Search results

This study aims to investigate how the inter-organizational learning (inter-OL) of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) promote intra-organizational learnings (intra-OL) and how inter- and intra-OL jointly promote organizational innovation in the Korean electronics industry. This study also examines the moderating effect of organizational dynamism.

A unique theoretical model shows how inter-OL promotes organizational innovation through intra-OL, knowledge flows and stocks. Data was collected from 201 SMEs in the Korean electronics industry and analyzed by structural equation modeling.

The findings show that inter-OL directly and indirectly influences innovation. Inter-OL promotes both knowledge flows and stocks, but the only feedforward flows influence innovation through knowledge stocks while feedback flows directly influence innovation. Additionally, the study finds an indirect effect of inter-OL on knowledge stocks and a strong direct effect on innovation when dynamism is high. Intra-OL activities fully mediate between inter-OL and innovation when dynamism is low.

This study uses single informants to measure all constructs. Future studies should use multiple informants.

This study shows that OL in SMEs is shaped by internal processes and external collaborations. Maintaining a connection with various external knowledge sources and creating collaborative opportunities to share learning experiences is critical to innovation.

This study is the first to empirically examine the relationship between inter- and intra-OL activities within a conceptual framework. The study provides a strategic view of how to facilitate OL activities considering the degree of organizational dynamism.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the intra‐firm dynamics of business model enactment, paying particular attention to the social context in which that enactment occurs.

The article develops its hypotheses from qualitative case studies. In particular, the article presents two exploratory cases designed to generate questions and hypotheses.

The article generates two hypotheses: first, the social capital of a firm enhances its capacity to enact its intra‐firm business model; and second, when business model redesign alters the organizational location in which activities and transactions are performed, social capital will become especially salient.

Exploratory research is both suggestive and limited. Additional descriptive and explanatory research will more fully explore the phenomenon of the role of social capital in enacted business model design, as well as present data bearing on cause‐effect relationships.

For the manager, the implication of the research relates especially to building an enactment capacity for the firm's business model; attention to social relationships and investment in social capital will enhance a firm's enactment capacity.

The article is the first to consider the intra‐firm dynamics of business model design and to integrate the concept of social capital into an understanding of design enactment.

The purpose of this study is to examine the nature of regional macroeconomic risk by examining the trade networks formed by regional multinational enterprise (MNE) activity at the aggregate level, and exploring the subsequent implications on the vulnerability of those networks to economic shocks.

The study draws on contemporary developments in graph theory to revisit the nature and dynamics of complex trade networks in the Southeast Asian region from 1990 to 2012.

Findings indicate that the topology of the regional trade network has changed significantly in the period examined, in that it has become denser, more connected and more clustered. Analysis further indicates that disruptions to the trade network during periods of shock have exhibited decreasing levels of magnitude, pointing to greater robustness over time.

The results show that intra-regional MNE activity has the effect of reducing risk in the region. If MNEs aim to reduce their risk exposure, they must first deepen their commitment to the regional market.

This paper enriches current understanding of the changing nature of regional risk, and represents one of the first efforts to examine international trade networks in light of recent developments in the understanding of networks beyond the conventional random graph.

Describes the organizational learning practices in a project management environment to ensure project quality. The project management and organizational learning processes are described using the plan‐do‐study‐act (PDSA) cycle from quality management. Data from a survey of practicing project managers support the theory that organizational learning practices are associated with project knowledge, which is associated with project performance. Project knowledge is associated with learning that occurs both within and across projects. Managers can use this research to develop specific strategies to increase project success through learning. Researchers can use the results to understand how learning occurs in project environments. Implications are provided for project managers to use in focusing the learning activities of a project team.

This paper intends to propose an “ontological shift SECI model” as a tool to diagnose organizations in the context of knowledge creation, and thereby support the management of knowledge creation‐related projects.

This research's hypothesis is based on existing knowledge creation theories and is tested using a case study methodology. The authors first examine the model in a completed project in order to test its validity and second, apply it in Company A's software project to demonstrate its feasibility and usefulness.

In any given project, knowledge creation activities occur in various ontological entities – individual, group, organization or social‐network. The diagnosis tool, which proved to be useful in this paper, traces such ontological shifts and makes visible all key activities of a knowledge creation project. These activities form an “ontological shift model” and trace an “activity map” which exposes underlying enablers and barriers, and provides viable solutions for improvement.

To carry out the analysis, the key activities identified in the knowledge creation‐related project have to be described in detail according to their ontological and epistemological dimensions. However, such description is complex and requires specialized expertise in knowledge creation and rich knowledge of the ongoing project.

The tool proved useful for supporting project managers in diagnosing their project's knowledge creation shortcomings. When knowledge creation breakdowns occur in a project, the tool can act as a navigator and uncover alternatives to continue the knowledge‐creating spiral.

Knowledge creation process is difficult to manage because of its cause ambiguity and intangibility. What is a knowledge creation activity? And why? This model makes explicit experienced managers' tacit solutions to knowledge creation problems. It can make organizational knowledge creation activities visible and therefore manageable for junior staff, outside consultants and even future software modeling.

This exploratory research examines environmental, institutional, and behavioral factors that affect interorganizational knowledge development and transfer between United Kingdom business schools and business. Three theoretical bases—transaction cost economics, extension of transaction cost economics, and power properties—are integrated in order to understand and identify the antecedents and dynamics of the interorganizational interface. Results support the hypothesis that interface collaboration and face‐to‐face communications are important mediators of academic‐business outcomes—learning business practices and cooperative research.

This research aims to investigate the adoption of electronic communication tools and seeks to shed more light on their diffusion process, a challenging task for project‐based (PBO) and traditional business organizations (TBO).

The data for the study were collected through three surveys, one total population survey in the Finnish and Swedish house building industries representing traditional business organizations, together with a focused and a total population survey in project‐based organizations.

The main findings from the survey indicate a difference in attitude between the employees of TBOs and PBOs. Moreover, electronic document management and scheduling were more prominent among PBOs, because these firms exhibit more inter‐organizational communication.

The findings are limited to project‐based and traditional business organizations. The research emphasises the fact that PBOs make more inter‐firm collaboration efforts and thus require more extensive communication systems for inter‐organizational links. Further research is needed in other industries to validate the present findings.

By looking at the use of ICT, the aim was to determine which e‐communication tools are more tightly coupled to management and how firms can benefit most from these tools for organizational governance.

This is one of the few studies to have examined the uses of ICT in a PBO and TBO context and especially in Finnish and Swedish background.

Supply chain security (SCS), as a component of an organization's overall supply chain risk management strategy, has become a critical factor for businesses and government agencies since September 11, 2001, yet little empirical research supports policy or practice for the field. Therefore, this paper develops and presents a categorization of SCS based on existing research. This categorization of supply chain literature can help academics and practitioners to better understand SCS and also helps to identify a research agenda. Setting a research agenda for SCS will help academic and practitioner research focus on critical issues surrounding SCS.

The researchers thoroughly reviewed the literature on SCS, including academic publications, white papers, and practitioner periodicals. The literature was then categorized according to the approach to SCS and the practical implications of this categorization are presented. In addition, this categorization was used to identify research gaps.

This analysis found that SCS needs more attention from the academic community. Like earlier assessments of this literature, this analysis found it to be mainly normative, with little research based on primary data. This paper categorizes the literature into four approaches to SCS: intraorganizational, interorganizational, a combination of intraorganizational and interorganizational, and ignore. This study develops a focused agenda for future, primary, empirical research on SCS.

The sources of data for this literature review are secondary. The review sets a research agenda and calls for future empirical testing.

Practitioners will benefit from the framework presented here by better understanding approaches to SCS. This comprehensive review discusses the characteristics of SCS in great depth. As other researchers follow the research agenda, practitioners will benefit from the empirical findings and theory building.

This paper summarizes the literature on SCS to date, a topic that has grown in importance, yet received little attention from academics. This is the first comprehensive literature review of SCS. It includes a categorization of four possible approaches to SCS. It also distinguishes SCS from supply chain risk, while also recognizing their relationship. It identifies key issues in SCS research and calls for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement on employee motivation, job satisfaction and organizational identification as well as employee citizenship in voluntary community activities.

Employees (n=224) of a major airline carrier participated in the study based on a 54‐item questionnaire, containing four different sets of items related to volunteering, motivation, job satisfaction and organizational identification. The employee sample consisted of two sub‐samples drawn randomly from the company pool of employees, differentiating between active participants in the company's CSR programs (APs) and non participants (NAPs).

Significant differences were found between APs and NAPs on organizational identification and motivation, but not for job satisfaction. In addition, positive significant correlations between organizational identification, volunteering, job satisfaction, and motivation were obtained. These results are interpreted within the broader context that ties social identity theory (SIT) and organizational identification increase.

The paper contributes to the understanding of the interrelations between CSR and other organizational behavior constructs. Practitioners can learn from this study how to increase job satisfaction and organizational identification. Both are extremely important for an organization's sustainability.

This is a first attempt to investigate the relationship between CSR, organizational identification and motivation, comparing two groups from the same organization. The paper discusses the questions: “Are there potential gains at the intra‐organizational level in terms of enhanced motivation and organizational attitudes on the part of employees?” and “Does volunteering or active participation in CSR yield greater benefits for involved employees in terms of their motivation, job satisfaction and identification?”.

The aim of this paper is to examine leadership styles among middle‐level managers in social and health care using the leadership role definitions developed by Robert Quinn et al..

The data were obtained by means of a postal survey sent to middle‐line managers in social and health care services in municipalities and municipal federations within the responsibility area of one university hospital in Finland. The survey was sent to 703 managers, the response rate was 62 percent. Leadership styles differences were measured according to gender, professional background, activity sector, age, work experience and unit size. To determine statistical significance, t‐test was used.

Leadership roles of middle‐level managers were evenly distributed on a relatively high level. Statistically significant differences found in leadership styles were related to gender, professional background, activity sector and unit size. Leadership styles stressed intra‐organizational activities, while extra‐organizational roles received less attention.

Using Quinn's model to describe leadership roles provides one view of the type of leadership style adopted by social and health care managers in a situation involving several ongoing reforms including those addressing management practices. Previously, Quinn's model has been widely employed to depict leadership roles in business management but rarely to model management in social and health care as in this paper.