Search results
1 – 10 of over 4000Zhengwei Li, Wenxin Li, Rosalinda Carusone and Sofia Profita
This study aims to answer the question of how incumbent firms cultivate dynamic capabilities through knowledge management so that they can efficiently adapt to the changing…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to answer the question of how incumbent firms cultivate dynamic capabilities through knowledge management so that they can efficiently adapt to the changing external environment.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a case study approach and collects data through interviews and secondary public information on the lighting industry and two lighting firms in Lin'an, China. It qualitatively examines the challenges and strategic recommendations for incumbent firms in the context of discontinuous technological change from a knowledge management perspective.
Findings
Incumbent firms often face a variety of challenges when responding to discontinuous technological change. These challenges include identifying opportunities, overcoming path dependence and dealing with employee resistance to change. To overcome these difficulties, three strategies have been proposed to enhance the dynamic capabilities of incumbent firms through knowledge management: cross-border search helps firms improve their knowledge acquisition capabilities and better understand their environment to identify opportunities; building strategic leadership overcomes path dependence and improves knowledge integration capabilities; organizational learning deepens employees’ understanding of change and enhances organizational knowledge application capabilities.
Research limitations/implications
Previous research attributes a firm's ability to cope with discontinuous technological change solely to its general resources, which weakens the importance of knowledge management in this context. This study emphasizes the importance of knowledge as a crucial strategic resource in developing the essential dynamic capabilities for incumbent firms to cope with discontinuous technological change.
Practical implications
This study provides an in-depth analysis of incumbent firms' coping strategies in the new context of discontinuous technological change and further promotes cross-disciplinary research.
Originality/value
This study provides an in-depth analysis of coping strategies in the new context of discontinuous technological change, furthermore theoretically advancing the interdisciplinary research of firm transformation and knowledge management. Meanwhile, it is crucial to identify the preconditions for cultivating dynamic capabilities, especially from a knowledge-based view, which enhances the depth of knowledge management research.
Details
Keywords
Zhiqun Zhang, Xia Yang, Xue Yang and Xin Gu
This study aims to examine how the knowledge breadth and depth of a patent affect its likelihood of being pledged. It also seeks to explore whether these relationships change…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine how the knowledge breadth and depth of a patent affect its likelihood of being pledged. It also seeks to explore whether these relationships change diversely in different technological environments.
Design/methodology/approach
A complementary log-log model with random effects was conducted to test the hypotheses using a unique data set consisting of 348,927 invention patents granted by the China National Intellectual Property Administration from 1985 to 2015 belonging to 74,996 firms.
Findings
The findings reveal that both knowledge breadth and depth of a patent positively affect its likelihood of being pledged. Furthermore, the knowledge breadth and depth entail different degrees of superiority in different technological environments.
Research limitations/implications
This study focuses on the effect of an individual patent’s knowledge base on its likelihood of being selected as collateral. It does not consider the influence of the overall knowledge characteristics of the selected patent portfolio.
Practical implications
Managers need to pay attention to patents’ knowledge characteristics and the changes in technological environments to select the most suitable patents as collateral and thus improve the success rate of pledge financing.
Originality/value
This study explores the impact of multidimensional characteristics of knowledge base on patent pledge financing within a systematic theoretical framework and incorporates technological environments into this framework.
Details
Keywords
Ahmet Tarık Usta and Mehmet Şahin Gök
The world is increasingly threatened by climate change. As the dimensions of this danger grow, it becomes essential to develop the most effective policies to mitigate its impacts…
Abstract
Purpose
The world is increasingly threatened by climate change. As the dimensions of this danger grow, it becomes essential to develop the most effective policies to mitigate its impacts and adapt to these new conditions. Technology is one of the most crucial components of this process, and this study focuses on examining climate change adaptation technologies. The aim of the study is to investigate the entire spectrum of technology actors and to concentrate on the technology citation network established from the past to the present, aiming to identify the core actors within this structure and provide a more comprehensive outlook.
Design/methodology/approach
The study explores patent citation relationships using social network analysis. It utilizes patent data published between 2000 and 2023 and registered by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Findings
Study findings reveal that technologies related to greenhouse technologies in agriculture, technologies for combatting vector-borne diseases in the health sector, rainwater harvesting technologies for water management, and urban green infrastructure technologies for infrastructure systems emerge as the most suitable technologies for adaptation. For instance, greenhouse technologies hold significant potential for sustainable agricultural production and coping with the adverse effects of climate change. Additionally, ICTs establish intensive connections with nearly all other technologies, thus supporting our efforts in climate change adaptation. These technologies facilitate data collection, analysis, and management, contributing to a better understanding of the impacts of climate change.
Originality/value
Existing patent analysis methods often fall short in detailing the unique contributions of each technology within a technological network. This study addresses this deficiency by comprehensively examining and evaluating each technology within the network, thereby enabling us to better understand how these technologies interact with each other and contribute to the overall technological landscape.
Details
Keywords
Mehreen Malik, Muhammad Mustafa Raziq, Naukhez Sarwar and Adeel Tariq
Scholars and practitioners acknowledge that digital leadership can help organizations gain a competitive advantage. This article focuses on the characteristics, styles and skills…
Abstract
Purpose
Scholars and practitioners acknowledge that digital leadership can help organizations gain a competitive advantage. This article focuses on the characteristics, styles and skills needed for effective digital leadership. It looks at the role of digital leaders in innovating business models and introducing organizational change required for a successful digital transformation.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a comprehensive literature review of digital transformation, digital leadership, business model innovation, and organizational culture. It draws on institutional theory (INT) the neo-institutional theory (NIT). It draws from Science Direct, Web of Science and Google Scholar publications. A proposition and a conceptual framework are developed based on evaluating and synthesizing the literature.
Findings
We find that specific leader characteristics (agility, participative, innovativeness and openness), styles (democratic and transformational) and skills (cognitive, social, technological and digital) enable successful business model innovation and organizational change, all of which allow successful digital transformation of firms.
Originality/value
The literature on digital transformation has not been well integrated with the leadership literature. This is particularly true in terms of the role digital leaders play in the successful digital transformation of firms. The conceptual framework and a way forward proposed in this paper introduce future research directions on the topic.
Details
Keywords
Ayman wael AL-Khatib, Ahmed Shuhaiber, Ibrahim Mashal and Manaf Al-Okaily
This paper aims to empirically examine the impact of dynamic capabilities on Industry 4.0 capabilities in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Jordan. It also aims to examine…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to empirically examine the impact of dynamic capabilities on Industry 4.0 capabilities in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Jordan. It also aims to examine the potential impact of industry 4.0 capabilities on technological innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 210 respondents who work and own SMEs in Jordan. SmartPLS software based on the partial least squares-structural equation modeling approach was used to test hypotheses.
Findings
The findings reveal the positive effects of the three components of dynamic capabilities, including sensing, seizing and reconfiguring, on Industry 4.0 capabilities. They also confirm the positive effect of Industry 4.0 capabilities on technological innovation.
Originality/value
This study provides valuable practical implications and enriches the literature on the determinants of Industry 4.0 capabilities and its role in developing the dynamic capabilities of SMEs, such as technological innovation.
Details
Keywords
Nils M. Denter, Lukas Jan Aaldering and Huseyin Caferoglu
In recent years patents have become a very popular data source for forecasting technological changes. However, since a vast amount of patents are “worthless” (Moore, 2005), there…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years patents have become a very popular data source for forecasting technological changes. However, since a vast amount of patents are “worthless” (Moore, 2005), there is a need to identify the promising ones. For this purpose, previous approaches have mainly used bibliographic data, thus neglecting the benefits of textual data, such as instant accessibility at patent disclosure. To leverage these benefits, this study aims to develop an approach that uses textual patent data for predicting promising patents.
Design/methodology/approach
For the identification of promising patents, the authors propose a novel approach which combines link prediction with textual patent data. Thereby the authors are able to predict the emergence of hitherto unmentioned bigrams. By mapping these future bigrams to recent patents, the authors are able to distinguish between promising and nonpromising patents. To validate this approach, the authors apply the methodology to the case example of camera technology.
Findings
The authors identify stochastic gradient descent as a suitable algorithm with both a receiver operating characteristic area under curve score and a positive predictive value of 78%, which outperforms chance by a factor of two. In addition, the authors present promising camera patents for diverse application fields, such as cameras for surgical systems, cameras for rearview vision systems in vehicles or light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation detection and ranging cameras for three-dimensional imaging.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes in at least three directions to scholarship. First, the authors introduce a novel approach by combining link prediction with textual patent analysis and, in this way, leverage the benefits of both worlds. Second, the authors add to all theories that regard novel technologies as a recombination of existing technologies in presenting word combinations from textual data as a suitable instrument for revealing recombination in patents. And third, the approach can be used by scholars as a complementary or even integrative tool with conventional forecasting methods like the Delphi technique or Scenario planning.
Practical implications
At least three practical implications arise from the study. First, incumbent firms of a technology branch can use this approach as an early-warning system to identify technological change and to identify opportunities related to their company’s technological competence and provide inspiration for new ideas. Second, companies seeking to tap into new markets may also be interested in the approach as managers could anticipate whether their company’s technological competences are in line with upcoming trends. Third, the approach may be used as a supportive tool for various purposes, such as investment decisions or technology life cycle analysis.
Originality/value
The approach introduces textual patent data as suitable means for forecasting activities. As the statistical validation reveals, the promising patents identified by the approach are cited significantly more often than patents with less promising prospects.
Details
Keywords
Francesca Bonetti, Patsy Perry and Gary Warnaby
Fashion retailers have increasingly adopted consumer-facing in-store technology (CFIT) to enhance the customer experience/service provision. This paper aims to explore managerial…
Abstract
Purpose
Fashion retailers have increasingly adopted consumer-facing in-store technology (CFIT) to enhance the customer experience/service provision. This paper aims to explore managerial experiences and sociotechnical implications of introducing these technologies into organizational working processes.
Design/methodology/approach
This study draws on interpretive analysis of semi-structured interviews with 74 senior fashion retail industry practitioners, technology providers and consultants to understand managerial perspectives on technological innovation issues.
Findings
Endogenous and exogenous factors act as drivers or barriers to CFIT adoption and are influenced by strategic and tactical motives. Key issues that retail managers encounter include challenges in aligning technology implementation with retailer brand image to manage risk and reputation, with additional complexity arising from different internal and/or external actors involved, as well as required levels of change in organizational structure.
Originality/value
This study contributes an empirically derived framework identifying reasons for – and the drivers/barriers influencing – fashion retailers' CFIT adoption, classifying three broad approaches to CFIT adoption: embedded, transformative and opportunistic.
Details
Keywords
Anna Marrucci, Riccardo Rialti and Marco Balzano
The purpose of this article is to develop a configurational approach based on the TOE framework (technology, organization and environment) to understand the degree of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to develop a configurational approach based on the TOE framework (technology, organization and environment) to understand the degree of implementation of I4.0 technologies in manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Specifically, the study considers technological infrastructure and competence, I4.0 integration capabilities, organizational agility and strategic flexibility, environmental dynamism and industry-specific forces as simultaneous pre-conditions for achieving an effective implementation of I4.0 technologies.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) methodology as it allows for asymmetric and configurational-focused testing of proposition and sound theoretical development. In total, 305 responses were collected through a survey administered to SME managers in Europe and the United Kingdom (UK).
Findings
The study examines the influence of technology, organizational and environmental aspects on I4.0 technologies implementation in SMEs. High I4.0 degree of implementation is structured around 5 configurations, while other 4 configurations are related to low levels of I4.0 implementation.
Originality/value
This study proposes a configurational approach for SMEs to become I4.0 ready and how they may successfully implement I4.0 technologies. Such findings represent an original and novel contribution to existing research, offering a broad view on the I4.0 implementation by manufacturing SMEs.
Details
Keywords
Xiuqun Hu, Xiulei Weng and Ziwei He
This study aims to test the link between enterprise digital transformation and technological innovation and the mechanisms and channels behind this link.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to test the link between enterprise digital transformation and technological innovation and the mechanisms and channels behind this link.
Design/methodology/approach
This study systematically examines whether and how enterprise digital transformation affects technological innovation in China.
Findings
Enterprise digital transformation effectively improves technological innovation. This result remains stable in robustness and endogeneity checks. The channel mechanisms of this promoting effect are internal (improvement of internal control quality and alleviation of agency costs) and external (increased attention of analysts and reduction of customer concentration). Moreover, this promoting effect is more significant for state-owned enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises, enterprises in areas with low marketization and enterprises that do not enjoy digital subsidies from the government.
Social implications
Enterprises need to attend to the mechanisms behind the link between digital transformation and technological innovation and to the unique effects of different enterprise attributes and capital markets, such as size, the ownership nature, the degree of regional marketization and government subsidies. Doing so will effectively promote digital transformation and technological innovation and strengthen core competitiveness.
Originality/value
This study provides systemic evidence of the link between enterprise digital transformation and technological innovation. The findings enrich the research literature on enterprise digitization and the factors of influencing enterprises’ technological innovation and provide a reasonable explanation for how enterprise digital transformation affects technological innovation.
Details
Keywords
Amonrat Thoumrungroje and Nang Sarm Siri
Drawing upon the resource-based view this study aims to examine the connections between formal and informal business relationships and resource-bridging and adaptive capabilities…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing upon the resource-based view this study aims to examine the connections between formal and informal business relationships and resource-bridging and adaptive capabilities within the context of foreign subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in Thailand. Based on prior literature emphasizing business network ties as sources of competitive advantage in emerging markets, this study extends the discourse by investigating the moderating effects of technological turbulence, power distance and assertiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a quantitative research approach, using data obtained from a self-administered survey conducted among 168 foreign subsidiaries spanning diverse industries in Thailand. The data were analyzed by using multiple-group structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
Cultivating different types of business ties enables foreign subsidiaries to improve different types of capabilities. While interpersonal relationships (i.e. informal businessties) enable them to develop their abilities to combine various resources (i.e. resource-bridging capability), rigid contractual-based relationships (i.e. formal businessties) help them to be more adaptive (i.e. adaptive capability). These relationships are also contingent upon the levels of technological turbulence, host-country power distance and host-country assertiveness.
Originality/value
This research builds upon prior research on network ties and capability building by delineating the specific nature of capabilities. Contradicting to the previous findings, demonstrating a negative relationship between formal business ties and capabilities, this study found that each type of business tie enables foreign subsidiaries to enhance different types of capabilities under different circumstances. Moreover, this study adopts a lens of host-country national culture rather than home-country culture in investigating the moderating effects of power distance and assertiveness.
Details