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This paper aims to examine and test the moderating influence of the type of knowledge underlying work – known as the knowledge in practice (KIP) perspective – on the relationship between knowledge management (KM) activities and unit performance. KIP proposes that the knowledge underlying work varies according to two dimensions: tacitness and learnability. This theory proposes that aligning KM activities with tacitness and learnability results in increased performance. However, to the authors’ knowledge, there exists no direct empirical tests of these propositions outlined in KIP theory. This study examines the empirical support for the theoretical predictions outlined by KIP.

The study uses a multiple survey, multiple respondent survey design to measure KM activity sets, the tacitness and learnability involved in work contexts and unit performance. Regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses.

In line with previous research, the authors find support for a direct relationship between some KM activity sets and unit performance. Surprisingly, the authors did not find support for the predictions offered by KIP theory. Specifically, the degree of tacitness or learnability did not moderate the relationship between KM activity sets and unit performance.

The lack of findings to support the moderating effects of tacitness and learnability on the relationship between KM activity sets and unit performance challenges the adequacy of existing formulations of KIP theory. The authors discuss several important future research directions to examine this puzzling finding.

This paper reinforces the suggestion that managers at all levels of organizations should engage in KM activities to increase performance. These findings also suggest that considering the type of knowledge underlying a unit’s work should not be a consideration in implementing KM activities.

This is the first study to empirically test a KIP perspective. That is, how the type of knowledge involved in work moderates the relationships between KM activity sets and unit performance.

This study aimed to investigate how different supply chain integrations (SCIs) (i.e. information integration and organisational integration) would impact product- and service-oriented mass customisation capability (MCC) differently and the moderating role of characteristics of customer needs (i.e. customer need tacitness and diversity).

From the perspective of information processing theory (IPT), the authors tested the hypotheses using survey data from 277 Chinese manufacturers.

The findings indicate that both information and operational integration contribute to product- and service-oriented MCCs. Operational integration promotes product-oriented MCC more, whereas information integration has a greater impact on service-oriented MCC. In addition, customer need tacitness negatively moderates the impact of operational integration on both product- and service-oriented MCC. Customer need diversity negatively moderates only the impact of operational integration on service-oriented MCC.

Managers should focus on not only the position (internal or external) but also the function of SCI when making decisions towards enhancing MCC. Diverse abilities to integrate with different functions are associated with different MCCs.

This study distinguishes between product- and service-oriented MCCs and provides novel insights for understanding how to enhance MCC from a SCI perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the effect that knowledge‐ambiguous innovations have on the subsidiary performance of multinational corporations (MNCs). Specifically, the paper sheds light on the relationship between knowledge ambiguity in the innovation context, in terms of tacitness, complexity and specificity, and innovation‐related subsidiary performance.

The authors build a model integrating these three main components of ambiguous knowledge and test a set of hypotheses on a sample of 85 innovation projects developed by subsidiaries of MNCs. Data were collected through personal interviews and a partial least squares (PLS) technique was used to analyze the data.

Knowledge ambiguity affects performance in different ways. None of the three components of knowledge ambiguity influences all areas of subsidiary activities (i.e. market, coordination, efficiency, and R&D). Moreover, it was found that innovations characterized by knowledge tacitness are detrimental to market performance.

The limitations to this research are its cross‐sectional nature and the use of perceptual indicators to measure the constructs. The major research implication is the importance of distinguishing between different dimensions of knowledge ambiguity in the innovation context.

During innovation development, it is important to understand the implications and control aspects of knowledge ambiguity. This ambiguity not only impacts subsidiary performance but also indirectly influences the decisions and strategies of knowledge transfer.

The paper contributes to the strategy and innovation management literature by suggesting that ambiguous knowledge does not always enhance performance. The paper fills a gap in the literature by addressing the impact on the subsidiary performance of MNCs by the three key components of knowledge ambiguity in innovations.

To better understand Nonaka’s SECI model of knowledge creation and its constraints, we revisit the fundamental points of tacit knowledge in the model and provide a critical review on the role of tacit knowledge in business organization. First, the “tacitness” of knowledge is broken down into two parts: implicitness and real tacitness. We argue that the tacit dimension of knowledge in the context of the model is different from that in Polanyi’s original context; it actually includes considerable “implicitness” idiosyncratic in Japanese context. The separation of implicitness from real tacitness suggests carefully considering the potentialities of “unveiling” the secrets of tacit knowledge in different contexts. Second, considering most cases for the model mainly came from certain Japanese manufacturing companies that more or less relates to assemble lines, it is necessary to be cautious when the model is extended for a broader application.

This paper aims to develop a reliable and valid scale for measuring the underlying knowledge involved in work. To do so, it builds on the knowledge-in-practice (KIP) framework that suggests different types of work have different underlying knowledge characteristics. This allows us to answer two important questions: What are the underlying characteristics of KIP that are important to effectively manage a firm’s knowledge resources? How do we measure these characteristics? The answers help to build theoretical and empirical understanding of the construct of KIP.

The study uses a discovery-oriented survey design methodology to design the survey instrument, followed by a mixed-methods approach to validate the scale.

A new scale is developed for measuring the tacitness and learnability of the knowledge involved in work. It allows work units to be evaluated based on the underlying knowledge involved in different types of work.

The KIP scale can be used for measuring the type of knowledge characteristics in organizations. Academics can use this study as a basic model to explore knowledge across different contexts and focus on the different characteristics within and across work contexts.

The study provides a clearer and more granular understanding of knowledge in organizations that can be used as a guideline to refer to when measuring and assessing knowledge requirements.

Scholars have pushed to understand work from a knowledge and collaboration perspective. A measurement scale for the KIP framework provides a critical first step towards this outcome.

A model of knowledge-based resource transfer during acquisition integration is developed and tested in a sample of 75 high-tech acquisitions. Results indicate that transferring tacit knowledge is both desirable and difficult in acquisitions of technology intensive firms. It was found that acquired firm autonomy preserves tacit knowledge, while rich communication and retention of key employees facilitates transferring knowledge in acquisitions.

The aim of this paper is to empirically test and find the correlation between knowledge characteristics and relationship ties on project performance.

Data were collected via personal interviews based on a structured survey of project managers in a knowledge‐intensive firm. The data were analyzed using a multiple regression model.

The results show that project performance was positively related to the frequency and closeness of source, and difficulty of the “knowledge element” described in the survey. Interestingly, against the prevalent view, the source and the level of tacitness of the knowledge element were not found to be significant.

Data are limited to specific corporate setting and variables are not exhaustive, despite the fact that this study includes the most theoretically interesting variables. One implication is that strong ties to a knowledge element source are important for project success, but distinctions between internal and external sources, and degree of codification, are not.

This study also implies that, in this day and age of knowledge management and chief knowledge officers, most of the important knowledge may already have been codified inside the firm, thus alleviating the past focus on transfer of tacit knowledge. This fact also implies that firms that are left behind in terms of managing their knowledge inside the firm stand to lose a lot more since the other firms are managing their own knowledge base better.

This paper incorporates and empirically tests most of the variables considered important to theoreticians and practitioners in the realm of knowledge management and network theory. The latter theory is important in the field of knowledge management because it offers the link and medium in which knowledge travels and transfers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influences of social capital on knowledge heterogeneity in order to advance the understanding of the effects and to reconcile existing inconsistent findings.

Survey data collected from 105 new product development (NPD) projects were analyzed with regression-based methods.

The results indicated that trust, centralization and shared vision as the three social capital dimensions generally have negative impacts on the domain and presentation dimensions of knowledge heterogeneity. However, the three dimensions of social capital do not exhibit consistent influences on the tacitness heterogeneity (i.e. an epistemological dimension of knowledge heterogeneity).

More research is needed to explore the role of social capital dimensions in developing a range of knowledge attributes of NPD teams, among which knowledge heterogeneity is one. The various dimensions of knowledge an NPD team possesses should have performance implications and deserve future investigation.

The study is one of the first documented attempts to demonstrate contingencies in the relationship between social capital and knowledge heterogeneity. The effect of social capital on knowledge heterogeneity should be understood at the level of dimensions of the two respective constructs.

This paper aims to explore the key factors affecting knowledge transfer within cross-cultural teams in international construction projects from three levels: individual factors, team factors and knowledge characteristics. It also provides a comprehensive framework to examine how trust, cultural distance, team identification, knowledge tacitness and complexity and members' transfer willingness impact knowledge transfer effectiveness within cross-cultural teams.

A conceptual model and 16 hypotheses were put forward through the literature review and pilot investigation. This study used structural equation modeling to examine how factors affect the effectiveness of knowledge transfer within cross-cultural teams based on the questionnaire data of samples from Chinese international construction projects.

The findings show that affect-based trust and team identification positively affect the willingness to contribute knowledge. Conversely, knowledge tacitness, knowledge complexity and cultural distance negatively influence contribute willingness. Moreover, affect-based trust, cognition-based trust and team identity positively affect receive willingness, while cultural distance negatively impacts receive willingness. Additionally, affect-based and cognition-based trust, knowledge tacitness and complexity affect transfer effectiveness through the full mediation of transfer willingness, while cultural distance and team identity affect transfer effectiveness through the partial mediation of transfer willingness.

On the one hand, this research provides a holistic framework for factors affecting knowledge transfer within cross-cultural teams from three levels: individual factors, team factors and knowledge characteristics. On the other hand, the paper gives other researchers in international project management the enlightenment of focusing on members' cultural structure and the cross-cultural training of the team.

This study offers the direction for cross-cultural team managers to formulate helpful approaches for knowledge transfer and assist corporate leaders in taking integral control measures to enhance knowledge transfer effectiveness within the team.

This study provides other researchers with a comprehensive understanding of the key factors affecting knowledge transfer within cross-cultural teams in international construction projects and insight for further research on project management and knowledge management.

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.