Search results

This study aims to explore the mechanism of boundary-spanning search on firm’s innovation performance under environmental dynamics from the perspective of strategic knowledge integration.

A survey was conducted among Chinese firm managers and R&D personnel, resulting in the collection of 315 valid samples. Hierarchical regression analysis was mainly adopted to demonstrate the hypothesized relationships, while the Sobel test and bootstrap method were used to further validate the mediating effects.

The results demonstrate that boundary-spanning search in different dimensions is a critical factor in the improvement of firm innovation performance (FIP). Two types of strategic knowledge integration are the main factors causing FIP and mediate the influence of boundary-spanning search on FIP. Furthermore, environmental dynamics moderate the relationship among boundary-spanning search, strategic knowledge integration and FIP.

Managers need to strengthen the boundary-spanning search for market and technical knowledge, which will promote firm innovative performance. Managers also need to implement strategic knowledge integration, which specifically includes using planned strategic knowledge integration to compensate for knowledge deficiencies, thereby achieving predetermined objectives; and using emergent strategic knowledge integration to update their understanding of internal and external environments, and to reset strategic objectives. In dynamic environments, managers should emphasize strategic knowledge management activities more.

From a strategic management perspective, this study categorizes strategic knowledge integration into planned and emergent forms. By applying the logic of knowledge acquisition, integration and creation, it explores how boundary-spanning search affects FIP through strategic knowledge integration as the intermediary and the boundary conditions of environmental dynamics. This not only provides a deeper understanding of the nature and effects of boundary-spanning research but also enhances the theory of strategic knowledge management.

This research aims to investigate the impact of servant leadership on knowledge management and its subsequent connection to cost-saving innovation. The study further explored these relationships by examining the mediating roles of innovation capabilities and technological volatility.

The research is applied in purpose and employs a descriptive-survey method for data collection. It follows a qualitative-quantitative approach, utilizing expert interviews in the qualitative phase. The sample consists of 35 managers and expert professors with knowledge management experience in universities and high-tech industries, selected through the snowball method. Data collected from Iranian organizations were analyzed using AMOS software.

The results revealed a positive correlation between servant leadership and knowledge management. Knowledge management demonstrated a significant positive relationship with cost-saving innovation. Additionally, technological volatility and innovation capabilities were identified as crucial factors influencing the connection between knowledge management and innovation, particularly in promoting frugality.

While this research provides a comprehensive model, it acknowledges specific limitations that warrant further investigation. The study predominantly focused on Iranian organizations, suggesting an opportunity to broaden its scope to include diverse organizational perspectives from various cultural and geographical contexts. Moreover, a promising avenue for future research involves exploring entrepreneurial orientation as a potential mediating variable. Given its significant impact on organizational dynamics, introducing entrepreneurial orientation could enhance our understanding of its effects on both knowledge management and the promotion of frugal innovation. This expansion may illuminate the intricate interplay between entrepreneurial orientation, knowledge processes and innovative practices, contributing to a more sophisticated discussion on effective organizational strategies.

The healthcare sector relies on knowledge management systems to improve knowledge flows and effectively capture, leverage and share knowledge with several organizational stakeholders. However, knowledge as a resource represents a social construct that involves additional managerial complexities and challenges, including undesirable knowledge behaviours. The aim of the current study is to provide insight on how knowledge management systems, knowledge hoarding, knowledge hiding and task conflict shape the quality of care provided by hospitals. We propose and test an original revealing model.

We follow a quantitative approach to address the structural relationship between variables using a combination of factor analysis and multiple regression analysis. The model is tested adopting a structural equation modelling approach and using survey data conducted to 318 healthcare professionals working in Portuguese hospitals.

The main findings suggest that knowledge hiding is positively related to task conflict in hospitals, and task conflict negatively influences quality of care. Knowledge management systems directly and indirectly (via knowledge hoarding) promote quality of care. Moreover, knowledge management systems also mitigate the negative influence of task conflict over quality of care. We propose a final corollary on the relevant role of HRM as the backstage for the model.

Our research offers a novel insight into an overlap of organizational behaviour and healthcare management research. It provides an original framework on knowledge management systems, counterproductive knowledge behaviours and task conflict in hospital settings.

Our research offers a novel insight into an overlap of organizational behaviour and healthcare management research. It provides an original framework on knowledge management systems, counterproductive knowledge behaviours and task conflict in hospital settings.

The aim of this research is to elucidate the correlation between open innovation, digital strategies and networking in enhancing agricultural enterprises within the new perspective of Agrifood 5.0. As such, it contributes to making businesses more competitive, especially in the Italian agricultural sector, where small and medium-sized enterprises are highly fragmented. Numerous studies have asserted that the competitiveness of actors operating within a specific territory is closely linked to local identity and image enhancement. Agricultural organizations are undergoing a profound transformation, with technological assets emerging as catalysts for new synergies. Advanced technologies such as robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT) and automation (AI) are emerging as differentiating elements capable of further advancing the agricultural sector, transitioning it from Agrifood 4.0 to Agrifood 5.0. The empirical analysis of the research shows a positive correlation between a collaborative attitude and a propensity for innovation. Indeed, the data demonstrated that digital strategies and open innovation positively influence competitiveness in agricultural SMEs.

The methodology employed in this study is mixed, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The quantitative aspect involves analysis of the dataset from the Italian Statistical Institute (ISTAT) through logistic regression, while the qualitative component entails analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with a sample of 174 agricultural cooperatives in southern Italian regions (Campania). This approach allows for a comprehensive understanding of the research topic, capturing both numerical trends and nuanced insights from interviews.

After analyzing the data from the 7th General Census of Agriculture conducted by ISTAT, a clear understanding of the sector has emerged, revealing several potential research avenues. It is evident that innovation in the agricultural sector is often driven by the largest and best-capitalized production entities, primarily located in Italy. Conversely, smaller agricultural entities can benefit from networking as new technological assets act as catalysts for new synergies, innovation and competitiveness.

Enhancing the relational contribution within the network and humanizing a fragmented sector are crucial elements for promoting open innovation. Network structuring facilitates the transmission of managerial knowledge, contributing to an overall increase in the intellectual and relational capital of the agricultural sector. These factors, combined with open innovation, enhance the competitiveness of individual firms and elevate the brand of the entire sector, creating a conducive environment for transitioning toward Agrifood 5.0. This transition is characterized by increased interconnection, continuous innovation and overall prosperity. Specific studies on this topic are lacking in Italy, particularly in the southern regions. Therefore, this contribution focuses on investigating the Campania region.

The novelty of this study lies in its investigation of the relationship between agricultural enterprises and innovation in the context of enterprises networking strategies (i.e. associationism and/or cooperation), promoting competitiveness. The limitations of this study are related to the dimension of the sample selected and its relationship with other productive sectors.

The study directs attention to the psychological conditions experienced and knowledge management practices leveraged by faculty in higher education institutes (HEIs) to cope with the shift to emergency remote teaching caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. By focusing attention on faculty experiences during this transition, this study aims to examine an under-investigated effect of the pandemic in the Indian context.

Interpretative phenomenological analysis is used to analyze the data gathered in two waves through 40 in-depth interviews with 20 faculty members based in India over a year. The data were analyzed deductively using Kahn’s framework of engagement and robust coding protocols.

Eight subthemes across three psychological conditions (meaningfulness, availability and safety) were developed to discourse faculty experiences and challenges with emergency remote teaching related to their learning, identity, leveraged resources and support received from their employing educational institutes. The findings also present the coping strategies and knowledge management-related practices that the faculty used to adjust to each discussed challenge.

The study uses a longitudinal design and phenomenology as the analytical method, which offers a significant methodological contribution to the extant literature. Further, the study’s use of Kahn’s model to examine the faculty members’ transitions to emergency remote teaching in India offers novel insights into the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on educational institutes in an under-investigated context.

This study underscores the critical importance of knowledge management (KM) in the context of small and medium entrepreneurial firms (SMEFs) that aim to leverage their organisational learning capability (OLC) to enhance their product innovation performance (PIP). Drawing on the foundations of resource-based and contingency theories, this study delves into the impact of OLC on SMEFs' PIP through the intermediary role of KM, focussing on an emerging economy perspective. Additionally, this investigation explores how market dynamism (MDY) moderates the indirect connection between OLC and PIP via KM.

The study involved 262 SMEFs in Ghana, with data analysis conducted using PROCESS macros in SPSS 23.0 and LISREL 8.50.

This study's findings underscore the mediating role of KM in shaping the relationship between OLC and PIP. Furthermore, they reveal that, particularly in high MDY environments, the link between KM and PIP through KM is significantly strengthened.

The study clarifies that responding to MDY's demands is a complementary managerial capability enabling firms to channel their KM activities to improve PIP. Effectively, understanding the relationship between MDY and KM could substantially influence the policies and strategies managers adopt to improve PIP for organisational growth and survival.

This study extends the OLC–PIP research and contributes to the growing literature by offering a strong account of how OLC influences PIP and the prevailing boundary conditions that impact the KM-PIP relationship.

This study aims to identify and theorize the conditions affecting the formation of librarians’ knowledge-hiding behaviour in academic libraries.

This study is a qualitative research based on the grounded theory approach. The data collection method involved in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The data was analysed using the MAXQDA software in three stages: open, axial and selective coding. The study included 22 faculty members and experienced librarians from academic libraries. The participants were selected using a combination of targeted and snowball sampling techniques.

The study yielded 96 open codes, 24 axial codes and 18 selective general codes related to the axial category of knowledge hiding (KH). The librarians’ KH axial coding paradigm pattern was developed in an academic library setting. The study also highlighted some general consequences of KH in academic libraries, such as lobbying and creating knowledge rents, deterioration of organizational relationships and interactions, reducing the competitive advantage of academic libraries and hindering individual and organizational learning.

This study has made a valuable contribution to the identification and explanation of the factors that affect KH. In addition, it has filled a research gap within the library and information science (LIS) field. The findings of the study may offer managers new strategies for addressing the occurrence of KH in academic libraries, and they also add to the existing literature on knowledge management in LIS.

This study aims to present a qualitative analysis of how higher education institutions (HEIs) faculties manage knowledge to facilitate the learning and engagement of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

This study uses a qualitative research design to collect responses from 39 HEI faculties to understand how they manage knowledge to facilitate learning in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Data collection tools comprised a set of predetermined questions, soliciting written responses.

Coding of the collected data confirmed that there was a knowledge management process in HEIs for enabling higher education of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A total of six themes emerged, clarifying the knowledge management process. The four components of this process were creation, storage, sharing and use. In addition to the four process-related themes, two other themes that emerged were barriers to knowledge creation and supportive culture. This covers the relevant aspects of the set-up around the knowledge management process in HEIs trying to improve the higher education of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

There is a need to improve the education of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, which requires effective knowledge management. This paper reveals details of the steps in the knowledge management process relevant to this aim. This is a unique contribution, providing a basis for future research and the introduction of required knowledge management practices by HEIs dedicated to providing high-quality education to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Organizations increasingly use knowledge arbitrage to stimulate innovation and achieve competitive advantage. However, in knowledge management its use in startups is yet unexplored. This study aims to examine the utilization of knowledge arbitrage by startups, specifically during COVID-19.

This study employed an open-ended essay methodology to explore the drivers and barriers that startups face in utilizing knowledge arbitrage. We collected data from 40 participants to understand the role of knowledge arbitrage in startups’ knowledge management practices.

This study’s findings highlight the significance of knowledge arbitrage for startups. The benefits identified include organizational benefits such as building networks, innovating new products and achieving competitive advantage and financial benefits such as cost reduction and sales growth. The study also identifies several technological and organizational drivers and barriers that startups confront during knowledge arbitrage.

This study contributes to the existing literature on knowledge management by extending our understanding of knowledge arbitrage’s role in startups. Additionally, it sheds light on the importance of knowledge arbitrage for startups and the challenges they face, particularly in a disrupted environment reared by COVID-19. The study provides insights for the scholars and practitioners interested in effective knowledge management in startups.

Past research is mixed on family small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) use of external advisors and the limited empirical evidence is confined to developed markets. Drawing on the knowledge-based view of the firm, this research focuses on the “familiness” characteristic of SMEs and their use of external accountants as advisors in an emerging marketplace. Using internal resources for basic tasks is proposed to strengthen this relationship from a managerial cognition lens. Focusing also on SME internalization, this research probes the performance ramifications of using external accountants as advisors.

Hierarchical regression is used to test the hypotheses. The mediation hypothesis is tested by bootstrapping the indirect effect. The interaction hypothesis is visualized with simple slope analysis.

The results indicate that the familiness of SMEs is positively associated with the use of external advisors, and thereby, with high performance. SMEs with higher international exposure also use these external advisors to a greater degree. Family SMEs that have a focused use of internal resources for basic tasks benefit more from the use of external accountants for advising tasks.

This research sheds light on how family involvement in management influences firm performance, showing the moderating role of the use of internal advisors for basic tasks and the mediating role of the use of external accountants for advising. We add to the knowledge-based view by describing how family SMEs can utilize internal and external knowledge resources simultaneously.