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Strategy scholars have long argued that breakthrough innovation is generated by recombining knowledge from distant domains. Even if firms have the ability to access and absorb knowledge from distant domains, however, they may fail to pay attention to such knowledge because it is seemingly irrelevant to their tasks. We draw attention to this problem of knowledge relevance and develop a theoretical model to illuminate how ideas from seemingly irrelevant (i.e., peripheral) domains can generate breakthrough innovation through the cognitive process of analogical reasoning, as well as the conditions under which this is more likely to occur. We situate our theoretical model in the context of teams in order to develop insight into the microfoundations of knowledge recombination within firms. Our model reveals paradoxical requirements for teams that help to explain why breakthrough innovation is so difficult.

This study aims to examine how the role of peripheral knowledge changes along with the perspectives of vendor and client in inter-organizational IT outsourcing. To this end, this study tests the effects of the peripheral knowledge of vendors and clients on IT outsourcing performance under three different combinations of performance-assessing views from both parties.

To contrast the effects of the peripheral knowledge of vendors and clients based on their views, this study collects matching data on 107 projects from both parties. The survey method is adopted to measure the peripheral knowledge levels of vendors and clients and IT outsourcing success. The associations between peripheral knowledge and IT outsourcing performance are then assessed when the views match, cross and agree to a certain level.

The peripheral knowledge of vendors plays a more significant role than that of clients in most IT outsourcing cases. Moreover, the agreement between the peripheral knowledge of vendors and clients shows a moderating effect only when the performance is assessed by clients than by vendors.

This study contrasts the peripheral knowledge of vendors and clients by altering performance-assessing views in IT outsourcing. This study also rationalizes why the peripheral knowledge of vendors is more important than that of clients, as well as explains whose perspective is more significant when the performance is assessed.

Teamwork represents a democratic logic that may contradict the bureaucratic logic characterizing many organizations. I develop arguments based on new institutional theory suggesting that such a contradiction threatens a team’s legitimacy. My study of 71 teams lends support for two claims that capture a legitimacy paradox confronting teams: (1) Egalitarian work processes do correspond to more effective interactions within teams, however (2) To the extent that egalitarianism is uncommon in the organization in which a team is embedded, external evaluations of team effectiveness are less favorable. I discuss the implications of these arguments for subsequent research on organizational teamwork.

Peripheral vision (PV) or side vision refers to that which is visible to the eye while being outside of its central area of focus. PV enables organisms to detect movement and potential threats in their environment. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the concept of PV in the business environment, as well as its relationship with knowledge structures in the form of technology knowledge and absorptive capacity. The relative importance and significance of technology knowledge and absorptive capacity as mediators between “relational capital” (RC) and “PV” are also examined.

The paper reports an empirical investigation involving 125 employees from the banking sector. Data collected was statistically analysed using PLS-graph software version 03.00. Results of the data analysis show relationships uncovered in the existing literature.

The creation of RC by employees from the banking sector relies to a large extent on managers’ ability to perceive, analyse and understand activity that is often outside the focus of their attention.

Managers who explicitly value their RC have a wider vision of their environment. In turn, a wider understanding of the activity in the environment drives the strengthening of the organisation and its RC.

PV can have a direct impact on the organisation’s appetite for the development of its technology knowledge base, thus contributing to enhance the firm’s absorptive capacity as well as the extent, quality and value of its RC.

Despite overwhelming research on market orientation, during the last 30 years, the need for consolidation is addressed. This research investigates the role of market orientation capability in the marketing–performance outcome chain. Three fundamental capabilities are conceptualized – market exploration, market orientation exploration, and market orientation tacitness – and included as antecedents of the market orientation capability. The hypothesized model includes operational and organizational performance variables and combines key-informant data and accounting-based data for five years. The model is tested with a single industry of 297 companies that provide support for the expected direct and indirect effects of market orientation capability. The inclusion of the three fundamental capabilities as antecedents of market orientation explains 74% of its variance and have a significant indirect impact on sales growth and profitability. The chapter suggests that there remain numerous important unanswered questions in conceptualizing and empirically studying market orientation capabilities.

This paper seeks to determine attitudes that impact on knowledge transfer between academics (university teaching and research staff) employed in today's competitive, technology‐based university setting.

The study generated a rich set of data by conducting, first, an exploratory, qualitative study followed by a confirmatory, quantitative study. Through this process, an initial list of 402 attitudes to knowledge transfer was derived which was narrowed to 75 for the quantitative survey which, through factor analysis, was further reduced to 24 variables. The 24 variables were grouped into four factors for which trust and motivation are more relevant to the knowledge provider and absorptive capacity and knowledge regeneration for the receiver.

High levels of agreement were found for the propositions that senior academics lacked compensation for mentoring activities, and hence, the motivation to transfer knowledge, and that a heavy teaching load prevented the absorption of transferred knowledge. By contrast, disagreement was found with the propositions that an elderly age impeded the transfer of knowledge or adapting to new ways of transferring knowledge.

From the responses obtained it was possible to identify those rated highly and from which conclusions could be drawn that may assist the university concerned to improve knowledge transfer among its academic staff. Compensation to senior academics for their time and effort was seen as the most important pre‐requisite for knowledge transfer. A reduction in teaching loads and the range of expectations to which academics are subjected would also facilitate knowledge transfer as would increasing academics' use of ICT and ability to assess its effectiveness, as well as recognising that knowledge transfer during social interactions may ameliorate the lack of knowledge transfer in the more formal, technology‐based environment.

The paper identifies key attitudes of academics to transferring knowledge to colleagues in the changing work place at universities in which academics are expected to perform at a high level in diverse activities and use technology to maximise their efficiency and effectiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a patent-based framework for investigating the effect of previous and current open innovation (OI) adoption on firms’ knowledge management strategies and type of innovation output.

Patent data are employed for gauging innovation practices, exploitation vs exploration strategies, specialization vs diversification choices and type of innovation. The study is performed on a sample of 1,280 patents granted to 66 top R&D spending bio-pharmaceutical companies. The year of analysis is 2010.

The previous recourse to specific innovation practices influences the current practice selection. R&D collaboration, outsourcing and mergers and acquisitions are employed to pursue exploration. Past purchase of patents increases the likelihood to achieve architectural and radical innovation in current activities.

The work recommends the use of patent data to gauge many key elements for knowledge and innovation management. Results exhort scholars to investigate innovation practices at the knowledge domain level in order to detect specific behaviors.

The study provides a methodology for supporting decision-makers in assessing firms’ OI adoption, also performing the benchmark with competitors and R&D partners. Given the high computational effort required for applying the methodology, the authors are planning to give access to the software specifically developed for this study.

The work contributes to the current debate considering the effect of a combination of innovation practices on knowledge management strategies and type of innovation output, with a particular focus on OI activities. Moreover, the separation between the impact of previous and current innovation practices provides useful insights.

Training activities organized by maker-spaces have become the most important channel through which makers acquire new external knowledge related to problem solving and thus contribute significantly to makers' innovation performance. Is it true that the more training activities in which makers participate, the better their innovation performance? Following the logic of process analyses, this paper empirically verifies the effects of the scope and frequency of makers' participation in training activities on their innovation performance.

Based on a survey of 134 makers in China, this paper employed the procedure recommended by Preacher and Hayes (2008) to empirically test the total effects, direct effects and indirect effects of the scope and frequency of participation in training activities on makers' innovation performance via their ability to exploit new knowledge.

The research findings show that the scope (frequency) of participation in training activities has a positive (negative) effect on makers' innovation performance via the mediating effect of the makers' ability to exploit new knowledge. Time pressure acts as a negative moderator.

This paper sheds light on a considerably overlooked research area by investigating the effects of the scope and frequency of makers' participation in training activities on their innovation performance. The authors further identify and empirically test the theoretical mechanism by considering the mediating effect of makers' ability to exploit new knowledge. The research findings also provide a managerial training activity arrangement strategy for makerspaces and government.