scholarly journals Environmental Turbulence and Complexity and the Optimal Degree of Internal Open Innovation for MNCs

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Piet Hausberg ◽  
Alfredo Valentino ◽  
Luca Sabini
Keyword(s):  
Open Innovation ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Environmental Turbulence ◽  
External Boundary ◽  
Local Market ◽  
Transfer Of Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Resources ◽  
The Difference

In today’s knowledge economy, it is vital for Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) to leverage all their globally dispersed knowledge resources. Extant literature argues that MNCs can be viewed as knowledge sharing networks and that knowledge exchange within the group enhances performance. This exploration of new knowledge through search among peer subsidiaries of the parent MNC can be regarded as Internal Open Innovation (IOI). However, literature on Open Innovation is largely focused on the external boundary of the firm, so that little can be said on whether openness towards corporate group internal knowledge sources is either or both, beneficial and/or detrimental, and how this depends on the difference of national industries and on the correct communication of these before the final transfer of knowledge. The principal research question thus is: To what degree should MNC subsidiaries be open to their intra-MNC peers given a common, evolving technological environment but different local market contexts? In this paper, the authors contribute with new propositions regarding this issue developed based on results from an agent-based model that is analyzed through computer simulation. The authors explore the degree of openness of MNC subsidiaries together with their communication competence in different organizational structures and environments, based on previous developments in theory of knowledge transfer and complexity as well as international business.

scholarly journals Environmental Turbulence and Complexity and the Optimal Degree of Internal Open Innovation for MNCs

Economics ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 297-320
Author(s):  
J. Piet Hausberg ◽  
Alfredo Valentino ◽  
Luca Sabini
Keyword(s):  
Open Innovation ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Environmental Turbulence ◽  
External Boundary ◽  
Transfer Of Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Resources ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Correct Communication

In today's knowledge economy, it is vital for Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) to leverage all their globally dispersed knowledge resources. Extant literature argues that MNCs can be viewed as knowledge sharing networks and that knowledge exchange within the group enhances performance. This exploration of new knowledge through search among peer subsidiaries of the parent MNC can be regarded as Internal Open Innovation (IOI). However, literature on Open Innovation is largely focused on the external boundary of the firm, so that little can be said on whether openness towards corporate group internal knowledge sources is either or both, beneficial and/or detrimental, and how this depends on the difference of national industries and on the correct communication of these before the final transfer of knowledge. The principal research question thus is: To what degree should MNC subsidiaries be open to their intra-MNC peers given a common, evolving technological environment but different local market contexts? In this paper, the authors contribute with new propositions regarding this issue developed based on results from an agent-based model that is analyzed through computer simulation. The authors explore the degree of openness of MNC subsidiaries together with their communication competence in different organizational structures and environments, based on previous developments in theory of knowledge transfer and complexity as well as international business.

scholarly journals Visualizing molecular structures and shapes: a comparison of virtual reality, computer simulation, and traditional modeling

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Corina E. Brown ◽  
Ben Whaley ◽  
Richard M. Hyslop
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Molecular Geometry ◽  
Molecular Structures ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Chemistry Students ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Students Attitudes

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of three methods used to assist in teaching molecular geometry to college chemistry students. A pre- and post-test quasi-experiment was used to collect data about students’ performance in a given chemistry exercise. One research question was intended to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of the three methods in assisting students to understand the topic and carry out the exercise correctly, and a second research question addressed students’ attitudes towards the use of Virtual Reality (VR) in chemistry education. Results show a positive attitude towards the use of VR as an assisting tool to aid in understanding chemistry concepts. While the difference among the three methods was not significant, the results show that the VR brought more enthusiasm and positive attitudes toward the topic of molecular geometry among the students. Educational implications and recommendations for future research are presented as well.

scholarly journals Challenges and Solutions for Organizational Design in Urban Digitalization

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 615
Author(s):  
Máté Szilárd Csukás ◽  
Viktor Bukovszki ◽  
András Reith
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Organizational Design ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Organizational Models ◽  
Practice Based Research ◽  
Final Design

Digitalization in cities – often branded as smart city (SC) transition – carry the potential for highly inclusive, evidence-based decision making in urban planning, responding to the increasing pressures cities face. However, investments have thus far been slower to deliver the expected impacts. Thus, the attention of the discourse is turning towards organizational structures addressing complexity, scalability, and procedural challenges of SC transition. Given such turn has regime-challenging implications, there is a need for practice-based research in the niches of SC transition, supporting policymaking inductively. This study outlines the barriers inherent in conventional organizational models (public sector, private-supplier, and academic-professional) to SC transition, and makes a case for alternative models. The barriers are retrieved through an extensive literature review, and a series of focus groups with key stakeholders involved in SC transition, and processed as a design problem for a new organizational model. The final design is a nested platform model based on open innovation and a lean approach to urban planning. The paper concludes with a proof of concept to overcome organizational barriers, validated by the stakeholder focus groups. Keywords: urban planning, platform, open innovation, assessment, smart city, organizational models

scholarly journals OPEN INNOVATION ORIENTATION AND SUSTAINABILITY OF SMES: DO ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND RESOURCE BRICOLAGE MATTER?

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 127-146
Author(s):  
Kumudu Jayawardhana
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Medium Enterprise ◽  
Resource Bricolage

The burgeoning literature postulates that a firm’s degree of openness for external parties in building its knowledge base undoubtedly enables it gaining competitive advantage though a little attention has been devoted to investigating the phenomena from small and medium enterprise (SME) perspective. Accordingly, this study investigates how open innovation orientation leads nurturing greater innovation and acquiring greater sustainable goals and specifically, how entrepreneurial orientation and resource bricolage facilitate the whole process. Drawing upon a sample of 442 SMEs, the study followed a quantitative approach to investigate the focal research question. The results reveal that open innovation orientation of SMEs significantly influences on nurturing greater innovation and attaining sustainable goals in long-run while the entrepreneurial orientation drives the whole process. The study also finds that the resource bricolage plays a significant role in converting SMEs more open innovation oriented and fostering greater innovation. By doing so, this study provides noteworthy theoretical and managerial insights.

Multicultural skills in open innovation: relational leadership enabling knowledge sourcing and sharing

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurelia Engelsberger ◽  
Jillian Cavanagh ◽  
Timothy Bartram ◽  
Beni Halvorsen
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Relational Leadership ◽  
Knowledge Sourcing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovation Teams

PurposeIn this paper, the authors argue that multicultural skills and relational leadership act as enablers for open innovation, and thereby examine the process through which teams can utilize multicultural skills to support the development of relational leadership and knowledge sourcing and sharing (KSS) through individual interaction and relationship building. The authors address the following research question: How does relational leadership enable open innovation (OI) among employees with multicultural skills?Design/methodology/approachThis paper applies a multi-level approach (team and individual level) and builds on interviews with 20 employees, middle and senior managers with multicultural experiences, working in open innovation environments.FindingsThe authors’ findings shed light on the process through which social exchange relationships among team members (e.g. R&D teams) and knowledge exchange partners are enhanced by the use of multicultural skills and support the development of relational leadership to facilitate KSS and ultimately OI. The decision for participants to collaborate and source and share knowledge is motivated by individual reward (such as establishing network or long-lasting contacts), skill acquisition (such as learning or personal growth in decision-making) and a sense of reciprocity and drive for group gain. The authors encourage greater human resource (HR) manager support for relational leadership and the development and use of multicultural skills to promote KSS.Research limitations/implicationsDespite the value of our findings, this paper is not without limitations. The authors explained that the focus of this study design was on the work activities of the participants and their skill development and not specific projects or organizations. It was outside the scope of this study to examine variations across organizations and individuals as the authors wanted to focus on multicultural skills and relational leadership as enablers for OI. The authors recommend that future studies extend our research by unpacking how various boundary conditions including relational leadership and multicultural skills impact KSS and OI over the life cycle of innovation teams within large multinational organizations, across countries and ethnicities.Practical implicationsThe study’s findings provide managers with improved understandings of how to enable an individual's willingness and readiness to source and share knowledge through multicultural skills and relational leadership. Managers need to ensure that human resource management (HRM) practices celebrate multicultural skills and support relational leadership in innovation teams. The authors suggest managers engaged in OI consider the components of social exchange as described by Meeker (1971) and utilize reciprocity, group gain, rationality and status consistency to support the emergence relational leadership and KSS in innovation teams.Originality/valueIn this paper, the authors contribute to the dearth of literature on the boundary conditions for OI by examining the role of relational leadership and characteristics/skills of the workforce, namely multicultural skills and contribute to the scarce research on the role of employees with multicultural skills and their impact on OI and present multicultural skills/experiences and relational leadership as enablers for OI.

Knowledge Redundancy, Environmental Shocks, and Agents’ Opportunism

2011 ◽  
pp. 252-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucio Biggiero
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Environmental Turbulence ◽  
Financial Assets ◽  
Agent Based Model ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Environmental Shock ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Environmental Shocks ◽  
Object Of Study

Notwithstanding the warning of myopic view, when giving too much emphasis to the short run and stable environments, efficiency is usually claimed by standard economics as the main goal of competitive firms. This is challenged by management and organization scholars, who argue that, in presence of strong uncertainty due to environmental turbulence, slack resources can be a competitive advantage. In order to put some sound block in this debate through, this paper tests four groups of hypotheses on an agent-based model of industry competitiveness based on suppliers’ quality. It innovates current literature in two ways: first, it considers redundancy in terms of organizational knowledge, and not in terms of personnel or financial assets or other types of resources, which are usually taken as object of study. Secondly, it compares the effects of two forms of perturbations: environmental shock and opportunism. The results show that these two forms impact differently on industry profitability and that knowledge redundancy can (limitedly) compensate the effects of environmental shocks but not of opportunism. Moreover, it demonstrates that, as agents exchange (and accumulate) more information, knowledge efficiency declines, but less than proportionally to the increase of knowledge exchange.

Facilitating Knowledge Transfer in an R&D Environment

2000 ◽  
pp. 147-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Will Barrett ◽  
M. S. Lydia Lau ◽  
Peter M. Dew
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Business Success ◽  
Transfer Of Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Resources ◽  
Recent Introduction ◽  
Physical Barriers ◽  
Concepts Of Knowledge

Managing knowledge is not a new idea. Although the term “knowledge management” is a recent introduction into the corporate lexicon, the concept is by no means exclusive to the 1990s. The underlying concepts of knowledge management, such as collaboration, exchange of ideas, communication, and so on, have always been present in organisations. Spontaneous, unrestricted knowledge transfer is vital to business success and the transfer of knowledge occurs within organisations whether the process is managed or not. In large, decentralised organisations, knowledge is constrained by organisational, cultural and physical barriers. In such cases, the transfer of knowledge is localised and fragmentary as mechanisms for accessing distant knowledge resources are poor or nonexistent. A traditional solution is the corporate librarian or other broker, who presides over a repository of knowledge and is aware of expertise across the organisation. However, this role may be unable to meet the modern demands of knowledge management, or be obsolete if the management of knowledge is to become part of every employee’s job.

scholarly journals Use of information and communication technology to support employee-driven innovation in organizations: a knowledge management perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 633-650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leif Jarle Gressgård ◽  
Oscar Amundsen ◽  
Tone Merethe Aasen ◽  
Kåre Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Knowledge Resources ◽  
Organizational Conditions ◽  
Management Perspective ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Information And Communication

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how organizations focusing on employee-driven innovation (EDI) use information and communication technologies (ICT)-based tools in their innovation work. EDI involves systematic exploitation of knowledge resources in organizations. Thus, the role of ICT for efficient knowledge management is important in this respect. Design/methodology/approach – In-depth interviews with employees, managers and union representatives from 20 organizations focusing on EDI were conducted. The sample included organizations from eight different industries, representing both private and public sectors. Findings – The results show that ICT-based tools can support the processes of acquisition, dissemination and exploitation of knowledge, which are important aspects of EDI. However, use of ICT-based tools has to be aligned with organizational structures and professional role conduct to be efficient. Practical implications – This study contributes to practice by highlighting several factors that organizations should emphasize to succeed with application of external and internal knowledge in their innovation work. Originality/value – This study applies a knowledge management perspective on the role of ICT-based tools to support EDI in organizations. The findings contribute to an improved understanding of organizational conditions for succeeding with use of ICT-based tools in innovation work, and emphasize that perspectives on knowledge management, technology management and human resource management have to be combined to understand how EDI can be promoted by using ICT in organizations.

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