Knowledge transfer, governance mechanisms in alliance and environmental uncertainty

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 438-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Long ◽  
Peng Li ◽  
Bo You
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Environmental Uncertainty ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Governance Mechanisms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Transfer Characteristics ◽  
Alliance Governance ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the relationship between knowledge transfer characteristics in alliance and alliance governance mechanisms, the influence of alliance governance mechanisms on knowledge transfer consequences and investigate the role of environmental uncertainty in knowledge transfer of alliance. Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected mainly in high-tech industries of China, the firms in which often establish alliance for the purpose of learning and knowledge transfer often takes place in that alliance. Finally, 293 usable samples were included in subsequent analysis. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the hypotheses. Findings – The extent of relational (/formal) governance mechanism used in alliance has a stronger positive relationship with the extent of tacit (/explicit) knowledge transfer in alliance than with the extent of explicit (/tacit) knowledge transfer in alliance between them; environmental uncertainty impairs relational governance mechanisms and enhances formal governance mechanisms used in alliance; both relational and formal governance mechanisms could facilitate knowledge transfer in alliance; environmental uncertainty hinders knowledge transfer and negatively moderates the relationship between alliance governance mechanisms and knowledge transfer. Originality/value – This paper finds the relationship between knowledge transfer in alliance and alliance governance mechanisms, and the role of environmental uncertainty, providing managers with direct implications about how to manage alliance with different knowledge transfer characteristics for the purpose of facilitating knowledge transfer in alliance; provides managers more details about the dark side of the environmental uncertainty in knowledge transfer, also reminds public policy-makers paying enough attention for the improvement of institutional environment to deal with uncertainty.

Inclusive leadership, ambidextrous innovation and organizational performance: the moderating role of environment uncertainty

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Gong ◽  
Zhiying Liu ◽  
Yanzhen Rong ◽  
Lihua Fu
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Environmental Uncertainty ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Inclusive Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Moderating Role

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore how inclusive leadership promotes organizational performance through ambidextrous innovation (i.e. exploratory and exploitative innovation). Moreover, the authors examine the moderating role of environmental uncertainty in the relationship between inclusive leadership and ambidextrous innovation.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted a questionnaire survey of high-tech enterprises in China and obtained 325 useable samples. The hypotheses were tested using latent path analysis and ordinary least squares regression.FindingsThe results indicate that exploratory and exploitative innovations mediate the relationship between inclusive leadership and organizational performance. Moreover, environmental uncertainty positively moderated the relationship between inclusive leadership and exploitative innovation.Practical implicationsManagers should value the critical role of inclusive leadership in promoting exploratory and exploitative innovation, which in turn improves organizational performance. Meanwhile, managers need to pay attention to the risk caused by environmental uncertainty.Originality/valueThis paper extends the influence of inclusive leadership on innovation from the individual level to the organizational level and reveals the influence mechanism of inclusive leadership on organizational performance. In addition, this study supplements the knowledge regarding the boundary conditions under which the influence of inclusive leadership is strengthened or weakened.

The death of distance, revisited: disseminative capacity and knowledge transfer

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chansoo Park
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Psychic Distance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tacit Knowledge Transfer ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Moderating Role ◽  
Foreign Parent

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess how the transfer of explicit and tacit knowledge is affected by the knowledge disseminative capacity of a foreign parent firm, with an emphasis on the moderating role of psychic distance, by developing and testing a theoretical model of international joint venture (IJV) learning. Design/methodology/approach The author tested the hypotheses with survey data collected from 199 IJVs in South Korea, estimating a structural equation model using AMOS 23.0. Findings The authors found that the capacity of the foreign parent to disseminate knowledge to the IJV has a greater impact on explicit knowledge transfer than tacit knowledge transfer. He also found that the relationship between disseminative capacity and explicit knowledge transfer is significantly moderated by psychic distance, but the relationship between disseminative capacity and tacit knowledge transfer is not. Originality/value The results are critical for IJVs and parent firms seeking to improve knowledge transfer, as they establish the importance of parent firms’ disseminative capacities and the moderating role of psychic distance in the process of both tacit and explicit knowledge transfer. This research addresses the research gap regarding disseminative capacity by providing empirical evidence.

To quit or not to quit

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1062-1076 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheng-Wuu Joe ◽  
Wei-Ting Hung ◽  
Chou-Kang Chiu ◽  
Chieh-Peng Lin ◽  
Ya-Chu Hsu
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity Theory ◽  
Organizational Identification ◽  
Turnover Intention ◽  
Ethical Climate ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Questionnaire Response ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose To deepen our understanding about the development of turnover intention, the purpose of this paper is to develop a model that explains how ethical climate influences turnover intention based on the ethical climate theory and social identity theory. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses of this study were statistically tested using a survey of working professionals from Taiwan’s high-tech industry. Of the 400 questionnaires distributed to the working professionals from five large high-tech firms in a well-known science park in Northern Taiwan, 352 usable questionnaires were returned for a questionnaire response rate of 88 percent. Findings The test results of this study first show that all three dimensions of ethical climate (i.e. instrumental, benevolent, and principled) are indirectly related to turnover intention via the mediation of firm attractiveness. Moreover, instrumental and benevolent climate directly relate to turnover intention, whereas benevolent climate negatively moderates the relationship between principled climate and firm attractiveness. Originality/value This study finds that benevolent climate plays a dual role as an antecedent and a moderator in the formation of turnover intention, complementing prior studies that merely concentrate on the single role of benevolent climate as either an antecedent or a moderator. The effect of principled climate on organizational identification complements the theoretical discussion by Victor and Cullen (1987) about deontology in which an ethical workplace climate (such as legitimacy) drives employees to invest in identity attachments to the organization and influences their future career decision (e.g. turnover).

scholarly journals Knowledge management, knowledge transfer and organizational performance in the arts and crafts industry: a literature review

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1310-1331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vito Manfredi Latilla ◽  
Federico Frattini ◽  
Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli ◽  
Martina Berner
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Arts And Crafts ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This paper aims to provide a comprehensive academic literature review on the relationship between knowledge management, knowledge transfer and organizational performance in a specific subset of the creative industry, i.e. arts and crafts organizations. Furthermore, this paper analyzes how knowledge management and transfer within arts and crafts organizations help increase performance and enhance the value of the activity of the so-called “knowledge workers” (i.e. craftsmen), who are the real knowledge owners in the process of value creation. Design/methodology/approach The literature review follows the model suggested by Vom Brocke et al. (2009). The review follows a five-phase approach so as to be systematic, transparent and replicable. Academic contributions published over two periods are taken into consideration. The first period covers the years 1990-2000, when the concepts of creative industry and knowledge-based economy were developed. The second period covers the years 2000-2016, when scholars started to investigate how to effectively transfer knowledge (very often in the form of “tacit knowledge”) retained by master craftsmen in arts and crafts organizations and the critical role played by craftsmen in the performance of such organizations. Findings Three main issues have emerged: how arts and crafts organizations manage and transfer knowledge internally; the effects of these activities on organizational performance; and the prominent role of craftsmen. The literature review shows how in arts and crafts organizations there is a considerable link between the concepts of “performance" and "tacit knowledge", even though addressing such link is somehow hard to realize, for several reasons discussed in the paper. The measurement of performance in arts and crafts organizations has become an area of academic investigation only when both the role of knowledge management and transfer and the role of knowledge workers (i.e., craftsmen) have become evident for obtaining a competitive advantage. Research limitations/implications This paper has been an attempt to organize existing studies on knowledge management and transfer and to investigate the relationship existing between knowledge and performance in arts and crafts organizations. Nevertheless, the relationship between knowledge and performance is yet to be explored, as well as the development of techniques for measuring arts and crafts organizations’ performance effectively. The present contribution calls for a systematic reflection on how the transfer of traditional craftsmen’s skills impacts organizational performances in the long run. The definition and implementation of new performance evaluations criteria tailored to enhance the tacit knowledge of craftsmen as a real source of differentiation and competitive advantage for the arts and crafts organizations is somehow still missing. Practical implications By pursuing its objectives, the present contribution aims to represent a step toward enabling arts and crafts organizations to play a vital role in the modern society in a more structured way. This would help to build awareness of the potential of arts and crafts organizations for promoting economic growth, proposing a value proposition different from the one dictated by the globalization and by the triumph of product standardization and mass production. Originality/value Analyzing the knowledge management and transfer within arts and crafts organizations with a historical perspective, it appears that the recognition in academic literature of the centrality of knowledge management and transfer within arts and crafts organizations is only recent (i.e. from 2011 onward). Indeed, for approximately 20 years (i.e. 1990-2010), knowledge has been constantly related to technological paradigms and standardized results, with very little research and debate on craftsmanship and the role of craftsmen. Nevertheless, the research shows that over the years, the focus on knowledge in arts and crafts organizations and knowledge transfer has become progressively more detailed and precise: some authors have studied the role of craftsmen in the knowledge economy according to a historical perspective, while some others have analyzed different types of knowledge more thoroughly. For example, Sveiby (1997, 1996), analyzing the concept of "knowing talent" and "tradition", outlines a more prominent role of craftsmen in the knowledge economy and explain how, in sectors with a strong traditional background, the transfer of tacit knowledge is a meaningful challenge for many organizations.

Can joint-contract functions promote PPP project sustainability performance? A moderated mediation model

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengyuan Cheng ◽  
Guoliang Liu ◽  
Yongshun Xu
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Environmental Uncertainty ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainability Performance ◽  
Project Participants ◽  
Project Sustainability ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Behavioral Uncertainty

PurposeThe role of conventional contracts in achieving sustainability goals in public–private partnership (PPP) projects has been questioned. From the multifunctional perspective of contract theory, joint-contract functions that combine contractual control, coordination and adaptation may be a potential approach for improving PPP project sustainability performance. This research intends to investigate the link between the joint-contract functions and PPP project sustainability performance, and their underlying mechanism, by analyzing the mediating role of relationship quality and moderating roles of environmental uncertainty and behavioral uncertainty.Design/methodology/approachBased on 170 valid survey data collected from the Chinese PPP professionals, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was adopted to test the hypothesis.FindingsThe results reveal that joint-contract functions are positively associated with the PPP project sustainability performance. This relationship is strengthened by environmental and behavioral uncertainty. Moreover, the relationship between the joint-contract functions and PPP project sustainability performance is mediated by relationship quality.Research limitations/implicationsThis research extends contract governance theory and sustainability research in PPP projects. The research implications are as follows: (1) joint-contract functions are a second-order construct consisting of three first-order dimensions: control, coordination and adaptation and are positively associated with PPP project sustainability performance; (2) joint-contract functions enhance the sustainable benefits of PPP projects during environmental uncertainty and behavioral uncertainty; (3) informal relationships are a critical bridge connecting formal institutions with the sustainability performance of PPP projects.Practical implicationsIn general, these findings guide project participants who aim to achieve sustainable outcomes in PPP projects. (1) Project participants should consider the process of contract design and sign contracts that focus on joint-contract functions. (2) Project participants should investigate the degree of uncertainty of a PPP project before designing contracts, and design the contracts with corresponding complexity. (3) Project participants should work to enhance PPP sustainable benefits by improving the relationship between partners, such as encouraging mutual trust and joint problem-solving.Originality/valueThis research verifies the relationship between joint-contract functions and PPP project sustainability performance, and the boundary and intermediary conditions between them.

Better to be flexible than to have flunked

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 823-843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chieh-Peng Lin ◽  
Sheng-Wuu Joe ◽  
Shih-Chih Chen ◽  
Huei-Jyuan Wang
Keyword(s):  
Team Performance ◽  
Advanced Technology ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Efficacy ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Service Staff ◽  
Exogenous Factors ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – High team performance helps achieve several organizational benefits, such as strengthened competitive advantages, enhanced productivity, and higher profits and market share. For these reasons, the purpose of this paper is to propose a model based on the framework of proactive motivation and the theory of collectivism to analyze the formation of service flexibility and team performance. Design/methodology/approach – To test the hypotheses, this study conducts a survey of service staff in teams from high-tech firms in a well-known industrial zone in Northern Taiwan. These teams provide service for their industrial customers. From the survey, this study confirms the full mediating mechanism of service flexibility among the teams. Findings – The test results reveal that service flexibility fully mediates the relationship between team performance and its exogenous factors. Whereas collectivism negatively moderates the relationship between team efficacy and service flexibility, it does not moderate the relationship between service recovery and service flexibility. Furthermore, collectivism positively moderates the relationship between service flexibility and team performance. Originality/value – This study provides important findings that complement previous literature by examining three fresh antecedents for explaining how team performance is motivated by the mediating role of service flexibility and how some of the study’s model paths are moderated by collectivism. The mediating role of service flexibility indicates that managers can apply service flexibility as a firewall that calibrates a team’s input and output. Managers should encourage the application of agile solutions and advanced technology for facilitating team flexibility, consequently improving team performance.

Managing technology transfer between coopetitive firms: the roles of coopetition, asset specificity and justice

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruijia Liu ◽  
Jianjun Yang ◽  
Feng Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Technology Transfer ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Exchange Process ◽  
Governance Mechanism ◽  
Governance Mechanisms ◽  
Informal Governance ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Prior studies have demonstrated the important role of coopetition in firms’ innovation. Based on the paradox perspective, this study aims to focus on technology transfer, the pre-innovation stage, to provide a supplementary understanding of the complementarity and contradictoriness of paradoxical coopetition, with the formal and informal governance mechanisms which are suitable with this understanding in coopetition. Design/methodology/approach This study conducted an original, multisource survey of 280 Chinese manufacturing firms. Hypotheses were tested through multiple regressions. Findings Coopetition has a positive impact on technology transfer between firms. Along with the increasing specificity of assets invested ex ante as a kind of formal governance mechanism, the relationship between coopetition and technology transfer becomes stronger. Meanwhile, inter-firm justice as an informal governance mechanism in the technology transfer process can be positively affected by coopetition between partners. Originality/value The study adds to the business-to-business coopetition literature on how to properly treat and use coopetition in technology transfer. Using the paradox perspective in the Chinese context, the findings emphasize the positive role of coopetition in the inter-firm technological exchange process, enriching the understanding of the complementary and contradictory features of paradoxical coopetition. To govern coopetitive relationships, the firms should also implement two fundamental governance mechanisms, that is, specialty asset and inter-firm justice.

scholarly journals How ability, motivation and opportunity influence travel agents performance: the moderating role of absorptive capacity

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Mohamed Elbaz ◽  
Gomaa Mohamed Agag ◽  
Nasser Alhamar Alkathiri
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Travel Agents ◽  
Greater Cairo ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This study aims to examine the influence of the three dimensions of travel agents’ manager competencies – ability, motivation and opportunity seeking – on knowledge transfer and travel agents’ performance. In addition, the study investigates how employee’s absorptive capacity moderates the effects of managers’ competencies on knowledge received by the employees and moderates the effects of knowledge received by the employees on travel agents’ performance. Design/methodology/approach A positivist research philosophy was adopted with a quantitative approach, in which quantitative data were gathered based on questionnaires to tackle different stages of the study. To test the hypotheses, a self-administrated face-to-face survey of about 42 questions, launched on November 7, 2016, was used to compile response from top and medium management Category A travel agents operating in Egypt. Findings Based on a sample of 577 travel agents’ frontline employees, the results showed that the three dimensions of travel agents’ competencies have a positive effect on knowledge received by the employee. Findings further indicated that knowledge received by employee mediates the link between these three competencies and travel agents’ performance. The link between the competencies and knowledge received by the employee was found to be positively moderated by employee absorptive capacity. Moreover, these findings suggested that the relationship between knowledge received and travel agents’ performance is stronger when employees’ absorptive capacity is greater. Research limitations/implications This study is bound by certain limitations that also provide fertile grounds for further research. First, the study examined how an employee’s absorptive capacity moderates the effects of managers’ competencies on knowledge received by the employees and moderates the effects of knowledge received by the employees on travel agents’ performance. However, innovation as a dependent variable can be investigated. Second, one limitation is that the study is restricted to Category A travel agents only in Greater Cairo. Third, examining the antecedents of ability, motivation and opportunity seeking to transfer knowledge is also important. Practical implications It is important for travel agents, owners, managers and employees to acknowledge absorptive capacity as a critical component for organizations to sustain, grow and compete. Travel agents can also take steps to develop their employees’ absorptive capacity. Doing so would further enhance the success of knowledge, employees and travel agents’ performance. Also, travel agents’ top management has to ensure their employees’ absorbing knowledge, identifying and recognizing external knowledge, processing and understanding it, combining it with existing knowledge and applying the new knowledge to commercial ends. Hence, the development of absorptive capacity contributes to a travel agent’s achievement of competitive advantage. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by expanding the extant literature on knowledge transfer and absorptive capacity by investigating the influence of travel agents’ manager competencies – ability, motivation and opportunity seeking – for knowledge transfer in the Egyptian context. In addition, it investigates the direct effects of the three dimensions of travel agents’ manager competencies – ability, motivation and opportunity seeking – for knowledge transfer. Finally, the paper investigates how employee’s absorptive capacity moderates the effects of managers’ competencies on knowledge received by the employees and moderates the effects of knowledge received by the employees on travel agents’ performance

The relationship among knowledge-based dynamic process capabilities, innovation processes and innovation performance: an empirical study of knowledge-based high-tech companies in Iran

Kybernetes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Farzad Nazari ◽  
Amir Rahimipour Anaraki ◽  
Seyedeh Safiyeh Taghavi ◽  
Behzad Ghasemi
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Process ◽  
Innovation Performance ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Mediator Role ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Innovation Processes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of knowledge-based dynamic process capabilities (KBDPCs) on innovation performance, considering the mediator role of innovation processes in the Iranian knowledge-based high-tech companies. Design/methodology/approach Based on an in-depth review of previous studies, the indicators pertaining to the research constructs were extracted. Then, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were applied to identify and confirm the research constructs. Partial least squares-based structural equation modeling was used to investigate the intended relationships. Findings The results of the direct effect showed that KBDPCs have a significant positive effect on innovation performance. Further, moderation analysis demonstrated that innovation processes are moderated by the relationship between KBDPCs and innovation performance. Accordingly, the findings revealed that KBDPCs affect product innovation performance and exploratory innovation and transitional innovation increase this effect. Also, the mediator role of exploitation innovation in the relationship between KBDPCs and process innovation performance was proved. Research limitations/implications As this research was performed in the Iranian context, caution should be taken regarding the generalizability of the findings. Practical implications This paper provides a roadmap based on existing scenarios to enhance innovation performance for the surveyed-companies, in particular, and other companies, in general. Social implications The social implication of this study is to respond to the challenge of the managers of Iranian knowledge-based high-tech companies to improve innovation performance through KBDPCs and innovation processes and to grow and develop a sustainable business. Originality/value Given rare studies that have so far been conducted on the research field, this study extends the theories of KBDPCs, innovation processes and innovation performance. The constructs of the research model and relationships intended among them are also significant.

scholarly journals Structural social capital and innovation. Is knowledge transfer the missing link?

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 728-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffaele Filieri ◽  
Salma Alguezaui
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Dense Networks ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Transfer Processes ◽  
Knowledge Types ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Structural Social Capital

Purpose – This paper aims to address the gap that, to date, no systematic review has been carried out on the role that structural social capital (SC) plays for knowledge transfer and innovation at the interpersonal, inter-unit and inter-firm levels. Individuals and organisations are becoming increasingly involved in collaboration networks to share knowledge and generate innovation. SC theory has been adopted in several areas of study to explain how individuals, groups and organisations manage relationships to generate innovation. Design/methodology/approach – This review covers studies of SC in organisational behaviour, strategy and management over a period of 20 years. Findings – The literature review shows that knowledge types and knowledge transfer processes are the missing links in the relationship between structural SC and innovation. Moreover, the paper demonstrates that seemingly opposite configurations of SC are complementary to each other (structural holes vs dense networks; strong vs weak ties) and that contextual factors should be considered when discussing the effects of SC on knowledge transfer and innovation. In addition, it is the balance of different configurations of SC which enables an individual or a company to explore, access, assimilate and combine different knowledge types, which will lead to improved innovation outcomes. Originality/value – This review facilitates understanding of the role of SC for knowledge transfer processes and the mediating role of knowledge transfer processes and knowledge types in the relationship between structural SC and innovation.

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