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1 – 10 of over 53000The purpose of this paper is to provide new and deeper insight into how creative knowledge processes are facilitated in multidisciplinary groups working with innovation in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide new and deeper insight into how creative knowledge processes are facilitated in multidisciplinary groups working with innovation in knowledge-intensive organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through an ethnographic fieldwork following two groups in a Norwegian oil and gas company and one group in a Norwegian research institute working with innovation. The analysis is inductive and conducted within a qualitative framework seeking to go deeper into the complexity of the facilitation of creative knowledge processes. The analytical framework is sociocultural and underscores how new knowledge and ideas are facilitated in the tension between different voices.
Findings
Analyses show how the leaders of the groups facilitated imaginative and creative processes through open dialog by giving room for diverse disciplinary knowledge and stimulating different roles in the groups. The diverse experiences of the occupational disciplines in addition to four complementary roles that ensured group dynamics, stimulated polyphony and creative tension in the groups. This creative tension enhanced the groups’ imagination, which again enabled innovative idea development.
Research limitations/implications
This contribution is limited by looking at three groups in two organizations. On the premise that model generalization depends on extensive empirical data, the current paper should be considered as preliminary/exploratory research that aims at investigating how creative knowledge processes leading to innovative ideas are facilitated in knowledge-intensive organizations.
Practical implications
The paper offers a practical contribution in how leaders can facilitate such creative processes leading to innovative ideas. The paper is a contribution to leadership as a relational and dialogical practice.
Originality/value
The way the creative knowledge processes are orchestrated is visualized in a phase model. The paper contributes to new conceptualizations and thus theory development of leadership by offering polyphonic orchestration as a concept and a way of understanding facilitation from a sociocultural perspective.
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Xianmiao Li, William X. Wei, Weiwei Huo, Yi Huang, Manyi Zheng and Jinyi Yan
This study aims to build a research model from the perspectives of knowledge hiding and idea implementation to examine what factors influence idea implementation and the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to build a research model from the perspectives of knowledge hiding and idea implementation to examine what factors influence idea implementation and the cross-level moderating role of team territory climate.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from universities, 52 (R&D) teams in China via a two-wave survey. The final sample contained 209 team members and their immediate supervisors. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test hypotheses.
Findings
The results indicated that individuals’ knowledge-hiding behavior had a significantly negative impact on idea implementation and creative process engagement, which played a mediating role. Team territorial climate played a cross-level moderating role between knowledge hiding and idea implementation. If team territorial climate was at a high level, then the negative connection between knowledge hiding and idea implementation would be weaker.
Research limitations/implications
Under the perspective of territorial behavior in Chinese cultural, it can help to distinguish territorial behavior and be preventive at individual and team levels. This study not only enables managers to clearly understand the precipitating factors of idea implementation but also provides constructive strategies for alleviating the negative effects of knowledge territoriality on creative process engagement and idea implementation.
Originality/value
This study constructs a cross-level model to explore the relationship among knowledge hiding, creative process engagement and idea implementation at individual and team levels in the context of Chinese R&D enterprises. Additionally, the study analyzes the influence of territoriality on idea implementation under boundary conditions.
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Rouhollah Bagheri, Mohhamad Reza Hamidizadeh and Parisa Sabbagh
The current study aims to investigate the existing relationship between knowledge management (KM) infrastructures, KM process capabilities, creative organizational learning (OL…
Abstract
Purpose
The current study aims to investigate the existing relationship between knowledge management (KM) infrastructures, KM process capabilities, creative organizational learning (OL) and organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Statistical population includes executives of knowledge-based companies in Tehran Science and Technology Park of Iran. The 68 questionnaires were distributed among the census, of which 60 questionnaires were completed correctly. The research data were analyzed by SPSS and PLS software. The unit of analysis is a company that has adopted a knowledge management system (KMS). Target population of the research consisted of 85 top managers of knowledge-based companies in Tehran Science and Technology Park of Iran (N = 85). Random sampling method was applied in this study, and 71 top managers were considered as the statistical sample based on the “Morgan Table”. One standard five-point Likert questionnaire was adopted and distributed between top managers in the park; 62 questionnaires were returned, among which 60 were statistically investigated. The structural relations among variables were tested using the partial least squares method.
Findings
This study shows that the KM processes can mediate between creative OL and factors in the KM infrastructure. The results of the study demonstrate that KM process capabilities have the most crucial role in creative OL. The results indicate a significant influence of the infrastructure capabilities on the process capabilities, also the impacts of KM process capabilities on creative OL and the impacts of creative OL on organizational performance was confirmed.
Research limitations/implications
Using a holistic view of the KM performance framework, this study has provided insights to KM for researchers because it explains the integrated aspects of KM performance by examining the relationships between the KM infrastructure, knowledge process capabilities, and organizational outcomes. Previous studies on KM have been fragmented because they only consider some aspects of KM performance rather than using a holistic view of the KM performance framework: they have examined the relationship between one or two facets of KM enablers and process capability, or between KM process capabilities and organizational performance.
Practical implications
In order to manage rapid change and global competition in business environments, knowledge workers should create new business opportunities and continuously question what and how they can contribute to these chances. Organizational KMS should support the learning processes of their knowledge workers.
Social implications
The continuous learning and experiments are necessary in order to produce new ideas and products: it is critical to emphasize the importance of a KM infrastructure that supports and encourages learning in organizations. The creative learning in turn affects organizational performance indicating that without learning, organizations cannot overcome the boundary of old business practices and adjust to change in environments.
Originality/value
Previous researches did not appraise the effect of KM and its capabilities on organizational performance, and the specific influence of creative OL was disregarded. The present study demonstrates the mechanism of KM effect on organizational performance and describes the comprehensive dimensions of KM performance.
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Ingunn Johanne Ness and Gunn Elisabeth Søreide
– The aim of this article is to investigate the creative knowledge processes which are often invisible in innovation work.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this article is to investigate the creative knowledge processes which are often invisible in innovation work.
Design/methodology/approach
An ethnographic field study was conducted following three multidisciplinary groups; two groups in an Oil and Gas Company, Statoil and one group in a Research Institute. Data collection included observations, field conversations and formal interviews.
Findings
Creative knowledge processes develop over time in six different phases of initial innovation work. The article discusses the characteristics of communication and knowledge work in these phases. It was concluded that the creative processes peak in the three middle phases, and these phases can be seen as a separate “Room of Opportunity”.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited to three groups, but the pattern of phases is consistent across all groups studied.
Practical implications
This study shows that knowledge diversity in groups does not automatically lead to creativity and underscore that group members’ ability to learn from each other is crucial for the quality of new ideas. To develop innovative ideas, groups must ensure a knowledge platform and challenge present knowledge by balancing alterity and intersubjectivity in a circular movement.
Originality/value
The findings presented in a model “Room of Opportunity” show that creative knowledge processes develop in phases and peak in a separate room. This is a new way to understand early innovation work, and the model is a contribution to how such invisible processes can be visualized and facilitated.
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Bilal Bin Saeed, Bilal Afsar, Sadia Cheema and Farheen Javed
The purpose of this paper is to examine how leader–member exchange relates to subordinate’s innovative work behavior through core self-evaluation (CSE), domain knowledge and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how leader–member exchange relates to subordinate’s innovative work behavior through core self-evaluation (CSE), domain knowledge and creative process engagement. On the basis of an interactional approach, this study hypothesized that there is an interaction between leader–member exchange, CSE and domain knowledge that affects innovative work behavior, such that leader–member exchange has the strongest positive relationship with innovative work behavior when subordinates have high levels of CSE and domain knowledge; and creative process engagement mediates the effect that this three-way interaction between leader–member exchange, CSE and domain knowledge has on innovative work behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 323 employees and their immediate supervisors (121) from automotive industry. First, subordinates completed measures of their leader–member exchange, CSE and domain knowledge. Then, the supervisors of these employees assessed their subordinates’ innovative work behavior.
Findings
The results showed that leader–member exchange, CSE and domain knowledge interacted to affect employee innovative work behavior in such a way that when CSE and domain knowledge were both high, leader–member exchange had the strongest positive relationship with innovative work behavior and creative process engagement mediated this relationship.
Originality/value
This study is the first of its kind to empirically examine the interactional perspective of leader–member exchange on innovative work behavior through domain knowledge, CSE and creative process engagement. Theoretical and practical implications and future area of research are discussed at the end.
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Selena Aureli, Daniele Giampaoli, Massimo Ciambotti and Nick Bontis
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the knowledge-intensive process of creative problem-solving and its outcomes.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the knowledge-intensive process of creative problem-solving and its outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses survey data from 113 leading Italian companies. To test the structural relations of the research model the authors used the partial least square (PLS) method.
Findings
Results show that work design and training have a positive direct impact on creative problem-solving process while organizational culture has a positive impact on both creative problem-solving process and its outcomes. Finally creative problem-solving process has a strong direct impact on its outcomes and this, in turn, on firms’ competitiveness.
Practical implications
This study suggests that managers must highlight the problem-solving process as it affects a firm’s capability to find creative solutions and therefore its competitiveness. Moreover, the present paper suggests managers should invest in specific knowledge management (KM) practices for enhancing knowledge-intensive business processes.
Originality/value
The present paper fills an important gap in the BPM literature by empirically testing the relationship among KM practices, multistage processes of creative problem-solving and their outcomes, and firms’ competitiveness.
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Sangjae Lee, Byung Gon Kim and Hoyal Kim
This study aims to analyze the relationship between KM infrastructures, knowledge process capabilities, creative organizational learning, and organizational performance. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze the relationship between KM infrastructures, knowledge process capabilities, creative organizational learning, and organizational performance. The primary research focus is on the relationships between the KM infrastructure, which includes cultural, structural, management, and technology related factors, and the knowledge process capability by elaborating on the significance of knowledge processes as the determinants of organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The unit of analysis is a company that has adopted a KMS. A mail survey was used to collect the data and an internet‐based survey was also used to provide more convenience in the response. The response sample included 120 responses. The structural relations among variables were tested using the partial least squares (PLS) method.
Findings
The results of this study indicate that collaboration, learning culture, top management support, and IT support affect the knowledge process capabilities. Knowledge process capabilities and creative organizational learning in turn mediate the relationship between KM infrastructure and organizational performance, which demonstrate the relevance of KM infrastructure for organizational performance.
Originality/value
Previous studies on KM have been fragmented in that they have explained some aspects of KM performance but have not provided a holistic view of a KM performance framework. Using a holistic view of the KM performance framework, this study has provided insights to KM for researchers because it explains the integrated aspects of KM performance by examining the relationships between the KM infrastructure, knowledge process capabilities, and organizational outcomes.
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Michael D. Mumford and Samuel T. Hunter
Recognizing the impact of innovation on organizational performance, scholars from a number of disciplines have sought to identify the conditions that make innovation possible…
Abstract
Recognizing the impact of innovation on organizational performance, scholars from a number of disciplines have sought to identify the conditions that make innovation possible. Although these studies have served to identify a number of key variables, the relationship between these variables and innovation is complex. In this chapter, we argue that the apparent complexity of these relationships may be attributed to cross-level differences in the requirements for innovation and the existence of complex interactions among the phenomena operating at a given level of analysis. The implications of this multi-level perspective for understanding how innovation occurs in organizational settings are discussed.
Hassam Farooq Sahibzada, Cai Jianfeng, Umar Farooq Sahibzada, Roshi Khalid and Gul Afshan
The study explores the impact of knowledge-oriented leadership (KOL) on knowledge management (KM) processes and the indirect relationship of KM processes with organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
The study explores the impact of knowledge-oriented leadership (KOL) on knowledge management (KM) processes and the indirect relationship of KM processes with organizational performance (OP) via mediating the role of creative organizational learning (COL) in cross-cultural settings.
Design/methodology/approach
This research used a survey structure of 784 faculty and admin personnel from higher education institutions in China and Pakistan. Smart-PLS, 3.2.9 was used to perform analysis.
Findings
The result shows a significant positive influence of KOL on KM processes and KM processes on OP via the partial mediating effect of COL in China, Pakistan and the overall sample. The multi-group analysis confirmed the substantial differential effect of KOL on KM processes.
Practical implications
Outcomes of this research affirm KM's university practice and recommend how higher education academics and administrators prioritize KOL, KM processes and COL while strengthening OP in a culturally different environment.
Originality/value
The current research is among the initial experiments to determine KOL, KM processes, COL and organizational (University) performance relationships in a culturally different environment. The study is among the initials that just not empirically explore the associations between the factors but sheds light on existing literature by immediately exploring COL's mediating position in China and Pakistan's HEIs.
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The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model for understanding the impact of organisational culture on knowledge management processes and their link with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model for understanding the impact of organisational culture on knowledge management processes and their link with organisational performance. It is suggested that organisational culture should be assessed as a multi-level construct comprising artefacts, espoused beliefs and values and underlying assumptions. A holistic view of organisational culture and knowledge management processes, and their link with organisational performance, is presented.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive review of previous literature was undertaken in the development of the conceptual model. Taken together, the literature and the proposed model reveal possible relationships between organisational culture, knowledge management processes and organisational performance.
Findings
Potential implications of organisational culture levels for the creation, sharing and application of knowledge are elaborated. In addition, the paper offers possible new insight into the impact of organisational culture on various knowledge management processes and their link with organisational performance.
Research limitations/implications
A number of possible relationships between organisational culture factors, knowledge management processes and their link with organisational performance were used to examine such relationships.
Practical implications
The research model highlights the multi-level components of organisational culture. These are: the artefacts, the espoused beliefs and values and the underlying assumptions. Through a conceptualisation of the relationships between organisational culture, knowledge management processes and organisational performance, the study provides practical guidance for practitioners during the implementation of knowledge management processes.
Originality/value
The focus of previous research on knowledge management has been on understanding organisational culture from the limited perspective of promoting knowledge creation and sharing. This paper proposes a more comprehensive approach to understanding organisational culture in that it draws on artefacts, espoused beliefs and values and underlying assumptions, and reveals their impact on the creation, sharing and application of knowledge which can affect the overall organisational performance.
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