企业知识吸收能力与绩效的关系研究

在资源基础理论的基础上,通过对我国不同行业近200家企业的问卷调研,运用实证分析剖析企业知识吸收能力,揭示了知识转化和创新能力与绩效之间的关系,认为在探讨企业的知识吸收能力上,应该重视企业内部支持与外部支持的影响作用,并阐明在知识吸收能力中,知识转化能力会在很大程度上影响企业的绩效水平,而其知识创新能力的影响不明显。     

Effects of intellectual capital and university knowledge in indigenous innovation: evidence from Indian SMEs

Abstract

Intellectual capital and collaboration with universities are vital knowledge management practices for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to innovate and improve the effectiveness of their operations. This study investigates empirically the impacts of intellectual capital and university knowledge on indigenous innovation and how business and institutional environments affect the relationships. The research model is tested using moderated regression analysis and data collected from 150 SMEs in India. The results show that intellectual capital and university knowledge improve indigenous innovation, both individually and interactively. The effect of intellectual capital in indigenous innovation is amplified by dysfunctional competition whereas the effect of university knowledge in indigenous innovation is attenuated by environmental uncertainty. In addition, we find that indigenous innovation is positively associated with business performance. The impact of indigenous innovation on business performance is enhanced by dysfunctional competition but reduced by environmental uncertainty.     

The role of absorptive capacity and innovation strategy in the design of industry 4.0 business Models - A comparison between SMEs and large enterprises

Technological innovations often lead to redesigns in the business models of established companies, requiring them to incorporate new external knowledge into internal activities. Against this background, this study integrates the concepts of business model design, absorptive capacity, and innovation strategy into a novel research model, which analyzes the redesign of established business models in response to the emergence of Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0, also known as the Industrial Internet of Things, constitutes a contemporary research context that is highly relevant for corporate practice but scarcely regarded in management literature until now. The article contains an analysis of data from 221 German industrial enterprises, conducted through structural equation modeling, with separate data for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises. First, the results indicate that the acquisition, assimilation, transformation, and exploitation of knowledge from the environment enable companies to engage in both exploratory and exploitative innovation strategies. Furthermore, the paper includes an evaluation of the role of exploratory and exploitative innovation strategies that reflects in efficiency-centered and novelty-centered business model designs. The distinct characteristics differentiating SMEs from large enterprises are also explained. The implications of absorptive capacity on innovation strategies, which influence the redesign of extant business models, are discussed from a research and managerial perspective.     

The propagation of lean thinking in SMEs

Abstract

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) play a pivotal role in economic growth, industrial output, and employment creation. However, SMEs are often ignored by researchers as far as the adoption of lean is concerned in comparison to Large Enterprises (LEs). Therefore, the literature regarding lean implementation in SMEs is not conspicuous, and many SMEs have only a limited understanding and awareness of lean. This paper offers a comprehensive literature review with a focus on the implementation of lean in SMEs and explores the applicability of lean thinking in such environments. An attempt is made to provide an analysis of lean practices that have been applied in SMEs and critical success factors for lean transformation in SMEs. It also contributes to the field of lean implementation research by proposing a framework for lean in SMEs and identifies the scope of future research.     

Organizational learning in SMEs’ internationalization: A moderated mediating effect of absorptive capacity

We examine both mediation and moderation effects on the direct relationship between internationalization speed and firm performance in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Building on prior studies that focus either on the direct speed–performance linkage or the moderating role played by knowledge, we suggest that an important source of performance variations is organizational learning. Grounded in the organizational learning perspective, we argue that firm strategies regarding speed and earliness of internationalization provide the SMEs with opportunities to develop their absorptive capacity, and thus enhance their performance. Using survey data from 343 SMEs in Australia and New Zealand, our empirical results suggest that absorptive capacity is associated with internationalization speed in a reversed U-shape relationship and that in turn absorptive capacity mediates the direct speed–performance relationship. Moreover, this mediating effect is moderated by earliness of internationalization. By demonstrating the moderated mediating effect of absorptive capacity as a novel mechanism to achieving superior performance, we enhance the understanding of how firms succeed internationally.     

External knowledge search,absorptive capacity and radical innovation in high-technology firms

Open innovation and absorptive capacity are two concepts based on the idea that companies can leverage the knowledge generated externally to improve their innovation performance. The aim of this paper is to analyse the joint effect of open innovation and absorptive capacity on a firm's radical innovation. Open innovation is expressed in terms of external search breadth and depth strategies and absorptive capacity is described by distinguishing between potential and realized absorptive capacity. In order to test our hypotheses, we carried out empirical research in firms operating in high-technology industries. The results indicate that internal routines and processes for absorbing external knowledge help explain radical innovation as they show a significant effect of potential and realized absorptive capacity. Also, there is a moderating effect of absorptive capacity on open innovation. Specifically, potential absorptive capacity exerts a positive effect on the relationship between external search breadth and depth and radical innovation. Realized absorptive capacity moderates the influence of external search breadth. These findings confirm the complementary nature of absorptive capacity and open innovation search strategies on radical innovation.     

Training professionalisation and SME performance

ABSTRACT

This paper examines how SMEs organize their training process, the extent to which they apply training practices that are well-grounded in literature, and how these impact upon their performance. To evaluate the training process, the concept of ‘training professionalization’ was applied to identify the scope and specificity of actions undertaken. This mostly refers to formal training which should consist of needs assessment, planning, execution and evaluation. This article presents the results of research conducted on a group of 100 Polish SMEs. The research design made it possible to evaluate training professionalization and verify interdependence between training professionalization level and business outcomes. Data analysis confirmed that the training process in SMEs is generally underdeveloped; only in a few companies is it executed according to the models and procedures discussed in the literature. However, it was statistically supported that companies executing training processes according to theoretical models reported higher outcomes and an increase in almost all evaluated performance indicators.     

A multiple buyer – supplier relationship in the context of SMEs’ digital supply chain management*

Abstract

By underlining the relevance of the use of ICTs, knowledge sharing and electronic markets for SMEs, it emerges the need for stimulating a debate on digitisation process of supply chain management (SCM). Electronic infrastructure in the service sector are reducing each kind of cost and improving multiply buyer–supplier relationships, facilitating negotiations and transactions. However, since the coordination costs are still high, the use of ICTs is limited. This phenomenon thus attracts the interests of scholars and practitioners. Although it still needs to further investigate. Especially, the optimal use of ICTs within SMEs’ SCM have not been studied yet. Therefore, by leveraging on four proxies: ICTs specialised human resources, knowledge sharing activities, buyer–supplier relationships, adoption of electronic markets this optimal was analysed via structural equation modelling based on a sample of 1254 SMEs operating in the service sector in Italy.     

Knowledge management in SMEs and MNCs: matching knowledge mobility mechanisms to supply network configuration profiles

Abstract

While ‘knowledge mobility’ presents significantly different challenges for SMEs and MNCs, it is strongly influenced by two common factors: the type of knowledge to be integrated and the configuration of the operations network. Here, SMEs and MNCs are required to make critical decisions about ‘levels’ of collaboration and knowledge sharing with network partners. A Knowledge Mobility Configuration (KMC) framework was developed, tested and refined using five case studies indicative of a growing shift towards information and knowledge-intensive activities. In terms of contribution, there has been limited empirical research to-date into the determinants of successful knowledge transfers in MNC-SME network contexts. The network configuration element of the KMC framework provides insights on how such networks evolve, and how specific knowledge mobility profiles may evolve over time. This more nuanced approach may be used as a basis for a proactive and differentiated approach to knowledge mobility and integration across SME and MNC networks.     

吸收能力、研发合作创新激励与补贴政策

本文在前人的研究基础上建立了一个具有吸收能力的非合作研究与发展博弈模型,比较了有和没有吸收能力情况下的R&D投资影响,结果表明有吸收能力的企业R&D投资要更高,接着探讨了产品替代与互补关系下的技术溢出选择对产业的影响和社会最优选择的R&D投资水平及其补贴激励政策。     

Enriching Absorptive Capacity through Social Interaction

Absorptive capacity is frequently highlighted as a key determinant of knowledge transfer within multinational enterprises. But how individual behaviour translates into absorptive capacity at the subsidiary level, and how this is contingent on subsidiaries' social context, remains under‐addressed. This not only limits our understanding of the relationship between individual‐ and organizational‐level absorptive capacity, but also hampers further research on potentially relevant managerial and organizational antecedents, and limits the implications we can draw for practitioners who seek to increase their organization's capacity to put new knowledge to use. To address this shortcoming we conduct an in‐depth comparative case study of a headquarters‐initiated knowledge transfer at two subsidiaries of the same multinational enterprise. The findings demonstrate that social interaction is a prerequisite for subsidiary absorptive capacity as it enables employees to participate in the transformation of new knowledge to the local context and the development of local applications. The findings also illustrate how organizational conditions at the subsidiary level can impact subsidiary absorptive capacity by enabling or constraining local interaction patterns. These insights contribute to the absorptive capacity literature by demonstrating the scale and scope of social interaction as a key link between individual‐ and organizational‐level absorptive capacity.     

MNC–SME strategic alliances — A model framing knowledge value as the primary predictor of governance modal choice

This paper addresses a deficit in research on strategic alliance formation which, as noted by Gulati (1998) [Gulati, R., 1998. Alliances and networks. Strategic Management Journal 19, 293–317], has resulted in little attention being given to transaction costs and knowledge-based imperatives for alliance formation. In addition, Contractor and Ra (2002) [Contractor, F.J., Ra, W., 2002. How knowledge attributes influence alliance governance choices: a theory development note. Journal of International Management 8, 11–27] illustrated that theory on governance modal choice from the perspective of transactions costs and knowledge characteristics is underdeveloped, thereby proposing an interactive model predicting governance modal choice in an attempt to redress this imbalance. Using a multiple case study methodology the present study examines the important aspects of governance mode and knowledge exchange in strategic alliances between a multi-national corporation (MNC) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In doing so this paper qualifies the model proposed by Contractor and Ra (2002) [Contractor, F.J., Ra, W., 2002. How knowledge attributes influence alliance governance choices: a theory development note. Journal of International Management 8, 11–27], suggesting a model framing knowledge value as the primary predictor of governance modal choice as an appropriate framework to evaluate both the knowledge exchange relationships and governance modal choice relationships between MNCs and SMEs. Thus this paper advances theory on the motives for alliances, specifically, the effect on governance modal choice of a company's desire to acquire or access knowledge. In addition the paper furthers theory on organisational learning and absorptive capacity focusing on their influence on governance mode, in the context of management strategy.     

Supply chain agility as an acclimatisation process to environmental uncertainty and organisational vulnerabilities: insights from British SMEs

Abstract

Even though supply chain agility (SCA) has been considered an essential concept in supply chain management (SCM) research, the way it is experienced and manifested, especially by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has received much less attention. Our purpose is to focus on SME organisational vulnerabilities in the context of increased environmental uncertainty, and explore how SCA is developed and applied by SMEs amid their vulnerabilities. By relying on insights from comparative case studies of three British SMEs, we examine SME SCA as an acclimatisation process and delve into SMEs’ experiences of facing environmental uncertainty while developing and applying SCA. Our findings highlight that organisational attitudes underlie how SMEs perceive environmental uncertainty, tackle organisational vulnerabilities and develop SCA as an acclimatisation process. Our findings also reveal that resource constraints, supply chain relationships, interorganisational power dynamics, and access to information play important roles in developing SCA.     

中国企业吸收能力对竞争优势的影响

以企业资源基础理论为基础,从企业吸收能力这一概念入手.剖析企业吸收能力与企业竞争优势的关系,研究组织管理机制对企业吸收能力构建和发展的影响.依据吸收能力经典文献对吸收能力的前因进行重新梳理和归类,对现有文献中各种思路有一定的整理和明示作用;通过模型的构造和分析,采用实证研究方法.在286个中国企业样本的基础上进行统计分析;通过研究两种吸收能力的4类影响因素,辨识出中国企业在吸收能力培养和发展方面的优势和弱势,通过实证方法全面衡量和验证潜在吸收能力与实际吸收能力两者之间以及两能力与企业竞争优势的关系.研究结果表明,潜在吸收能力和实际吸收能力均是中国企业竞争优势的重要来源,其中代表创新的实际吸收能力对竞争优势的贡献更大.探讨中国企业应用外部知识的特点和规律,为中国企业如何提高知识学习效果和效率提供理论根据与实践建议.     

组织冗余的利用对中国企业创新产出的影响

从冗余的控制权的角度将企业已吸收的冗余划分为分散冗余和组合冗余,分析了这两种冗余的利用对企业创新的影响,构建了一个包含冗余、吸收能力与创新之间关系的结构方程模型,并运用在607家企业进行的问卷调查所获取的数据实证检验了这个模型。结果显示,分散冗余和组合冗余分别与产品创新和过程创新存在显著的正相关关系,不同的冗余与不同的吸收能力之间存在一定的匹配关系,这种关系能够导致不同的创新产出。结果表明,中国企业的冗余与西方企业的冗余一样,都能够促进企业的创新产出,因此,广泛采用一刀切式的“减员”手段未必是中国企业“增效”的最有效率的策略。     

Knowledge management for sustainability in operations

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of Knowledge Management (KM) as a platform to enable sustainability in firms’ operations and to provide recommendations for managers to integrate sustainable operations into their business strategies. The urgency to create and implement sustainable operations is also argued. The conceptual framework is based on the hypothesis that KM contributes to the achievement of more suitable operations. To test this hypothesis, a model of structural equations was developed with data collected from 345 SMEs. Empirical evidence supported the hypothesis, indicating that KM represents an important alternative to implementing sustainability. The results suggest that managers need to implent KM, as they will enable a better understanding and awareness regarding the global dangerous impacts from unsustainable operations mainly focused on sales and cost reduction. For this reason, this research provides evidence that KM offers an alternative impulse on the quest for more sustainable operations.     

How to reduce carbon emissions of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by knowledge sharing in China

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises are important components of the economy worldwide, and they are considered to be responsible for a large part of carbon emissions. However, because of the limitations in resource, knowledge and technical capabilities, most SMEs are confronting environmental issues such as the negative spillovers. The policy costs of an administrative order that is effective to promote emission reductions of large enterprises in China’s current economy could be high, and therefore, it is essential and crucial to establish a market-driven mechanism to help and encourage SMEs to make environmental improvement regarding the cap-and-trade system. In this context, new patterns of emission reduction would have profound impacts on knowledge management (KM) of SMEs, especially on knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer. In this paper, we adopt a micro-model to study the behaviors and carbon emissions of SMEs under different scenarios. We find that both trading and sharing of knowledge on carbon emission reduction are conducive to reducing emissions of SMEs in the context of cap-and-trade. Besides, the more the compensation is granted, the more manufacturing firms are willing to share knowledge with partners who have complementary knowledge. Subsidies or rewards on knowledge sharing can be helpful to reduce carbon emission, which may have important implications for public policy to solve the problem of carbon emission reduction of SMEs.     

The Effect of Absorptive Capacity on Innovativeness: Context and Information Systems Capability as Catalysts

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between absorptive capacity and company innovativeness and to identify potential contexts and capabilities that can act as catalysts for these relationships. We also examine the relationship between absorptive capacity and the existence and enhancement of innovativeness. These relationships are examined through an empirical investigation of 286 large Spanish companies. Our results show that absorptive capacity is an important dynamic determinant for developing a company's innovativeness. Moreover, this relationship is best explained by two related constructs. First, the company's unlearning context is a crucial determinant for both potential capacity and realized absorptive capacity. Second, the results also indicate a tangible means for managers to enhance their absorptive capacity through information systems capabilities.     

Relative capacity: Retaining knowledge outside a firm's boundaries

Besides internalizing external knowledge, companies may maintain knowledge in interfirm relationships over time. Thus, interorganizational relations may be regarded as an extended knowledge base to which a firm has privileged access. We merge research into knowledge management, absorptive capacity, learning, and dynamic capabilities to analyze knowledge retention outside a firm's boundaries. Prior research into knowledge management has focused on internally storing knowledge, whereas research into knowledge transactions has primarily studied the internalization of external knowledge. The need to dynamically manage knowledge in interfirm relations over time – without necessarily internalizing this knowledge – has been relatively neglected. Therefore, we develop the foundations of the dynamic capability-based concept of relative capacity as a complement to absorptive capacity and transformative capacity in external knowledge retention. Relative capacity contributes to explaining interfirm differences in knowledge strategies, alliance strategies, organizational boundaries, open innovation, and performance. To guide further research, propositions are advanced regarding the antecedents and consequences of relative capacity.