弱肉強食是企業生存的真實處境。強勢者勝,弱勢者敗,被奉為競爭下的常態。不過, 隨創 (Bricolage) 文獻卻充滿希望地指出,如果弱勢者懂得槓桿身旁資源,仍有可能於劣 勢中創新。本研究以隨創理論為基礎,探索弱勢者如何能重新建構資源以回應強勢者所 施加的制約。本研究分析研華科技如何回應德國競爭者於中國工業電腦市場的優勢地 位。本案例觀察弱勢者如何逆轉強勢者的優勢,萃取其脆弱之處,進而以此弱點建構手 邊的資源,逐步改變劣勢地位。在學理上,本文提出「逆強」的資源建構模式,找出「強 者必弱」之原則,讓隨創理論更加豐富多元。於實務上,本研究所提出之逆機而動、逆 敵而取、逆勢而行的三項劣勢創新原則,可以提供企業以小搏大的借鏡。若能反向思考, 將強勢者的阻力逆向變成其助力,改變企業競爭之法則將不再是不可能。
“The weak are the prey of the strong” seems to be the reality of business jungle. High-power actors win and low-power actors fail. This research employs bricolage as a theoretical basis, and explores how low-power actors could reconstruct resources to respond to constraints imposed by high-power actors. This study examines the case of Advantech’s response to its German high-power competitor in the industrial computer market in Mainland China. This case study observes how the low-power actor inversed the high-power actor’s advantage into fragileness while constructing resources to change its relative power position. Theoretically, this article proposes a “power-inversing” model for resource construction, which recognizes the inevitable weakness of the high-power actors and enriches the diversity of bricolage theory. Practically, our research suggests three principles of bricolage: recognizing weakness from the strongest, converting foes into friends (so as to obtain resources), and shifting the power dynamics. By reversing the high-power actor’s stumbling blocks into stepping stones, it might not be impossible to change the law of competition.