Commonality, conflict, and absorptive capacity

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (9) ◽  
pp. 1904-1916 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Rafique ◽  
Shafqat Hameed ◽  
Mujtaba Hassan Agha
Keyword(s):  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Middle Managers ◽  
Analysis Approach ◽  
Pharmaceutical Companies ◽  
Knowledge Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
Complex Knowledge ◽  
Role Specificity

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the roles of middle managers (MM) in the knowledge-intensive environment as perceived by the employees, MM and principal decision makers (DM) in the context of the absorptive capacity process. Design/methodology/approach In this qualitative study, the data were collected from pharmaceutical companies of Pakistan by using purposive sampling and the results were analyzed based on the thematic analysis approach. Findings The results show that employees and principal DM have a strong agreement between them regarding the roles of MM; however, MM have contrasted views. Some of the roles were agreed to by all the respondents. Research limitations/implications This study has focused on the roles of MM (common and conflicting) in knowledge-intensive pharmaceutical companies of Pakistan. The results of other studies on the roles of MM in the context of traditional and hybrid organizations may differ from this study. Practical implications The results of this study show the importance of role specificity of MM for the smooth absorptive capacity process. While dealing with complex knowledge structures in pharmaceutical companies, this study gives strong input to HR mangers and consultants and practitioners as they continuously handle complex knowledge process activities. Originality/value The study has explored the specific roles of MM by using the thematic analysis approach.

Impact of knowledge sharing, learning adaptability and organizational commitment on absorptive capacity in pharmaceutical firms based in Pakistan

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Rafique ◽  
Shafqat Hameed ◽  
Mujtaba Hassan Agha
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Middle Managers ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Knowledge Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
Pharmaceutical Firms ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Absorptive capacity being an emerging field of research has been studied in different perspectives both in technological aspects and soft issues. Although an original study of absorptive capacity placed employees as playing pivoting role in the development of absorptive capacity (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990), unfortunately, there are limited studies on behavior of employees toward this emerging construct. This study aims to explore the impact of employees’ behavior in the development of absorptive capacity. Specifically, impact of knowledge sharing, learning adaptability and organizational commitment on absorptive capacity has been evaluated in this study. Design/methodology/approach This cross-sectional study was conducted at the pharmaceutical firms of Pakistan. The data were collected through random sampling from middle managers as a unit of analysis of this study. The rationale of the unit of analysis is that the maximum information is handled/accessed by the middle managers in the perspective of Pakistan. The data were collected from 170 respondents on a five-point Likert scale with the response rate of 66.7 per cent. Data were collected from different genders and different age groups with different qualification levels. Findings All independent variables showed significant positive correlations with overall absorptive capacity (ACAP). At the same time, different relationships of all independent variables were found in different ways with different significant levels. The results showed that different strategies may be adopted to manage the external knowledge for competition in turbulent environment. For example, organizational commitment may be incorporated at strategy formulation only, whereas the Adaptability at both routine and strategy formulation stage. As all independent variables showed no correlation with Acquisition it is concluded that Acquisition is purely a routine function, and instead of coordination, the routine processes must be emphasized. Research limitations/implications This study focused on the data from the middle managers of the pharmaceutical firms only. The results may not be generalized to the sectors. Another limitation is that the respondents of the study were middle managers. It was made intentional to see the impact of management aspects other than organizational mechanisms, as discussed by Cohen and Levinthal (1990) and Jansen et al. (2005) in their studies. The results on the basis of the data collected from other entities of the organization may differ. This is a cross-sectional study, and a longitudinal study may give different results. Practical implications Absorptive capacity has the capability to absorb new knowledge and plays an important role in the development of organizational processes to compete in the turbulent environment. It is dependent not only on technological infrastructure but also on the employees’ behaviors and attitudes. This study gives insights about the knowledge process activities and employment of human resource at each phase of absorptive capacity in relation to their behaviors toward knowledge process. Social implications Development of organizational process with knowledge management plays an important role in the capacity building, which ultimately enhances social paradigm of activities. Originality/value Pharmaceutical companies in Pakistan acquire technologies from foreign countries and have very limited research and development of their own. As technology is upgraded by the foreign companies as a continuous improvement process, local firms of Pakistan are required to absorb the new knowledge with the same pace. The study highlights importance of human capital in the development of this capability.

The competency of public managers

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-40
Keyword(s):  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Work Performance ◽  
Middle Managers ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Stakeholder Collaboration ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Managers ◽  
Multi Stakeholder

Purpose The purpose of this study is identifying the competencies that are characteristic of effective middle managers. Design/methodology/approach Data was gathered in personal interviews, using the behavioral event interview technique, from the responses of 20 middle manages working for several public agencies in West Java Province, Indonesia. 12 were previously rated on work performance as superior and 8 were rated as average. 80 stories were obtained and examined in two ways – deductively coded using the National Civil Service Agency’s managerial competency dictionary and inductively to identify new themes through thematic analysis. Findings Competencies which may distinguish superior from average performers are achievement orientation, leadership, directiveness, persuasiveness and innovation. Competencies frequently cited in the stories of both average and superior performers are oral communication, organizing, information seeking, analytical thinking and planning; new competencies identified in thematic analysis which lead to effective management were adherence to laws and regulations, multi-stakeholder collaboration and technical competencies which includes human resource management, technology management and financial management. Practical implications For organizations to improve the performance of middle managers they should focus on the on the development of those competencies which distinguish superior from average middle managers and identification of these traits in the recruitment and promoting of employees. Originality/value This paper has an original approach as it fills a research gap in competency modeling for the middle management level in a public sector context.

scholarly journals Middle managers’ roles after a hospital merger

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-99
Author(s):  
Elsa Solstad ◽  
Inger Johanne Petterson
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Middle Managers ◽  
Professional Staff ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Hospital Merger ◽  
Top Managers ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Controls ◽  
Knowledge Intensive

Purpose Mergers are important and challenging elements in hospital reforms. The authors study the social aspects of management and the roles of middle managers in the aftermath of a hospital merger. Especially, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how professional staff and middle managers perceive their relationships with top managers several years after the merger. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted among the professional staff in two merging hospitals’ units six years after a merger. Based on the main findings from this survey, a follow-up interview study was done with a group of middle managers. Findings The management practices were diagnostic with few interactive or communicative activities. The respondents expressed that mistrust developed between the staff and the top management, and a lack of involvement and interaction lead to decoupled and parallel organizations. Social controls, based on shared norms, had not been developed to create mutual commitment and engagement. Practical implications Policy makers should be aware of the need in profound change processes not only to change the tangible elements, but to take care of changing the less tangible elements such as norms and values. Professionals in hospitals are in powerful positions, and changes in such organizations are dependent on trust-building, bottom-up initiatives and evolutionary pathways. Originality/value The paper addresses the need to understand the dynamics of the social aspect in managing hospitals as knowledge-intensive organizations when comprehensive restructuring processes are taking place over several years.

Efficiency and the scope of outsourced services: a client firm’s absorptive capacity perspective of knowledge-intensive services

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pia Ellimäki ◽  
J. Alberto Aragón-Correa ◽  
Nuria Esther Hurtado-Torres
Keyword(s):  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Industry Data ◽  
Business Process Outsourcing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Specific Provider ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Industry Conditions

PurposeStrategic literature has focused on how economies of scale in a firm offering outsourcing may generate incentives for clients to increase the outsourced services, but there has been limited research on how the clients’ features may influence the scope of services that they hire with an outsourcing provider. This study analyzes whether a client’s efficiency motivates it to increase ties with a specific provider of knowledge-intensive services in the context of business process outsourcing (BPO). We further explore whether industry conditions moderate the relationship.Design/methodology/approachA research framework is developed consisting of three main hypotheses. We combine industry data and proprietary and financial data from a longitudinal sample of 107 client firms of a multinational outsourcing service provider to test our hypotheses.FindingsWe find that more efficient firms hire more services from an outsourcing provider and that the munificence of the client firm’s industry positively moderates this relationship. Our results suggest that efficient clients can better keep transaction costs under control when accessing, assimilating, and exploiting the knowledge embedded in an expanded set of services provided by an outsourcing supplier.Originality/valueThis study extends the absorptive capacity perspective by showing that a client’s efficiency reinforces its opportunities to absorb knowledge-intensive services from a supplier when expanding the range of operations in the context of BPO.

A review of management history from 2010-2014 utilizing a thematic analysis approach

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 494-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen Schwarz
Keyword(s):  
Child Labor ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Key Management ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Analysis Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management History ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
Management Concepts ◽  
And Gender

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the Management History literature in the Journal of Management History from 2010 to 2014. Design/methodology/approach – This review utilized a thematic analysis approach. Findings – The author found seven distinct themes in the literature in addition to four subthemes. The themes include management pioneers, crisis management, the dark side of management (including the subthemes of slavery, child labor, monetary factors and gender issues), ancient texts, regional differences, religion and historical impacts of key management concepts. Practical implications – This review displays management history research themes, which enables a manager to efficiently view various lenses with which to analyze management issues. Originality/value – By bringing together previously disparate streams of work to understand the themes of management history, this paper analyzes the direction of research, identifies gaps in the literature and begins to more effectively build a cumulative research tradition.

The role of client knowledge absorptive capacity for innovation in KIBS

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolay Chichkanov
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Customer Relationship ◽  
Business Services ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Process Innovations ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
Client Knowledge ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This paper aims to study the relationship between the knowledge exchanged during client interactions and innovation in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) enterprises. It adapts the concept of absorptive capacity, i.e. the ability of the firm to successfully deal with external knowledge, to the case of client knowledge being absorbed with the support of information and communication technologies and explores whether its three main dimensions (acquisition, assimilation and application of client knowledge) are significant enablers of KIBS’ innovation propensity. Design/methodology/approach An empirical analysis is based on a dataset of 417 Russian KIBS companies collected in 2019 following the recommendations suggested in the new edition of Oslo Manual. To examine the relationship between the three-client knowledge absorptive capacity dimensions and implementation of different types of innovation by KIBS, the study applies linear ordinary least squares and logistic regression methods. Findings The results show that acquisition of client knowledge through the wide number of digital channels, assimilation of such knowledge boosted by its codification through a digital customer relationship management (CRM) system and application of client knowledge across different functional areas are positively associated with both product and business process innovations in KIBS. Originality/value The paper proposes that KIBS should develop and sustain the strong internal capacity to absorb knowledge through routine day-to-day client interactions as a part of their knowledge management systems. The results also indicate that application of digital communication tools and CRM systems are beneficial for KIBS and increases their propensity to innovate.

Money in politics: a recipe for corruption in Malaysia

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khairul Saidah Abas Azmi ◽  
Rozaimah Zainudin
Keyword(s):  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Analysis Approach ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Leaders ◽  
Political Finance ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Money In Politics

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how money in politics contributes to corruption in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach This study used in-depth semi-structured interviews to collect primary data. The interviews were conducted with two elite groups comprising seven politicians and seven corporate leaders. Data were then analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Findings The findings indicate how money in politics contributes to corruption in Malaysia. Various types of corruption in the country are identified, namely political donation, bribery and money politics. This study also provides evidence of the underlying factors driving money politics. Practical implications This paper offers valuable insights to policymakers and enforcement agencies for vigorous prosecution or appropriate sanction against the perpetrators. Especially on the weak regulation of political finance in Malaysia, this paper provides insights into how the weakness is used to manufacture corruption. Originality/value This paper provides evidence of how money politics cultivate corrupt activities, which are relatively sensitive and controversial by nature. The rarely obtained views from the elite groups provide a significant value to research.

Exploring redundancies in multichannel knowledge sourcing in high-technology industries

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramin Vandaie
Keyword(s):  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Firm Size ◽  
Pharmaceutical Companies ◽  
Knowledge Sourcing ◽  
Firm Innovation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
External Sources ◽  
Technology Industries ◽  
High Technology Industries ◽  
Scientific Collaborations

Purpose Scientific collaborations represent informal external ties that together with formal R&D alliances constitute a multichannel knowledge sourcing network in science-based industries. Although such multichannel knowledge sourcing benefits firms by providing more thorough access to external sources, it also entails potentially significant redundancies worthy of consideration. This paper aims to take a step by first verifying their existence, followed by an examination of key contingencies determining the extent of these redundancies, i.e. firm absorptive capacity, balanced utilization of ties and firm size. Design methodology approach This is an empirical study that uses scientific collaborations and R&D alliances of US pharmaceutical companies to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings This paper verifies the existence of multichannel knowledge sourcing redundancies, followed by an examination of key contingencies determining the extent of these redundancies, i.e. firm absorptive capacity, balanced utilization of ties and firm size. Originality value To the knowledge, this is a first attempt at clarifying redundancies in innovative knowledge sourcing and their implications for firm innovation performance.

scholarly journals The team absorptive capacity triad: a configurational study of individual, enabling, and motivating factors

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 1083-1103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandor Lowik ◽  
Jeroen Kraaijenbrink ◽  
Aard Groen
Keyword(s):  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Knowledge Integration ◽  
New Ventures ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Configurational Approach ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
Functional Teams

Purpose The paper aims to understand how knowledge-intensive teams can develop and enhance their team absorptive capacity (ACAP) level, by exploring whether individual and organizational factors are complements or substitutes for team ACAP. Design/methodology/approach The study applies a configurational approach using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to identify combinations of individual and team factors that are associated with team ACAP. Data were gathered through a survey among 297 employees of four medium-sized Dutch firms, working in 48 functional teams. Findings The primary finding is that knowledge-intensive team ACAP depends on a triad of complementary factors: team members’ individual ACAP, factors that enable knowledge integration and factors that motivate knowledge integration. Underdevelopment of one or more factors leads to lower team ACAP. Research limitations/implications The study contributes to the discussion on the locus of knowledge-creation and enhances understandings of why knowledge-intensive teams differ in knowledge processing capabilities. It suggests future research on cross-functional teams in new ventures and large firms. Practical implications The paper informs managers and team leaders about the factors that determine knowledge-intensive teams’ ACAP, enabling them to develop team-specific strategies to increase their teams’ performance. Originality/value The study takes a holistic perspective on knowledge-intensive team ACAP by using a configurational approach. It also highlights the potential of team-level research in the knowledge management literature for both researchers and practitioners.

Competencies for effective public middle managers

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 421-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iman Sudirman ◽  
Joko Siswanto ◽  
Joe Monang ◽  
Atya Nur Aisha
Keyword(s):  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Middle Managers ◽  
Stakeholder Collaboration ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Managers ◽  
Analytical Thinking ◽  
Multi Stakeholder ◽  
Behavioral Event

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate a set of competencies that characterizes effective public middle managers.Design/methodology/approachA total of 20 middle managers from several public agencies were interviewed in person using the behavioral event interview technique. In all, 80 stories were deductively coded based on the existing National Civil Service Agency’s managerial competency dictionary and inductively examined through a thematic analysis to discover new themes.FindingsThis study’s findings suggest that communication, organizing, information seeking, analytical thinking and planning competencies are common competencies, but essential for effective public middle managers. Conversely, achievement orientation, leadership, directiveness, persuasiveness and innovation are competencies that characterize effective public middle managers and distinguish them from average performers. In addition, some other new competencies inductively obtained using a thematic analysis are also important for effective public managers: adherence to laws and regulations, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and technical competencies (technology management, human resource management and financial management).Research limitations/implicationsThe research was undertaken using 20 samples divided into superior and average performers; thus, it is limited to developing competency levels to new competencies.Originality/valueThis study identifies the competencies necessary for effective middle managers within the public sector context. Conducting behavioral event interviews with two distinct groups provides empirically unique behavioral evidence of competencies that characterize effective public middle managers and enables to discover new competencies.

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