust network will be associated with higher technological innovation. Furthermore, adding asset specificity to centrality as moderate variable, the regression test shows the interaction item significantly influences the relationship between centrality, relational embeddedness and technological innovation. Its R2 value explaining more variance than does centrality, relational embeddedness only. The regression tests show the job complexity and asset specificity positively moderates the relationship between social network and technological innovation. For technological innovation, the influence of the social network centrality and the informal relational embeddedness of social network are more powerful than formal structural embeddedness of organizational control. By measuring the social centrality and the social embeddedness of work/consulting/trust network, the performance of technological innovation of R&D team member can be evaluated. That provides the decision support information for job design and distribution. In term, it will promote the quality and schedule performance of technological innovation.