Inter‐organizational Cooperation and Environmental Change: Moderating Effects between Flexibility and Innovation Performance

The paper investigates the moderator effect of inter‐organizational cooperation in the relationship between workplace flexibility and innovation performance. This research question is important because innovation is dependent on the strategic integration of technological knowledge, requiring organizations to acquire new capabilities rapidly or to ensure the presence of knowledge that may be beyond existing internal capabilities. Inter‐organizational cooperation constitutes a relevant mechanism for a firm to increase its knowledge base concerning new products and processes. High‐cooperation firms may have more opportunities to take advantage of flexibility for innovation performance because it facilitates the access and dispersion of knowledge within the firm. We test the research hypotheses in a sample of manufacturing and service firms. The results contribute to the literature on flexibility and innovation because they demonstrate that inter‐organizational cooperation moderates the relationship between flexibility and innovation performance. We discuss the implications of these results for future research and managerial practice.     

A Comprehensive Model for Measuring the Potential Impact of Information Technology on Organizational Strategic Variables*

The existing literature on the impact of information technology (IT) does not include rigorous theory building or empirical studies. This research seems to be the first comprehensive investigation towards the development of an empirically validated comprehensive model for understanding the potential impact of IT on organizational strategic variables. More specifically, organizational and industrial variables that appeared to be affected by IT are identified, measured, and operationalized in the form of a comprehensive model. This study is based on structured interviews with a carefully selected sample of 31 strategic managers who had experience using IT for strategic decisions. In addition, the variables included in the model are well grounded in the information systems literature. The variables are then empirically validated and their reliabilities critically tested. A comprehensive model is derived from these validated variables. The model is a first step towards measuring the overall potential impact of IT on an organization. The model can also be used to gauge IT's potential impact on individual strategic variables. A set of hypotheses is also presented for future research. The hypotheses primarily relate to the impact of IT on organizational strategic performance. The model provides an empirically validated foundation for testing of such hypotheses.     

Developing Absorptive Capacity Theory for Public Service Organizations: Emerging UK Empirical Evidence

A strong public policy focus on high performance means that utilizing management knowledge effectively is at a premium for UK public service organizations. This study empirically examined two English public agencies to explore the inter‐sectoral transfer of a strategic management model originally developed in the private sector – absorptive capacity – which is one way of conceptualizing an organizational competence in such knowledge mobilization. Two theoretical contributions are made. First, a new absorptive capacity framework for public service organizations is developed which recognizes the participation of public agency project teams during an innovation process proceeding over time with phases of co‐creation, testing, metamorphosis and diffusion. Second, our novel framework modifies an early influential model of absorptive capacity. Counter to this model, we argue that realized absorptive capacity requires agency from skilled and embedded actors to turn ‘curbing routines’ into ‘enabling routines’ in all four stages. Project (middle) managers have flexibility in their roles to seize episodic moments of opportunity to innovate and achieve service delivery goals, and to build absorptive capacity capability. Absorptive capacity capability develops organically over time. Future research directions are discussed.     

The impact of supply chain management practices on competitive advantage and organizational performance

Effective supply chain management (SCM) has become a potentially valuable way of securing competitive advantage and improving organizational performance since competition is no longer between organizations, but among supply chains. This research conceptualizes and develops five dimensions of SCM practice (strategic supplier partnership, customer relationship, level of information sharing, quality of information sharing, and postponement) and tests the relationships between SCM practices, competitive advantage, and organizational performance. Data for the study were collected from 196 organizations and the relationships proposed in the framework were tested using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that higher levels of SCM practice can lead to enhanced competitive advantage and improved organizational performance. Also, competitive advantage can have a direct, positive impact on organizational performance.     

高层管理团队多样性与组织创新:外部社会网络与内部决策模式的作用

为进一步揭示高层管理团队(TMT)特征对组织创新产生的影响,引入并检验了TMT的外部网络联系和内部合作型决策这2个要素在TMT多样性与组织创新关系中的作用。研究结果表明,关注创新的组织过程的重要性,对TMT的相关研究具有重要的理论延伸,对于管理企业在复杂的环境中竞争和进行战略变革具有重要的借鉴意义。     

An Empirically Derived Model for the Adoption of Customer-based Interorganizational Systems*

Information systems (IS) researchers are now calling for the need to draw from the empirically rich field of organizational innovation. As the impact of strategic systems is increasingly being felt by organizations, the view that these systems are innovations or innovative uses of technology is becoming prevalent. Customer based interorganizational systems (CIOS) represent one of the most prominent types of such systems. This research investigates CIOS adoption. A model is constructed based on significant studies in innovation to identify factors facilitating the adoption decision of a CIOS. Data are gathered from 226 senior executives. Discriminant analysis is used to identify factors that distinguish adopters from nonadopters. Factor analysis of significant variables yielded a parsimonious model of CIOS adoption. The five factor model includes (1) a proactive technological orientation and (2) an internal push for the system as the two most significant sets of facilitators. Implications for research and practice are then discussed.     

Understanding the Antecedents of Effective Knowledge Management: The Importance of a Knowledge‐Centered Culture*

Within the context of knowledge management, little research has been conducted that identifies the antecedents of a knowledge‐centered culture—those organizational qualities that encourage knowledge creation and dissemination. In this study, the existing literature on organizational climate, job characteristics, and organizational learning (in the form of cooperative learning theory) are linked with the current thinking and research findings related to knowledge management to develop a theoretical model explaining the relationships among organizational climate, the level of cooperative learning that takes place between knowledge workers, and the resulting level of knowledge created and disseminated as measured by team performance and individual satisfaction levels. The study goes on to empirically test the proposed research model by investigating the climate of organizations, and seeks to understand the linkage between a set of organizational and individual characteristics and knowledge‐related activities found in cooperative learning groups and the resulting work outcomes. The hypothesized research model is tested using LISREL with data collected from 203 information systems (IS) professionals engaged in systems development activities. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications the results have for future research and managerial practice.     

不同主体层次中组织的知识转化二维结构:前因变量与企业绩效的影响

企业价值的增长越来越依赖于所拥有的组织知识,但是不同主体层次中组织知识的转化及其所带来的绩效决定了组织中员工绩效、团队绩效和组织绩效的水平。本文首先根据对国内外研究文献的归纳和整理,分析了组织知识转化的各主体层次性及其相应层次的前因变量,构建了不同主体层次中组织的知识转化及其前因变量与企业绩效的影响理论模型和研究假设,通过文献回顾、访谈、半开放式问卷、预调查等方法设计出相关问卷,并利用问卷调查所获得的数据,通过探索性因子分析和验证性因子分析方法分析各主体层次知识转化的二维结构,采用结构方程模型对个人、团队和组织特征变量对个人、团队和组织层次的知识转化及其员工绩效、团队绩效和组织绩效的影响进行了探讨。最后,本文基于企业现实情况对其研究结果进行了详细的分析与讨论,并提出了研究局限性以及未来研究方向。     

Introduction: Knowledge Construction and Creation in Organizations*

While adopting a knowledge‐based perspective on organizations has been valuable, since, among other things, it enables us to see links between organizational learning and a firm's competitive advantage through the development of idiosyncratic capabilities, it has nonetheless tended to treat organizational knowledge as ‘given’, exploring how it is related to other ‘given’ variables. The focus of this special issue is to unpack the notion of organizational knowledge by exploring the processes and practices through which knowledge is constructed and created in organizations. A constructivist perspective assumes that ‘knowledge’ presupposes work and seeks to explore how what comes to be considered as organizational knowledge is established and validated (or fails to do so). By seeing organizational knowledge as work we can further probe into how knowledge is shaped by organizational strategies and incentives and, more radically, how power and politics influence the struggle between competing bodies of knowledge in organizations.     

Multiple Conceptualizations of Small Business Web Use and Benefit*

Small businesses play an important role in the U.S. economy and there is anecdotal evidence that use of the Web is beneficial to such businesses. There is, however, little systematic analysis of the conditions that lead to successful use of and thereby benefits from the Web for small businesses. Based on the innovation adoption, organizations, and information systems (IS) implementation literature, we identify a set of variables that are related to adoption, use, and benefits of information technology (IT), with particular emphasis on small businesses. These variables are reflective of an organization's contextual characteristics, its IT infrastructure, Web use, and Web benefits. Since the extant research does not suggest a single theoretical model for Web use and benefits in the context of small businesses, we adopt a modeling approach and explore the relationships between “context‐IT‐use‐benefit” (CIUB) through three models—partial‐mediator, reduced partial‐mediator, and mediator. These models posit that the extent of Web use by small businesses and the associated benefits are driven by organizations’ contextual characteristics and their IT infrastructure. They differ in the endogeneity/exogeneity of the extent of IT sophistication, and in the direct/mediated effects of organizational context. We examine whether the relationships between variables identified in the literature hold within the context of these models using two samples of small businesses with national coverage, including various sizes, and representing several industry sectors. The results show that the evidence for patterns of relationships is similar across the two independent samples for two of these models. We highlight the relationships within the reduced partial‐mediator and mediator models for which conclusive evidence are given by both samples. Implications for small business managers and providers of Web‐based technologies are discussed.     

内部社会资本对知识能量与组织创新的影响——华南地区企业的实证研究

以华南地区的145家企业为对象,对企业内部社会资本、知识能量、组织创新与组织绩效之间的相互关系进行了实证研究。证实了内部社会资本对组织知识能量的蕴蓄有正向的影响;内部社会资本对组织创新有正向的影响;知识能量影响组织创新并进而影响组织的绩效;组织创新可分为管理创新和技术创新,技术创新对管理创新有显著的正向影响;技术创新和管理创新都对组织绩效有直接影响的正向。     

Internal networking and innovation ambidexterity: The mediating role of knowledge management processes in university research

This article focuses on public organizations to contribute to research on knowledge management processes, a field that until recently has focused primarily on private entities. Specifically, we analyse the mediating role of knowledge transfer and knowledge absorption in the relationship between the internal networking created in university research groups and innovation ambidexterity. Based on six hypotheses, the conceptual model is tested through a structural equations model with mediation effects. The data analysed come from 249 directors of Spanish public university research groups. The results show that the internal networking formed in university research groups has a positive and significant relationship to knowledge transfer and knowledge absorption, but we obtain different results for the relationship between knowledge transfer and knowledge absorption in the presence of innovation ambidexterity. Only knowledge absorption has a positive and significant influence on innovation ambidexterity. The most interesting results involve the mediating role of knowledge absorption in the relationship between internal networking and innovation ambidexterity. These results support the conclusion that directors of university research groups should promote development of knowledge absorption processes in order to stimulate innovation ambidexterity and thus to achieve ambidextrous innovative performance.     

Structural determinants of team performance: the mutual influences of learning culture,creativity, and knowledge

This study examined the effects of supportive learning culture, team creativity, and collaborative knowledge creating practices on team performance. A survey was used to collect data from a total of 228 knowledge workers from nine Korean organizations. Analyses included measuring item internal consistency, validating proposed constructs, and examining structural relationships using Structural Equation Modelling. The proposed research model was validated in terms of item internal consistency and a model-fit in the Korean business context. Supportive learning culture had a positive and direct influence on team creativity and on the teams' collaborative knowledge creation practices; however, it had an indirect influence on the team performance through the variables of team creativity and knowledge creation practices. In the conclusion, limitations, implications, and further research suggestions are discussed.     

The Role of Knowledge in Resource Allocation to Exploration versus Exploitation in Technologically Oriented Organizations*

Decisions regarding research and development (R&D) activities of an organization greatly affect the fiscal and market outcomes of technologically oriented firms. Yet, the resource allocation choices between these two activities are tied strongly to an organization's technology knowledge. Technological knowledge is itself a resource that the firm can manage to achieve strategic and competitive advantage. In this paper, the authors present a system dynamics view of the decomposition of R&D efforts into explorative and exploitive activities and the resultant knowledge‐specific and performance outcomes from the decision to focus on one type of activity or another. Four factors are shown to affect the relative value of innovative knowledge to the organization: resource availability, exogenous competition, aging of knowledge bases, and adaptive capacity, a firm's ability to adapt to its environment. A variety of long‐ and short‐term strategic issues are discussed in relation to these forces.     

Beyond the Disciplinary Role of Governance: How Boards Add Value to Spanish Foundations

Due to the significant role of non‐profit organizations in the development of modern societies, these organizations must adjust their boardrooms. Since traditional theories of corporate governance appear to be limited in explaining the changing non‐profit world, we propose an extended model of governance that integrates the traditional arguments of agency theory with a cognitive dimension. Based on a sample of Spanish foundations, we present evidence on the effect of the board composition on foundations' organizational efficiency. We show that board size and independence do not have a definitive effect on the entity's efficiency. Instead, the knowledge diversity inside the boardroom and the active character of trustees have a positive influence on resource allocation. The cognitive dimension of the extended model of governance is critical to explaining how boards impact on organizational performance.     

Brokering knowledge: Linking learning and innovation

This paper presents a model of innovation, knowledge brokering, that explains how some organizations are able to routinely innovate by recombining their past knowledge in new ways. While existing theories of organizational learning and innovation are useful, the links between them are crucial for understanding how existing knowledge becomes the raw materials from which individuals in organizations construct innovative solutions. This model develops these links by grounding processes of learning and innovation in the larger social context within which they occur. Using a microsociological perspective, this article draws together research spanning levels of analysis to explain innovation as the dissembling and reassembling of extant ideas, artifacts, and people. Previous research has suggested that firms spanning multiple domains may innovate by moving ideas from where they are known to where they are not, in the process creating new combinations of existing ideas. This paper more fully develops this process by linking the cognitive, social, and structural activities it comprises. Knowledge brokering involves exploiting the preconditions for innovation that reside within the larger social structure by bridging multiple domains, learning about the resources within those domains, linking that knowledge to new situations, and finally building new networks around the innovations that emerge from the process. This article also considers the origins of knowledge brokers as firms committed to this innovation strategy, the structural and cultural supports for the knowledge brokering process, and several obstacles to the process that these firms experience. Finally, I discuss the implications of this model for further research on innovation and learning, and the implications for other organizations seeking to establish their own capabilities for brokering knowledge.     

Perception of learning culture and concerns about the innovation on its use: a question of level of analysis.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between organizational members' perception of learning culture and the concerns about the innovation, and the influence of these factors on the use of one innovation (ISO 9000) in the Malaysian public sector. This study was guided by the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) (Hall and Hord 1987) and the dimensions of the learning organization (Watkins and Marsick 1993, 1996b). The study involved 628 people from eleven government agencies that had been using the new system for at least a year. The study provided a model for operationalizing the assertions and theories of both organizational development and learning organization scholars especially that a more adaptive learning-oriented culture would facilitate the implementation of change. The examination of learning culture facilitated the understanding of how members within the organization perceived their learning culture, and subsequently its relationship to their use of the innovation. The analysis of concerns illustrated the fit between the innovation and feelings and perceptions of the individual members about the innovation. On an individual organizational basis, the regression analyses showed that the model was able to explain the variance in use of innovation in each organization. However, a comparison of regression weights across the organizations told a very different story. The results showed that the combination of variables that explained the use of innovation varied radically from organization to organization. The findings raised questions about appropriate levels of analyses for such studies. The study suggests that theories that try to explain organizational innovation implementation be tested across organizations and take into account organizational context. Otherwise, they could lead to inaccurate conclusions.     

Technological Diversification: A Systematic Review of Antecedents,Outcomes and Moderating Effects

Technological diversification has been linked to a wide range of phenomena, including financial performance, innovation, product diversification and inter‐organizational relationships. This is the first systematic review of this literature and provides an overview of its historical development and conceptual foundations. It finds that the role of contingency factors impacting the positive relationship between technological diversification and financial performance needs further exploration. Also, it finds that the research on the links between technological diversification and inter‐organizational relationships requires consolidation. This paper suggests three avenues for further research. First, it sets out an agenda for identifying the antecedents of technological diversification. Second, it identifies contextual factors that could shape the relationship between technological diversification and performance. Third, it argues that technological diversification research must engage with contemporary technological and organizational developments such as digital organizations, open boundaries and networks.     

The Strategic Management of Innovation: A Systematic Review and Paths for Future Research

Strategic management scholars have long emphasized the importance of innovation for a firm's competitive advantage and performance. However, the current state of knowledge about the strategic management of innovation is characterized by conflicting theoretical predictions, persisting knowledge gaps and theoretical inconsistencies. Adopting a ‘systematic’ approach to reviewing the literature, this paper combines different quantitative methods – co‐word analysis, cluster analysis and frequency analysis – to review 342 articles on the strategic management of innovation published in seven journals from 1992 to 2010. On the basis of these analyses, suggestions are developed for future research which could help to promote future theory development and provide relevant material for policy decisions that managers and executives have to make when they manage innovation.     

Inter-Organizational Learning and Strategic Renewal in SMEs: Extending the 4I Framework

This article explores how mature SMEs which lack internal resources access external knowledge to facilitate strategic renewal. Organizational learning, in contrast to entrepreneurial learning, recognizes that owner-managers must distribute knowledge throughout the firm to achieve competitive benefits. Three case studies demonstrate how external ‘knowledge providers’ (customers, suppliers and educational institutions) help institutionalize ‘new’ knowledge. Initially, learning from inter-organizational relationships requires owner-managers to be proactive in accessing and extending appropriate inter-organizational relationships. Second, external organizations can play an active role by ‘intertwining’ knowledge to support the development of processes, systems and routines that distribute and institutionalize learning throughout the organization. The three cases have practical implications for owner-managers and add to academic knowledge via the extension of Crossan et al's 4I model of organizational learning.