Search results

In the context of collaborative research and development (R&D), multi-actor participation and multi-resource integration of technological knowledge has become the mainstream paradigm for the R&D and spillover of industry generic technology (GT). As GT's core characteristics, “fundamentality” and “externality,” make differential requests on knowledge bases regarding the R&D and spillover of GT (SGT). Knowledge breadth can enhance the generality of technology. The purpose of this paper is to integrate “generic technology R&D” and “generic technology spillover” into a single study, and try to solve the theoretical problem of “whether broader mean more general?”

This paper collects and collates the patent data from the two patent databases of Derwent and SooPAT, and then makes an empirical analysis of the patent data collected by the authors with the data analysis software Stata.

Taking 352 strategic emerging firms in China as the sample, this paper examined the effects of general knowledge breadth (GKB) and specific knowledge breadth (SKB) on the R&D and SGT. The authors concluded that both general and SKB have a positive effect on the R&D of GT (RGT), and the latter has a greater effect. There is a significant inverted U-shaped relationship between SKB and SGT.

The theoretical contributions of this paper are as follows. GT can effectively link different technologies and knowledge fields (Gambardella and Giarratana, 2013; Appio et al., 2017a, b). Therefore, existing studies regard the role of knowledge breadth on the R&D and SGT as an existing hypothesis. This paper challenges such hypothesis in two ways. First, this paper divides knowledge breadth into “general knowledge breadth” and “specific knowledge breadth” in response to the insufficient division of knowledge breadth in previous research, although some existing studies have examined the antecedents of the R&D and SGT from the perspective of R&D and SGT. Thus, the authors define GKB as the scope of context-free knowledge and SKB as the scope of context-specific knowledge, both of which shows differential nature, source and application. Second, this paper decomposes the effect of knowledge breadth on RGT, as well as on SGT, basing on distinguishing the SKB from GKB. Existing research reaches a consensus of the positive role of knowledge breadth, no matter on RGT or SGT (e.g. Schmidt et al., 2016; Appio et al., 2017a, b). Yet, such hypothesis ignores the refinement and decomposition of “knowledge breadth” in the research field of R&D and SGT, which is essential in promoting the development of GT theory. In this paper, the authors find that these two types of knowledge breadths play different roles in the RGT, and especially SKB plays a double-edged sword effect on the SGT.

Describes how data‐management company Avoca Systems Ltd established its own academy to train staff for National Health Service informatics projects.

Details the reasons for the establishment of the academy, how it works and the results it has achieved.

Explains that the training is a mixture of workshops delivered by in‐house experts, tailored personal development, one‐to‐one coaching, practical exercises and shadowing of skilled personnel. There are four training modules that build the trainees' skills and experience at a pace that is right for them. The candidates learn a mixture of technical skills, NHS‐specific knowledge and interpersonal skills.

Reveals that while the academy was initially identified as a solution to meet Avoca's internal recruitment needs, it has grown to allow the company to provide specialist skills for its customers, which is now the largest proportion of the company's business.

Highlights how the academy's work directly affects the lives of people in the community, as Avoca appreciates the effect its attention to detail can have on the lives of patients whose data it takes care of.

Describes an award‐winning initiative that is helping to combat the skill shortage in health‐care informatics.

Effectively engaging patients is critical for the sustainable development of online health communities (OHCs). Although physicians’ general knowledge-sharing, which is free to the public, represents essential resources of OHCs that have been shown to promote patient engagement, little is known about whether such knowledge-sharing can backfire when superfluous knowledge-sharing is perceived as overwhelming and anxiety-provoking. Thus, this study aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of the role of general knowledge-sharing in OHCs by exploring the spillover effects of the depth and breadth of general knowledge-sharing on patient engagement.

The research model is established based on a knowledge-based view and the literature on knowledge-sharing in OHCs. Then the authors test the research model and associated hypotheses with objective data from a leading OHC.

Although counterintuitive, the findings revealed an inverted U-shape relationship between general knowledge-sharing (depth and breadth of knowledge-sharing) and patient engagement that is positively associated with physicians’ number of patients. Specifically, the positive effects of depth and breadth of general knowledge-sharing increase and then decrease as the quantity of general knowledge-sharing grows. In addition, physicians’ offline and online professional status negatively moderated these curvilinear relationships.

This study further enriches the literature on knowledge-sharing and the operations of OHCs from a novel perspective while also offering significant specific implications for OHCs practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the knowledge breadth and depth and the balance of the two affect various dimensions of the innovation performance under the consideration of the organizational slack as a moderating factor of the analysis framework.

This study constructs and verifies a research model of knowledge breadth and depth to the explorative and exploitative innovation performance, using the exploratory factor analysis and the hierarchical regression analysis based on a survey sample of 320 Chinese companies.

The knowledge base is a critical foundation for improving innovation performance of an enterprise. A more detailed analysis reveals that first knowledge breadth provides more benefits for explorative innovation performance while the knowledge depth is more advantageous to exploitative innovation performance of an organization. Second, organizational slack can positively facilitate the improvement of the knowledge depth for the explorative innovation performance while an optimal balance of the knowledge breadth and depth can significantly enhance exploitative innovation performance.

This paper contributes to previous research work by providing both specific comparative studies and a clear explanation of the impacts of different dimensions of the knowledge base, i.e., knowledge breadth and knowledge depth, on innovation performance measures of both exploration and exploitation through a comprehensive empirical study. In particular, organizational slack is found to play a much more complicated moderation role between the knowledge base and the two different dimensions of innovation performance than has been demonstrated in previous research.

Prior research on open innovation has not investigated changes in knowledge acquisition strategies of firms over time overlooking how learning from past knowledge acquisition can change subsequent search strategies. Also, prior research has focused principally on product innovation overlooking process innovation. The purpose of the paper is to introduce the concept of dynamic openness, which is defined as temporal changes in external knowledge search strategy. We explore four dynamic openness strategies – closing down, opening up, persistent open and persistent closed – and examine the impact of these strategies on both product and process innovation.

The authors used a panel dataset of 16,021 firms based on five waves (2009–2017) of the UK Community Innovation Survey (UKIS). All models are estimated using firm and year fixed effects (FE) method to control for endogeneity that arises from unobserved heterogeneity. Endogeneity and robustness tests were carried out to ensure the validity of results.

The results show that firms do use dynamic openness strategies over time leveraging learning from past searches. Specifically, the study indicates that closing down is not an effective strategy for either type of innovation. For process innovation, firms should pursue opening up strategy rather than persistent open strategy, whereas for product innovation firms could pursue either strategy, highlighting important contextual differences.

The paper contributes to the literature on knowledge acquisition in open innovation: (1) by theorizing the underlying reasons – learning from past collaborations, absorptive capacity and external knowledge heterogeneity – why firms pursue one dynamic openness strategy over another and (2) by extending literature by delineating the dynamic openness strategies that firms should pursue in process innovation vs product innovation.

This study aims to investigate the effects of project-level external knowledge search breadth and search depth on the innovation performance of open innovation (OI) projects in large firms; it further considers these effects mediated by two forms of control mechanisms (process and outcome control) when the level of project complexity and the two stages of a project – early (problem definition) and late (solution development) – are taken into account.

Based on a survey of 187 managers responsible for an OI project, the authors use theory on behavioral-based control mechanisms to explore whether the effect of external knowledge search breadth and depth on OI performance is contingent on having the right levels of control mechanisms in place.

The results showed that the control mechanism mediates the relationship between external knowledge search breadth and depth and OI project performance. Furthermore, project complexity is an important moderator of these effects, especially for outcome control.

A better OI project’s performance is not achieved by external knowledge search breadth and depth alone, but by building process and outcome control mechanism on it to balance knowledge sharing and protecting tension. Furthermore, Outcome control is only helpful with less complex OI projects.

This paper aims to conduct an analysis of the influence of both the breadth and depth of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) undertaken by Chinese high-tech listed companies during the period spanning 2010–2019. The data pertaining to these companies was used as a research sample to analyze the effects of OFDI on radical innovation performance.

Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the proposed models, using survey data collected from 442 high-tech companies in China.

The findings of this study indicate a curvilinear (i.e. U-shaped) relationship between the breadth/depth of OFDI and radical innovation performance. Additional analysis reveals that OFDI plays a role in facilitating innovation breakthroughs by enhancing the internal dynamic capabilities of companies. Moreover, it is observed that a well-established institutional environment in the host country of investment can positively moderate the relationship between OFDI breadth/depth and radical innovation performance.

This study proffers a significant contribution to the understanding of the crucial role played by OFDI from emerging economy companies in enhancing radical innovation performance. Moreover, it offers theoretical guidance for multinational companies aiming to foster innovation breakthroughs.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the depth and breadth of firms' technological knowledge affect their performance.

An empirical investigation of a sample of US manufacturing firms was conducted. The main independent variables were measured using firms' patent data. Three hypotheses based on theory were developed and tested using multivariate regressions. To increase reliability, alternative industry and firm explanators of performance are controlled.

The depth and breadth of technological knowledge, rather than total stock, are significantly better at predicting three measures of firm performance that was used in the study – return on invested capital, sales growth, and Tobin's q. The two knowledge dimensions exhibited either independent non‐linear effects or mutually reinforcing effects on each of the three performance measures.

The study is limited to a fine‐grained analysis of effects of technological knowledge. It does not take into account the facilitating role of marketing and administrative knowledge.

Corporate managers need to measure the depth and breadth of their technological knowledge stocks and include them in their planning models. Extreme combinations of depth and breadth need to be corrected and brought into balance.

The paper represents one of the few studies to disaggregate a firm's total stock of technological knowledge into its depth and breadth components.

Although social networks play an important role in individual ambidexterity, few studies have examined the impact of salespeople's social networks on sales-service ambidexterity. The purpose of this paper is to explore how salespeople's internal and external social networks affect sales-service ambidexterity.

The unique data of 331 salespeople from 39 units in retail banking industry and insurance industry were collected, and the hierarchical linear model was adopted to test the hypotheses. Finally, the alternative measure of the dependent variable and the alternative estimation method were adopted for robustness test.

The results show that the strength of salespeople's internal social networks and the extensiveness of salespeople's external social networks could facilitate sales-service ambidexterity of salespeople separately and synergistically. Salespeople's role breadth self-efficacy partially mediates the influences of internal and external social networks on sales-service ambidexterity, while empowerment climate and transformational leadership positively moderate the aforementioned mediational process by strengthening the relationship between salespeople's role breadth self-efficacy and sales-service ambidexterity.

Practical guidelines are provided for managers to shape ambidextrous salespeople by facilitating salespeople's internal and external social networks, promoting transformational leadership and creating empowerment climate within the unit.

To the best of the author's knowledge, this paper is the first to systematically examine the impact of salespeople's social network on sales-service ambidexterity. Drawing from social cognitive theory and the ambidexterity literature, this research reveals the mechanism of how salespeople's internal and external social networks contribute to sales-service ambidexterity.

In order to explore the role of enterprise social network (ESN), this study examines how the different dimensions of ESN use – within teams and across teams – facilitate knowledge acquisition in organizations and how knowledge acquisition, in turn, impacts exploitative and exploratory innovation performance.

This study applied the survey approach to collect a valid sample of 150 Chinese companies that had innovation activities and were using ESN. The partial least squares (PLS) technique was used for data analysis to test the research model and hypotheses.

ESN use within teams has a positive impact on knowledge depth and knowledge breadth, and ESN use across teams has a positive impact on knowledge depth. Knowledge depth and knowledge breadth are both beneficial for innovation performance. The two types of ESN use have different impacts on knowledge depth and knowledge breadth; moreover, knowledge depth and knowledge breadth have different impacts on innovation performance. Specifically, the impacts of ESN use within teams and across teams on exploitative innovation performance are mediated by knowledge depth; the impact of ESN use within teams on exploratory innovation performance is mediated by knowledge breadth.

This paper can enhance the understanding of the importance of ESN use and ESN's role in facilitating knowledge acquisition and innovation performance.