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1 – 10 of over 64000Saurabh Bhattacharya, Arpita Agnihotri, Natalia Yannopoulou and Georgia Sakka
The authors combine institutional theory with resource-based theory to explain how emerging market firms (EMFs) manage their technological knowledge capital by venturing into…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors combine institutional theory with resource-based theory to explain how emerging market firms (EMFs) manage their technological knowledge capital by venturing into international markets. The authors further explore the contingency effect of international marketing knowledge and competitive intensity in the home country in influencing technological knowledge capital and internationalization relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs multiple linear regression analysis using a dataset consisting of 326 Bombay Stock Exchange-listed A and B category stocks for a six-year period (2010–2016).
Findings
The study finds that with an increase in technological knowledge capital, the internationalization of Indian firms increases. Furthermore, international marketing knowledge and competitive intensity positively moderate this relationship.
Research limitations/implications
The study finds that with an increase in technological knowledge capital, the internationalization of Indian firms increases. Furthermore, international marketing knowledge and competitive intensity positively moderate this relationship.
Practical implications
The authors’ findings increase international marketing managers' awareness of how internationalization acts as a knowledge management tool for EMFs under the contingency effect of international marketing knowledge and competitive intensity.
Originality/value
The study provides novel insights into the technological knowledge capital management strategy by EMFs through internationalization and the role of international marketing knowledge and competitive intensity in increasing firms' ability to even better manage technological knowledge capital.
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Yunqi Chen, Yusen Xu and Qingguo Zhai
A corporate university is a knowledge management institution established within an enterprise. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the evolution of knowledge activities of…
Abstract
Purpose
A corporate university is a knowledge management institution established within an enterprise. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the evolution of knowledge activities of corporate university and their relationship, particularly the role of networking in the knowledge management.
Design/methodology/approach
Haier, which had the earliest Chinese corporate university in the science and technology manufacturing industry, was employed as a case study. Data were collected by interviews and through consulting the documents of Haier’s corporate university. Grounded theory was used for data analysis.
Findings
The paper finds that corporate universities are engaged in three kinds of activities, namely, enterprise operational knowledge transfer, networking activities and scientific and technological activities. There is a dynamic circular relationship among these three kinds of activities, which form a “figure of eight” cycle model. Networking activities are the hub between enterprise operational knowledge transfer and scientific and technological activities. There is a two-way integration of enterprise operational knowledge transfer and science and technological activities via networking activities. Networking activities, thus, play a key role in the development of corporate universities into knowledge management centers. The scope of the key activities of corporate universities is dynamic and expanding. The double circulation effect among key activities in corporate universities has strengthened over time.
Originality/value
By investigating the dynamic nature of the activities of corporate universities, particularly the role of networking in knowledge management, this research enriches the study of the knowledge management of corporate universities.
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María Esmeralda Lardón-López, Rodrigo Martín-Rojas and Víctor Jesús García-Morales
The purpose of this study is to deepen understanding of the effects of using social media technologies to acquire technological knowledge and organizational learning competences…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to deepen understanding of the effects of using social media technologies to acquire technological knowledge and organizational learning competences, of technological knowledge competences on organizational learning and finally of organizational learning on organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was performed by analyzing data from a sample of 197 technology firms located in Spain. The hypotheses were tested using a structural equations model with the program LISREL 8.80.
Findings
This study’s conceptual framework is grounded in complexity theory – along with dynamic capabilities theory, which complements the resource-based view. The study contributes to the literature by proposing a model that reflects empirically how business ecosystems that use social media technologies enable the development of interorganizational and social collaboration networks that encourage learning and development of technological knowledge competences.
Research limitations/implications
It would be interesting for future studies to consider other elements to conceptualize and measure social media technologies, including (among others) significance of the various tools used and strategic integration. The model might also analyze other sectors and another combination of variables.
Practical implications
The results of this study have several managerial implications: developing social media technologies and interorganizational social collaboration networks not only enables the organizational learning process but also encourages technological knowledge competences. Through innovation processes, use of social media technologies also contributes to strengthening companies’ strategic positioning, which ultimately helps to improve firms’ organizational performance.
Social implications
Since social media technologies drive information systems in contemporary society (because they enable interaction with numerous agents), the authors highlight the use of complexity theory to develop a conceptual framework.
Originality/value
The study also deepens understanding of the connections by which new experiential learning contributes to the generation of coevolutionary adaptive business ecosystems and digital strategies that enable development of interorganizational and social collaborative networks through technological knowledge competences. Only after examining the impact of social media technologies on organizational performance in prior literature, did the authors underscore that both quantity and frequency of social media technology use are positively related to improvement in knowledge processes that lead to employees’ creation and acquisition of new metaknowledge.
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Wei Liu, Runhua Tan, Zibiao Li, Guozhong Cao and Fei Yu
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the diffusion patterns of knowledge in inspiring technological innovations and to enable monitoring development trends of technological…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the diffusion patterns of knowledge in inspiring technological innovations and to enable monitoring development trends of technological innovations based on patent data analysis, thus, to manage knowledge wisely to innovate.
Design/methodology/approach
The notion of knowledge innovation potential (KIP) is proposed to measure the innovativeness of knowledge by the cumulative number of patents originated from its inspiration. KIP calculating formula is regressed in forms of two specific diffusion models by conducting a series of empirical studies with the patent-based indicators involving forward and backward citation numbers to reveal knowledge managing strategies regarding innovative activities.
Findings
Two specific diffusion models for regressing KIP formula are compared by empirical studies with the result indicating the Gompertz model has higher accuracy than the Logistic model to describe the developing curve of technological innovations. Moreover, the analysis of patent-based indicators over diffusion stages also revealed that patents applied at earlier diffusion stages normally has higher forward citation numbers indicating higher innovativeness meanwhile the patents applied at the latter stages usually requiring more knowledge inflows observed by their larger non-patent citation and backward citation amounts.
Originality/value
Although there is a large body of literature concerning knowledge-based technological innovation, there still room for discussing the mechanism of how knowledge diffuses and inspired knowledge. To the best of authors' knowledge, this study is the first attempt to quantitate the innovativeness of knowledge in technological innovation from the knowledge diffusion perspective with findings to support rational knowledge management related to innovation activities.
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Arash Najmaei, Jo Rhodes and Peter Lok
The purpose of this paper is to explore and explain how market and technological knowledge gained by executives interact in a complementary fashion to form the knowledge structure…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore and explain how market and technological knowledge gained by executives interact in a complementary fashion to form the knowledge structure of their business model which in turn enable them to make sense of underlying complexities surrounding management of strategic courses of action.
Design/methodology/approach
Unitizing, categorizing, and classifying (UCC) in conjunction with pattern-matching (power and proof quotes) as qualitative methods were used to analyse a series of semi-structured interviews with eight executives from five small manufacturing firms in Australia.
Findings
It was found that executives’ business modelling knowledge structure defined as the knowledge base that underpins their business models is developed from four interactions that exist between their market and technological knowledge. Particularly, executives can learn about technological aspects of their business model from market knowledge they acquire and also learn about marketing issues of their business model from technological knowledge they acquire. This interactive nature offers novel insights into versatility and fungibility of executives’ knowledge as a strategic resource that defines how business models evolve and shows how executives use knowledge as a non-rivalrous resource in different ways for developing different business models.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited in scope to: first, the context of executive of Australian small manufacturing firms and second, limited sources of data.
Practical implications
This study offers important implications for business modelling and strategic formulation of practicing managers. It particularly contributes to a fuller understanding of how executives’ learning contributes to the cognitive formation of business models. It also helps executives gain new insights into the importance of various types of knowledge and the complementary nature of their interactions in the development of novel mental models as a key managerial competency in today’s dynamic markets.
Originality/value
The conceptual framework developed and findings reported in this study have not been previously studied and offer novel insights into the literature on knowledge-based management, competitiveness, and business modelling.
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Kushagra Sharan, Deepak Dhayanithy and Deepa Sethi
This paper aims to examine the relationship between organizational learning (OL) and technology through the lens of strategic factors and to ascertain future research directions.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the relationship between organizational learning (OL) and technology through the lens of strategic factors and to ascertain future research directions.
Design/methodology/approach
The systematic literature review method was applied in three stages to the 76 articles obtained from Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and EBSCO databases.
Findings
This research revealed the evolution of the role of OL in innovation, performance, knowledge management and technological adoption and showcases a detailed conceptual model relating technology outcomes (technological innovation and capabilities) to OL outcomes (technology absorptive capacity, technological proactivity, as well as information technology [IT] and organization process alignment).
Research limitations/implications
This review includes articles mainly in English and excludes conference proceedings.
Practical implications
This research attempts to guide managers and policymakers to foster an organizational culture conducive to technological adoption and OL. It helps organizations develop strategies for new product development, including strategic alliances and strategic leadership.
Originality/value
This review formalizes the linkages between technological absorptive capacity, technological proactivity and IT with technological innovation and capabilities. It identifies research gaps and elucidates future research directions.
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Weiwei Wu, Zhou Liang and Qi Zhang
Nowadays, faced with increasingly dynamic and fierce competition, knowledge is considered to be the core to survive and maintain competitive advantages in both managerial…
Abstract
Purpose
Nowadays, faced with increasingly dynamic and fierce competition, knowledge is considered to be the core to survive and maintain competitive advantages in both managerial practices and academia. Against this background, this study analyzed the influence of technological capabilities (TC) and technology management (TM) on corporate economic performance in the contexts of corporate internal governance mechanisms and external institutional environment from the institutional perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This study collected data on Chinese publicly listed manufacturing firms in Shenzhen and Shanghai stock markets from 2008 to 2017 and the final data included 3,679 firm-year observations. Ordinary least square regression was used in both regression analysis and robustness tests.
Findings
The empirical results showed that the interaction between TC and TM was positively related to corporate economic performance and both corporate incentives and monitoring mechanisms strengthened this positive relationship; the positive moderating effects of corporate governance were stronger under a more developed corporate external institutional environment.
Originality/value
This research provides a better understanding of the economic effect of TC and TM from the perspective of knowledge integration by indicating that the interaction between TC and TM can enhance corporate economic performance and delimiting the boundaries of this relationship from the institutional perspective.
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Antonello Cammarano, Mauro Caputo, Emilia Lamberti and Francesca Michelino
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…
Abstract
Purpose
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.
Design/methodology/approach
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.
Findings
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.
Research limitations/implications
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.
Practical implications
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.
Originality/value
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.
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Voon-Hsien Lee, Lai-Ying Leong, Teck-Soon Hew and Keng-Boon Ooi
This paper purports to analyze the relationship between knowledge management (KM) and technological innovation in the Malaysian manufacturing sector. Furthermore, the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper purports to analyze the relationship between knowledge management (KM) and technological innovation in the Malaysian manufacturing sector. Furthermore, the interrelationships between the KM dimensions will also be investigated.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data from 162 manufacturing firms were obtained. Multiple linear regression and neural network analysis were performed in this study to examine the relationships between KM and technological innovation; as well as the interrelationships between KM practices themselves.
Findings
This research study provides empirical evidence and confirms the results of past researchers that KM practices (i.e. knowledge sharing, knowledge application and knowledge storage) are positively and significantly related to technological innovation (i.e. product and process innovation). Moreover, it is also discovered that the interrelationships between the KM dimensions are positive and significant.
Research limitations/implications
This research implies that when firms understand the significance of KM dimensions, there is a great possibility that the firm will succeed in harvesting the full value of technological innovation. Meanwhile, the result may also serve as a guide to the manufacturing managers to understand the importance of KM in their managerial actions, so that the level of technological innovation in their firms can be greatly enhanced.
Originality/value
Extensive research has not been done in the past to examine the relationship between the KM and technological innovation. Meanwhile, the investigation on the interrelationships between the KM dimensions has also been scarce. Hence, such a research is to be called for. This paper provides the manufacturing practitioners with useful guidelines on the appropriate KM practices to be implemented to ensure the improvement in technological innovation.
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Subba Moorthy and Douglas E. Polley
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the depth and breadth of firms' technological knowledge affect their performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the depth and breadth of firms' technological knowledge affect their performance.
Design/methodology/approach
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.
Findings
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.
Research limitations/implications
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.
Practical implications
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.
Originality/value
The paper represents one of the few studies to disaggregate a firm's total stock of technological knowledge into its depth and breadth components.
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