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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.

Confronted with the transformation of industrial economies, the Taiwanese information technology (IT) industry has to upgrade from production to innovation orientation. The paper seeks to explore what is the core competence of the Taiwanese IT industry. In brief, what kind of intellectual capital (IC) is embedded in the Taiwanese IT industry and how this IC is managed effectively. The point is to discover how the Taiwanese IT industry should start to accumulate or enhance the core resource and strategic capability for future competitive advantage.

The study selected a relatively representative number of IT firms in Taiwan covering six industries. This study conducted a two‐stage survey to construct a measurement model and explored the IC profile of the Taiwanese IT industries.

This study was able to identify eight IC factors as a measuring model in exploring the IC profiles of four Taiwanese IT industries. The findings indicate the stronger IC in the Taiwanese IT industry as well as the weaker side.

The research was limited by the sample within the Taiwan information communications technology industries. It needs to be extended across further industries in the future. It should also be compared with other countries’ industrial IC under similar assessment and measurement. The significant differences between industries could be explored by case study methodology.

Innovation capability plays an important role in confronting the knowledge‐based economy in Taiwanese IT industries. However, there is no compelling evidence to show that investment in research and development will help to achieve the goal of establishing Taiwan as an “Asia Pacific Electronic Information Industry Resource Integration Center”.

This research indicates that the IC System Model developed would help us to identify the interactions among IC elements. It could help to explore whether it is true that, the higher the IC management, the higher is the influence from the input of IC to the output.

This study aims to ask two important research questions: “Do the investments of innovation capital and information technology (IT) capital have a non‐linear relationship with firm performance?” and “Does the interaction between innovation capital and IT capital have synergy effects on firm performance?”

The authors employ multiple regression models and add the squared terms of research and development (R&D) intensity and IT intensity to examine the non‐linear relationship between innovation capital, IT capital and performance. The research sample includes the top 1,000 companies in Taiwan.

The main findings of the study are that: innovation capital has a non‐linear relationship (inverted U‐shape) with firm performance; and IT capital has no significant impact on firm performance. However, after considering the interaction between innovation capital and IT capital, there is a positive effect on firms' performance.

This study can be extended in the following ways: researchers can adopt panel data and use more representative measures to examine the dynamic relationship between intellectual capital and performance; and future research should seek to examine the interaction effects of other perspectives of intellectual capital to understand further the comprehensive influence on performance.

The research results suggest that more investment in intellectual capital is not always better. Companies should coordinate different perspectives of intellectual capital to improve firm performance.

This paper extends prior research's viewpoint and suggests the non‐linear relationship between innovation capital and performance with empirical evidence. The results can provide the reference for further research about the relationship between intellectual capital and performance.