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1 – 10 of over 4000Beatriz Ortiz, Mario J. Donate and Fátima Guadamillas
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the mediating effect of the identification of valuable external knowledge on the relationship between the development of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the mediating effect of the identification of valuable external knowledge on the relationship between the development of inter-organizational ties (structural social capital) and the acquisition of external knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of 87 firms from Spanish biotechnology and pharmaceutics industries, the authors have tested the proposed mediation hypothesis by applying the partial least squares technique to a structural equations model.
Findings
The study results show that those firms with stronger, more frequent and closer inter-relationships are able to increase the amount of intentionally acquired knowledge, partly due to the greater level of development of their knowledge identification capability. Thus, firms with a higher capability to recognize the value of the knowledge embedded in their inter-organizational networks will be more likely to design better strategies to acquire and integrate such knowledge into their current knowledge bases for either present or future use.
Originality/value
This research contributes to knowledge management and social capital literature by means of the study of two key determinants of knowledge acquisition – structural social capital and knowledge identification capability – and the explanation of their relationships of mutual influence. The paper thus tries to fill this literature gap and connects the relational perspective of social capital with the knowledge-based view from a strategic point of view.
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Silvia Rita Sedita, Fiorenza Belussi, Ivan De Noni and Roberta Apa
We address the following research questions: (1) Is the innovation trajectory of the acquirer affected by previous acquisitions? (2) In which direction knowledge recombination…
Abstract
Purpose
We address the following research questions: (1) Is the innovation trajectory of the acquirer affected by previous acquisitions? (2) In which direction knowledge recombination from the acquisition is pushed further? (3) Is the technological acquisition more a means for knowledge exploration and radical innovation or, on the contrary, a way for consolidating previous technological specialization?
Design/methodology/approach
The nature of this study is exploratory; therefore, we opted for an inductive approach based on the L'Oréal case study analysis. Data were triangulated from different sources: (a) the L'Oréal website and press releases collected in the 2009–2015 period; (b) journal articles and books on the global cosmetics industry and the insightful work of Jones (2010); (c) the Questel Orbit database containing data on patents; and (d) the Zephyr – Bureau van Dijk database containing information on the acquisitions of firms.
Findings
Empirical evidence from a patent data analysis reveals a paradoxical path. On the one hand, acquisitions enable the company to explore new technological spaces; on the other hand, they allow it to reinforce a preexisting technological trajectory, even when the knowledge base of the target is distant from that of the acquirer. Thus, in our case study, the absorption and recombination of knowledge from a variety of domains support specialization more than diversification technology strategies.
Originality/value
We add to innovation management literature a new perspective, by offering a detailed analysis, through patent data, of the knowledge recombination process, led by technological acquisitions.
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Maria Carmela Annosi, Elena Casprini, Antonella Martini and Jessica Geovana Ramón Torres
Drawing from the knowledge-based view of the firm, this paper aims to explore the knowledge management practices that the acquirer uses to exploit its knowledge creating…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing from the knowledge-based view of the firm, this paper aims to explore the knowledge management practices that the acquirer uses to exploit its knowledge creating conditions for the exploitation of the target’s knowledge and to explore its knowledge by realizing routines for the integration of new knowledge within the target.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents an in-depth case study analysis based on the acquisition of a Dutch food service organization by an Italian company operating in the same sector.
Findings
The case study analysis reveals four mechanisms for knowledge integration, two aimed at exploiting the acquirer’s knowledge, and two aimed at exploring the acquirer’s knowledge.
Originality/value
This paper unveils that it is the interlinkage among organizational, human and technological factors, at multiple layers of the target, which allows the knowledge integration within the post-acquisition process.
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Stephanie Moura, Christian Daniel Falaster and Thomas C. Lawton
This study aims to explore how the absorptive capacity of emerging market multinationals (EMNEs) facilitates increased acquirer performance in industry exploration and technology…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how the absorptive capacity of emerging market multinationals (EMNEs) facilitates increased acquirer performance in industry exploration and technology exploration cross-border acquisitions (CBAs).
Design/methodology/approach
The research context for this study is Brazilian EMNEs and their CBAs. The final database contains 101 CBAs.
Findings
The authors find that industry exploration strategies negatively affect financial performance, but technology exploration strategies have a positive effect. The acquirer’s absorptive capacity can exacerbate the negative effects, except in instances of technology exploration strategies, where there is a demonstrable benefit from the acquirer’s absorptive capacity.
Originality/value
The study contributes first by providing a more nuanced understanding of the effects of absorptive capacity on postacquisition performance, depending on the type of knowledge explored. Second, by drawing on EMNE learning perspectives, the authors demonstrate the versatility of absorptive capacity in emerging markets.
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The primary objective of this investigation was to explore how employees’ utilization of social media for work-related purposes impacts their service innovation behavior, both…
Abstract
Purpose
The primary objective of this investigation was to explore how employees’ utilization of social media for work-related purposes impacts their service innovation behavior, both directly and through the intermediary mechanisms of knowledge management and employees’ risk-taking.
Design/methodology/approach
In developing its conceptual framework, this study has drawn upon the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) theory. To test its hypotheses, this study has surveyed 241 financial analysts from ten Iranian financial companies and has employed variance-based structural equation modeling (specifically, PLS-SEM) with the assistance of “WarpPLS 8.0 software.”
Findings
The findings revealed that employees’ work-related use of social media positively influences their service innovation behavior using knowledge management, encompassing knowledge sharing and acquisition capability as well as employee risk-taking. However, this influence is not directly significant.
Originality/value
To the best of our knowledge, this study marks the first instance in which the effect of work-related use of social media on employee service innovation behavior directly and through the mediating roles of knowledge management and risk-taking has been investigated through the lens of the SOR paradigm, especially in the financial sector.
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Delio Ignacio Castaneda, Luisa Fernanda Manrique and Sergio Cuellar
This paper aims to focus on research regarding organizational learning (OL) and knowledge management (KM), and to specifically investigate whether OL has been conceptually…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on research regarding organizational learning (OL) and knowledge management (KM), and to specifically investigate whether OL has been conceptually absorbed by KM.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on 16,185 articles from the Scopus and ISI Web of Science databases, using VantagePoint 10.0 software. The method used in this study is a systematic literature review covering KM and OL publications from the 1970s, when the OL field started to grow, up to 2016.
Findings
Nuclear processes of OL, creation and acquisition of knowledge, have been conceptually absorbed by KM literature in the past years.
Research limitations/implications
Only two databases have been considered, Scopus and ISI Web of Science, because of their academic prestige. However, these databases include a large number of articles on KM and OL. Search terms used could exclude some relevant terms, although all major descriptive terms have been included.
Practical implications
This paper identifies thematic clusters in KM and OL, evolution of both fields, most cited authors and representative journals by topic.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to jointly analyse the evolution of KM and OL. This paper shows a conceptual absorption of OL into KM, which may enrich academic discussion and also provide some clarity to the conceptualization of these two fields.
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Md. Nurun Nabi, Liu Zhiqiang and Marium Akter
Drawing on the transformational leadership (TL) and knowledge-based view (KBV) theory, the present study investigates the impact of TL on radical innovation (RI) through the…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the transformational leadership (TL) and knowledge-based view (KBV) theory, the present study investigates the impact of TL on radical innovation (RI) through the mediation of knowledge management capabilities (KMCs) and moderation of competitive intensity (CI) of textile and apparel industries with an Asian context.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from the relevant stakeholders of the industry-university collaboration teams with a structured survey questionnaire. Working with 304 textile and apparel industry respondents, structural equation modeling based partial least square (PLS-SEM) is used to test the conceptual framework. PLS-SEM technique was applied to test the hypothesis using Smart-PLS 3.8 packages program.
Findings
The results proposed TL has a positive impact on KMC and RI. Furthermore, the study reveals KMC positively mediated the relationship between TL and RI. This mediation is conditional on the moderating role of CI for the KMC (knowledge acquisition capability + knowledge-sharing capability) path to RI. Conversely, moderation of CI is insignificant and does not influence on fostering RI.
Practical implications
Leaders and managers have realized creative and innovative culture is built within the organizations by leader-follower collaboration through actual knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing. Moreover, industry policymakers and practitioners establish the knowledge management department to enhance the innovation culture among the firms' stakeholders to encourage RI to sustain the global business market.
Originality/value
The study has introduced KMC as a mediator and CI as a moderator in the proposed model between TL-RI and KMC-RI. Further, it explores the linkages between TL, KMC, CI and RI.
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Puja Khatri, Harshleen Kaur Duggal, Sumedha Dutta, Preeti Kumari, Asha Thomas, Tatyana Brod and Letizia Colimoro
With new hybrid working models in place post COVID-19, it is requisite that knowledge workers (KWs) stay agile. Knowledge-oriented leadership (KOL) can help employees with…
Abstract
Purpose
With new hybrid working models in place post COVID-19, it is requisite that knowledge workers (KWs) stay agile. Knowledge-oriented leadership (KOL) can help employees with essential knowledge acquisition (KA) facilitating the journey toward hybrid work agility (HWA). This study, thus, aims to explore the impact of KOL and KA on HWA and reveal whether this effect stems uniformly from a single homogenous population or if there is unobserved heterogeneity leading to identifiable segments of agile KWs.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected through stratified sampling from 416 employees from 20 information technology enabled services companies involved in knowledge-intensive tasks. Partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling approach, using SMART PLS 4.0, has been applied to examine the effect of KOL and KA on HWA. Finite mixture PLS, PLS prediction-oriented segmentation and multigroup analysis have been used to identify segments, test segment-specific path models and analyze the significance of the differences in the path coefficients for unobserved heterogeneity. Predictive relevance of the model has been determined using PLS Predict.
Findings
Results indicate that KOL contributes to employees’ KA and HWA. A significant positive relationship is also reported between KA and HWA. The model has medium predictive relevance. A two-segment solution has been delineated, wherein independent agile KWs (who value autonomy and personal agency over leadership for KA) and dependent agile KWs (who depend on leaders for relational and structural support for KA) have been identified. Thus, KOL and KA play a differential role in determining HWA.
Research limitations/implications
The authors’ major contribution to the knowledge body constitutes the determination of antecedents of HWA and a typology of agile KWs. Future researchers may conduct segment-wise qualitative analysis to delineate other variables that contribute to HWA.
Practical implications
Technological advances necessitate that knowledge-intensive industries foster agility in employees for strategic agility of the organization. For effecting agile adaption of an organization to the knowledge economy conditions, it is pertinent that the full potential of this human resource be used. By profiling HWA of KWs on the basis of dimensions of KOL and the level of their KA, organizations will be able to help employees adapt better to rapidly changing work conditions.
Originality/value
HWA is a novel concept and very germane in a hybrid working environment. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the effects of the dimensions of KOL and KA in relation to HWA, along with an empirical examination of unobserved heterogeneity in the aforementioned relationship.
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Xiang Yu, Yuichi Washida and Masato Sasaki
This study aims to examine direct effects of qualified team gatekeepers on absorptive capacity (AC), and the mediating roles of combinative capabilities – knowledge integration…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine direct effects of qualified team gatekeepers on absorptive capacity (AC), and the mediating roles of combinative capabilities – knowledge integration capability (KIC) and interteam coordination.
Design/methodology/approach
A social networking analysis was used to analyze a unique data set collected from all members of 32 Japanese research and development (R&D) teams to identify key individuals who perform daily gatekeeping functions. This study analyzed the data through partial least squares structural equation modeling with higher-order latent variables. Finally, cross-validation tests were used with holdout samples to test the model’s predictive validity.
Findings
Qualified gatekeepers directly contribute to teams’ realized AC but not to their potential AC. Furthermore, qualified gatekeepers can improve their teams’ capability to absorb and exploit external knowledge by facilitating their capability to consolidate knowledge, that is, its KIC and interteam coordination.
Originality/value
Unlike prior research that asks top managers to identify team gatekeepers, this study used social network analysis to identify these vital individuals. This study provides a new framework indicating how qualified gatekeepers impact the AC of R&D teams through the examination of both the direct and indirect paths of gatekeeping abilities, two combinative capabilities as mediators and team AC.
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María Esmeralda Lardón-López, Rodrigo Martín-Rojas and Víctor Jesús García-Morales
The purpose of this study is to deepen understanding of the effects of using social media technologies to acquire technological knowledge and organizational learning competences…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to deepen understanding of the effects of using social media technologies to acquire technological knowledge and organizational learning competences, of technological knowledge competences on organizational learning and finally of organizational learning on organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was performed by analyzing data from a sample of 197 technology firms located in Spain. The hypotheses were tested using a structural equations model with the program LISREL 8.80.
Findings
This study’s conceptual framework is grounded in complexity theory – along with dynamic capabilities theory, which complements the resource-based view. The study contributes to the literature by proposing a model that reflects empirically how business ecosystems that use social media technologies enable the development of interorganizational and social collaboration networks that encourage learning and development of technological knowledge competences.
Research limitations/implications
It would be interesting for future studies to consider other elements to conceptualize and measure social media technologies, including (among others) significance of the various tools used and strategic integration. The model might also analyze other sectors and another combination of variables.
Practical implications
The results of this study have several managerial implications: developing social media technologies and interorganizational social collaboration networks not only enables the organizational learning process but also encourages technological knowledge competences. Through innovation processes, use of social media technologies also contributes to strengthening companies’ strategic positioning, which ultimately helps to improve firms’ organizational performance.
Social implications
Since social media technologies drive information systems in contemporary society (because they enable interaction with numerous agents), the authors highlight the use of complexity theory to develop a conceptual framework.
Originality/value
The study also deepens understanding of the connections by which new experiential learning contributes to the generation of coevolutionary adaptive business ecosystems and digital strategies that enable development of interorganizational and social collaborative networks through technological knowledge competences. Only after examining the impact of social media technologies on organizational performance in prior literature, did the authors underscore that both quantity and frequency of social media technology use are positively related to improvement in knowledge processes that lead to employees’ creation and acquisition of new metaknowledge.
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