Purpose

This study aims to use the knowledge management perspective to examine the mechanism through which entrepreneurship drives firms’ technological innovation in the digital age. The objective is to develop a multi-stage integrated theoretical model to explain how entrepreneurship exerts its influence on firms’ technological innovation with a particular focus on the knowledge management perspective. The findings can be used for the cultivation of entrepreneurship and for the promotion of continuous technological innovation activities.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a case-based qualitative approach to examine the relationship between entrepreneurship and technological innovation. The authors first analyze the case of SANY and then explore the mechanism of how entrepreneurship can promote a firm’s technological innovation from the perspective of knowledge management based on the technology-organization-environment framework. An integrated theoretical model is then developed in this study.

Findings

Based on a case study, the authors propose that there are three main processes of knowledge management in firms’ technological innovation: knowledge acquisition, knowledge integration and knowledge creation. In the process of knowledge acquisition, the joint effects of innovation spirit, learning spirit, cooperation spirit and global vision drive the construction and its healthy development of firms’ innovation ecosystem. In the process of knowledge integration, the joint effects of innovation spirit, cooperation spirit and learning spirit help complete the integration of knowledge and further the accumulation of firms’ core knowledge resources. In the process of knowledge creation, the joint effects of mission spirit, learning spirit and innovation spirit encourage the top management team to establish long-term goals and innovation philosophy. This philosophy can promote the establishment of a people-oriented incentive mechanism that helps achieve the transformation from the accumulation of core knowledge resources to the research and innovation of core technologies. After these three stages, firms are passively engaged in the “reverse transfer of knowledge” step, which contributes to other firms’ knowledge management cycle. With active knowledge acquisition, integration, creation and passive reverse knowledge transfer, firms can achieve continuous technological innovation.

Research limitations/implications

This study has important theoretical implications in entrepreneurship research. This study helps advance the understanding of entrepreneurship and literature on the relationship between entrepreneurship and technological innovation in the digital age, which can broaden the application of knowledge management theories. It can also help better understand how to develop healthy firm-led innovation ecosystems to achieve continuous optimization of knowledge and technological innovation in the digital age.

Originality/value

This study proposes an integrated theoretical model to address the issues of entrepreneurship and firms’ technological innovation in the digital age, and it is also one of few studies that focuses on entrepreneurship and innovation from a knowledge management perspective.

中文翻译：

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数字时代创业对技术创新的影响：知识管理的视角

 目的

本研究旨在从知识管理的角度探讨数字时代创业精神驱动企业技术创新的机制。目标是开发一个多阶段综合理论模型来解释创业如何对企业技术创新产生影响，特别是从知识管理的角度。研究结果可用于培育创业精神和促进持续的技术创新活动。

设计/方法论/途径

本研究采用基于案例的定性方法来研究创业与技术创新之间的关系。笔者首先对三一重工的案例进行了分析，然后基于技术-组织-环境的框架，从知识管理的角度探讨了创业精神促进企业技术创新的机制。本研究随后开发了一个综合的理论模型。

 发现

基于案例研究，作者提出企业技术创新中知识管理的三个主要过程：知识获取、知识整合和知识创造。在知识获取过程中，创新精神、学习精神、合作精神和全球视野共同作用，推动企业创新生态系统的构建及其健康发展。在知识整合的过程中，创新精神、合作精神和学习精神的共同作用，有助于完成知识的整合，进一步积累企业的核心知识资源。在知识创造过程中，使命精神、学习精神和创新精神的共同作用，激励高层管理团队树立长期目标和创新理念。这一理念可以推动建立以人为本的激励机制，有助于实现从核心知识资源的积累到核心技术的研究和创新的转变。经过这三个阶段，企业被动地进行“知识反向转移”步骤，这有助于其他企业的知识管理循环。通过主动的知识获取、整合、创造和被动的逆向知识转移，企业可以实现持续的技术创新。

研究局限性/影响

本研究对于创业研究具有重要的理论意义。这项研究有助于增进对数字时代创业精神和有关创业与技术创新之间关系的文献的理解，从而拓宽知识管理理论的应用。它还可以帮助更好地理解如何发展健康的企业主导的创新生态系统，以实现数字时代知识和技术创新的持续优化。

 原创性/价值

本研究提出了解决数字时代创业与企业技术创新问题的综合理论模型，也是为数不多的从知识管理角度关注创业与创新的研究之一。