Trust, Knowledge Sharing and Innovation: A Cross-cultural Perspective on Sino-German Collaboration

信任、知识共享与创新：中德合作的跨文化视角

• 批准号: 211966383
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Martin Högl
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Antai College of Economics and Management
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2010-12-31 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/211966383?language=en
• 关键词: Trust; Knowledge; Sharing; Innovation; Cross

This project is proposed in face of the relevance of Sino-German business collaboration. German investments in China are profound and still increasing, while Chinese firms have started to enter the German market. Our general aim is to provide scientific guidance for how to foster interpersonal collaboration and thus high-level performance and innovation in Sino-German alliances. In doing so, the Chinese research team in this project focuses on Sino-German knowledge sharing and the German team examines the trust/distrust mechanisms in Sino-German alliances. We posit that effective knowledge sharing based on interpersonal trust will lead to increased performance and innovation in the process of Sino-German collaboration. Knowledge sharing studies led by the Chinese team will start with an examination of the cultural antecedents of knowledge sharing. Following a dual social exchange and economic exchange framework, this series of studies is composed of 1) literature review with special focus on Chinese and German studies, 2) a cross-cultural study comparing Chinese and German motivation mechanisms of knowledge sharing, and 3) an inter-cultural study underpinning knowledge sharing within Sino-German collaborative teams. There will be empirical studies in forms of in-depth interviews and surveys conducted in China and Germany. Trust/distrust studies led by the German team will first analyze cultural differences in the German and Chinese concept of trust and of distrust (arguing that these are distinct concepts), relying on a qualitative approach. Comparing the concepts, we will point to etic and to emic aspects of trust and distrust. Furthermore, we will conduct a crosscultural study to empirically validate trust and distrust measures, to identify antecedents of trust and distrust as well as moderating conditions. In the third step, we will conduct an inter-cultural study to analyze how dissimilarities in the trust/ distrust concept influence knowledge sharing in Sino-Germans teams. In this collaborative project, the Chinese team and the German team jointly work to explore drivers of higher level performance and innovation in Sino-German alliances. With different but related research focuses, this project is expected to bring about synergy effects. 1）Complementary theory building. Each side will provide the other partner findings from the local research arena, which is an indispensable element of any cross-cultural study. 2) The two teams located in China and German make it possible to collect data for the cross-cultural approaches. 3) Trust, knowledge sharing and innovation are theoretically related constructs. Part of the outcomes of this project will be a joint research model integrating research interests from both the Chinese and German teams. Altogether this Sino-German collaborative project will generate contributions in the fields of trust, knowledge sharing, innovation and cross-cultural study.

本项目是面对中德商业合作的现实而提出的。德国对中国的投资是巨大的，而且还在增加，而中国公司已经开始进入德国市场。我们的总体目标是为如何在中德联盟中促进人际合作，从而促进高水平的绩效和创新提供科学指导。在此过程中，该项目的中国研究团队将重点放在中德知识共享上，德国团队则研究中德联盟中的信任/不信任机制。我们假设，基于人际信任的有效知识共享将导致中德合作过程中绩效和创新的提高。由中国团队领导的知识共享研究将从考察知识共享的文化前因开始。在社会交换和经济交换的双重框架下，本系列研究包括1)文献综述，特别关注中德两国的研究；2)中德知识共享动机机制的跨文化比较研究；3)中德合作团队知识共享的跨文化研究。将通过在中国和德国进行深入访谈和调查的形式进行实证研究。由德国团队领导的信任/不信任研究将首先分析德国和中国信任和不信任概念(辩称这是两个不同的概念)的文化差异，并依赖于定性方法。比较这两个概念，我们将指出信任和不信任的特定和主要方面。此外，我们将进行一项跨文化研究，对信任和不信任措施进行实证验证，确定信任和不信任的前因以及缓和条件。在第三步中，我们将进行跨文化研究，以分析信任/不信任概念的差异如何影响中德团队的知识共享。在这个合作项目中，中国团队和德国团队共同努力，探索中德联盟中更高水平的业绩和创新驱动因素。由于研究侧重点不同但相关，该项目有望带来协同效应。1)互补理论建设。每一方都将提供对方在当地研究领域的发现，这是任何跨文化研究不可或缺的要素。2)位于中国和德国的两个团队为跨文化研究收集数据提供了可能。3)信任、知识共享和创新是理论上相关的概念。该项目的部分成果将是一个联合研究模式，整合了中国和德国团队的研究兴趣。总之，这个中德合作项目将在信任、知识共享、创新和跨文化研究等领域做出贡献。