Information technology-enabled explorative learning and competitive performance in industrial service SMEs: a configurational analysis
Journal of Knowledge Management
ISSN: 1367-3270
Article publication date: 9 July 2020
Issue publication date: 3 September 2020
Abstract
Purpose
As purveyors of knowledge-based and high value-added services to the manufacturing sector, industrial service small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) must develop the information technology (IT) capabilities that, in combination with other non-IT capabilities, enable their capacity for organizational learning (OL) and for explorative learning in particular. In this context, this study aims to identify the different causal configurations that account for the nonlinear complex interplay of IT capabilities for exploration and strategic capabilities for explorative learning as they affect these firms’ competitive performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data obtained from 92 industrial service SMEs were analyzed with a configurational approach, using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).
Findings
As it allows for equifinality, the fsQCA analysis identified two sets of causal configurations that characterize the sampled firms’ explorative learning capability as it relates to competitive performance. In the first set, two configurations were equally associated with high innovation performance, whereas in the second set, four configurations were equally associated with high productivity.
Originality/value
By viewing explorative learning as a dynamic capability that is enabled by the firm’s IT and strategic capabilities, the study contributes to OL theory by providing a more concrete or “operational” grounding, which allows for a greater practical applicability of this theory. By taking both the configurational and capability-based views of the OL-IT-performance causal framework, the authors provide an empirical basis for unraveling, explaining and understanding the complex non-linear relationships embedded within this framework.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Erratum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article, “Raymond, L., Bergeron, F., Croteau, A.-M., Ortiz de Guinea, A. and Uwizeyemungu, S. (2020), “Information technology-enabled explorative learning and competitive performance in industrial service SMEs: a configurational analysis”, Journal of Knowledge Management, contained an error in the affiliation for Dr. Ana Ortiz de Guinea, which should now read as “Associate Professor at Deusto Business School, Universidad de Deusto, Bilbao, Spain; Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Exeter Business School, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom, and Associate Professor at HEC Montréal, Montréal, Canada”. This error was introduced in the production process and have now been corrected online.
Citation
Raymond, L., Bergeron, F., Croteau, A.-M., Ortiz de Guinea, A. and Uwizeyemungu, S. (2020), "Information technology-enabled explorative learning and competitive performance in industrial service SMEs: a configurational analysis", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 24 No. 7, pp. 1625-1651. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-12-2019-0741
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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