Toward A Theory Of Supply Chain Entrepreneurial Embeddedness In Disrupted And Normal States
提出供应链创业嵌入性概念，指大企业整合小企业创业能力（如创造力、快速决策）的三种机制：收购、联盟、模仿，并论证其在正常和危机状态下均能提升企业绩效，尤其靠近终端客户和服务导向时效果更强。
The daunting effects of COVID‐19 have motivated large firms to rethink supply chain designs and practices. As a potential contribution to such change, we introduce the concept of supply chain entrepreneurial embeddedness (SCEE), which we define as the degree to which a large firm integrates small entrepreneurial business capabilities (e.g., creativity, ingenuity, resourcefulness, rapid decision‐making, and swift execution) within its supply chain. We theorize that SCEE can be realized via at least three mechanisms— acquiring (i.e., purchasing one or more small entrepreneurial firms), allying (i.e., building cooperative alliances with such firms), and assimilating (i.e., mimicking how such firms behave). We suggest that SCEE is valuable under normal conditions, but its value increases under duress. Grounded in the concepts of structural inertia, requisite variety, mutualism, and real options, our core premise is that SCEE enables large firms to better navigate multiple and multidirectional concurrent changes in supply and demand, which in turn enhances firm performance. We contextualize this core premise by theorizing that greater end‐user proximity (wherein SCEE is located close to the final customer) and service centricity (wherein competition is primarily based on the service dimension of product–service bundles) enhance SCEE’s positive effects.