School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China.
Jiangsu Yangtze River Economic Belt Research Institute, Nantong University, Nantong 226002, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 16;20(4):3497. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20043497.
Due to the popularization and development of new energy vehicles (NEVs) worldwide, power batteries that have been used are being retired and replaced. In China's battery recycling industry, the legal NEV battery recycling enterprises are at a negative financial performance. Based on theory of organizational adaptation, the key to innovation performance and sustainable development is recognition of the environment and strengthening organizational flexibility. This study empirically explores the bidirectional dynamic relationships among heterogeneous environmental uncertainties, innovation activities, firm growth and strategic flexibility in Chinese NEV battery recycling firms. A total of 1040 sample data were collected from 2015 to 2021. The research results demonstrate that environmental uncertainty (EU), strategic flexibility (SF) and innovation activities (INNO) all had impacts on firm growth (FG). Specifically, INNO had strongly negative effects in the short term, and in the long term, it will bring a positive effect to FG; the impact of EPU was more important than market uncertainty (MU) to FG and innovation activities. This could be due to the dependence of the Chinese NEV battery recycling industry on government policy. However, MU has a strong impact on SF. Moreover, the levels of SF should be reasonable, otherwise it could be a burden to enterprises. There also exists the bidirectional dynamic relationships between FG and INNO. This study contributes a non-core perspective to strategic flexibility research by revealing the complex environmental mechanism, and to the Chinese NEV battery recycling industry we provide a theoretical basis and practical guidance for government and firms on how to apply SF to promote innovation and realize growth in the present business environment.
由于全球新能源汽车（NEV）的普及和发展，已使用的动力电池正在退役和更换。在中国的电池回收行业，合法的新能源汽车电池回收企业的财务表现呈负增长。基于组织适应理论，创新绩效和可持续发展的关键是对环境的认识和加强组织灵活性。本研究实证探讨了中国新能源汽车电池回收企业中异质环境不确定性、创新活动、企业成长和战略灵活性之间的双向动态关系。从 2015 年到 2021 年，共收集了 1040 个样本数据。研究结果表明，环境不确定性（EU）、战略灵活性（SF）和创新活动（INNO）都对企业成长（FG）产生了影响。具体来说，INNO 在短期内具有强烈的负面影响，而从长期来看，它将对 FG 产生积极影响；EPU 的影响比市场不确定性（MU）对 FG 和创新活动更重要。这可能是因为中国新能源汽车电池回收行业依赖于政府政策。然而，MU 对 SF 有很强的影响。此外，SF 的水平应该是合理的，否则它可能会成为企业的负担。FG 和 INNO 之间也存在双向动态关系。本研究通过揭示复杂的环境机制，为战略灵活性研究提供了一个非核心视角，同时为中国新能源汽车电池回收行业提供了一个理论基础和实践指导，帮助政府和企业了解如何在当前的商业环境中应用 SF 来促进创新和实现增长。
