Caring but sharing unintentionally: Lobbying for innovations and the leakage of knowledge

When firms engage in lobbying, their intended outcome is a regulatory change that benefits them. However, prior literature suggests that there may also be an unintended outcome of lobbying—the leakage of knowledge to competitors. In this paper, I explore when the intended and the unintended outcomes are more likely by theorizing about the relationship between lobbying and innovation. I predict that innovations that are novel are more likely to benefit from the intended regulatory changes. However, innovations that use knowledge uniquely possessed by a few firms are more likely to be compromised by the leakage of knowledge that happens during lobbying. I use new data from 1999-2013 on public U.S. firms that engaged in lobbying to federal agencies, the regulatory changes made by federal agencies, and the 16,000 patents applied for by those firms. I employ unsupervised machine learning (Doc2Vec) to measure knowledge leakage and an instrumental variable 2SLS mediation analyses to test the theory. The results suggest that the intended regulatory changes that follow lobbying can benefit innovations by facilitating wider adoption. However, unique technological knowledge that only a few firms possess may be expropriated by competitors during the process of lobbying. Overall, this paper demonstrates that fundamental aspects of innovation— such as institutional change, knowledge transfer, and technology adoption—are closely related to lobbying, a form of nonmarket activity.

Preventing organizational knowledge leakage: the influence of knowledge seekers’ awareness, motivation and capability

Purpose This study aims to investigate how a knowledge-seeking organization’s awareness of valuable knowledge, and the motivation and capability to acquire the knowledge, influence attempts to acquire the knowledge. This study also aims to identify how knowledge-possessing organizations recognize the possibility of and craft strategies to prevent this knowledge leakage. Design/methodology/approach A process model is created and an empirical examination is performed to help knowledge-possessing organizations understand and identify situations where potential knowledge-seeking organizations will attempt to acquire valuable knowledge. Findings Knowledge-seeking organizations must be aware of valuable knowledge, and have the motivation and capability to acquire it in order to attempt to acquire the knowledge. Accordingly, knowledge-possessing organizations can inhibit awareness, motivation and capability of potential knowledge-seeking organizations to stave off and degrade knowledge acquisition attempts. Research limitations/implications Employment of the awareness, motivation and capability framework provides a comprehensive approach for researchers to hypothesize and empirically examine the factors most relevant to knowledge leakage. This approach expands the literature on absorptive capacity by increasing emphasis on awareness and motivation with regard to knowledge acquisition. Practical implications Employment of the awareness, motivation and capability framework provides managers with the means to comprehensively assess the likelihood that other organizations will attempt to acquire their knowledge. It also helps managers determine efficient and effective ways to inhibit knowledge leakage. Originality/value The authors pioneer the application of the awareness, motivation and capability framework to knowledge leakage. The authors subsequently propose a process model and empirically examine the relationships pertaining to knowledge leakage and its prevention.

The Dynamic Game of Knowledge Hiding Behavior from Organizational Members: To Hide or Not to Hide?

In the era of the knowledge economy, it is urgent for organizations to solve the problem of knowledge hiding of internal members to accelerate the speed and efficiency of knowledge dissemination and innovation and adapt to rapid changes in the market. At present, research on knowledge hiding has received extensive attention from Western countries, but there are few relevant studies in China. Based on the hypothesis of bounded rationality, this paper constructs an evolutionary game model of second-level knowledge hiding of organizational members and analyzes the main factors affecting the stable equilibrium point using MATLAB numerical simulation. The results show that knowledge leakage risk is positively correlated with knowledge hiding. The ability of knowledge absorption and transformation is positively correlated with the behavior of knowledge hiding. There is a negative correlation between collaborative innovation ability and knowledge hiding. There is a negative correlation between knowledge stock and knowledge hiding. Only when the incentive reaches a certain level can organizational members be encouraged to give up knowledge hiding. This paper provides a more comprehensive and dynamic picture of the evolutionary game of knowledge hiding among members in the organization and provides a new idea of knowledge management for organizational managers.

Protecting organizational competitiveness from the hazards of knowledge leakage through HRM

PurposeCollaborative projects are useful tools for learning and innovation. However, there is an associated cost – knowledge leakage, which is theoretically linked to challenging organizational competitiveness. The purpose of this study is to examine whether knowledge-oriented human resource (HR) management practices can protect organizations from the adverse effect of knowledge leakage while investigating the moderating role of knowledge-oriented HR management practices.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses mixed methods involving collection of qualitative data through 13 qualitative interviews and quantitative data through 398 survey questionnaires. SPSS 23 and Process Macro 3.1 have been applied to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe study finds that knowledge leakage adversely affects organizational competitiveness, whereas the effect of knowledge-oriented HR management practices on organizational competitiveness is positive. Further, knowledge-oriented HR practices negatively and significantly moderate the relationship between knowledge leakage and organizational competitiveness. As the strength of the moderator increases, the effect of knowledge leakage tends to diminish. Besides, demographic factors (age of the firm and industry type) do not influence the organizational competitiveness.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has several theoretical contributions; first, it contributes to knowledge-based view by empirically establishing the adverse effect of knowledge leakage on organizational competitiveness. Second, knowledge-oriented HR management practices increase organizational competitiveness, which is contribution to HR management literature. Lastly, knowledge-oriented HR management practices protect organizational competitiveness from the adversaries of knowledge leakage, which is contribution to strategic management literature.Practical implicationsPractitioners must invest in knowledge-oriented HR management practices such as human-to-human knowledge transfer among the workers. It will increase firm-level knowledge base that will positively contribute to organizational competitiveness. In addition, such practices can evade the hostile effect of knowledge leakage.Originality/valueThe conceptual model is novel as this is the first study to establish (1) the empirical relationship of knowledge-oriented HR management practices and organizational competitiveness and (2) the moderating effect of knowledge-oriented HR management practices between knowledge leakage and organizational competitiveness.

Bring your own device to work: How serious is the risk?

Purpose Currently, one of the most significant challenges organizations face is that corporate data is being delivered to mobile devices that are not managed by the information technology department. This has security implications regarding knowledge leakage, data theft, and regulatory compliance. With these unmanaged devices, companies have less control and visibility, and fewer mitigation options when protecting against the risks of cyber-attacks. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate how millennials' use of personal mobile devices for work contributes to increased exposure to cyber-attacks and, consequently, security and knowledge leakage risks. Design/methodology/approach This research used a mixed-method approach by using survey questionnaires to elicit the views of millennials regarding the cybersecurity risks associated with bring your own device policies and practices. Interviews were done with security personnel. Data analysis consisted of descriptive analysis and open coding. Findings The results indicate that millennials expect to have ready access to technology and social media at all times, irrespective of security and privacy concerns. Companies also need to improve and enforce bring your own device policies and practices to mitigate against knowledge leakage and security risks. Millennials increasingly see the use of personal devices as a right and not a convenience. They are expecting security measures to be more seamless within the full user experience. Originality/value This paper can help organizations and millennials to understand the security risks entering the workforce if the threats of using privately owned devices on the job are ignored and to improve organizational performance.

The effect of contract completeness on knowledge leakages in collaborative construction projects: a moderated mediation study

Purpose Organizational networking has been acclaimed as a useful tool for knowledge transfer. However, the demerit associated with knowledge transfer is the leakage of commercially valuable information/knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to empirically establish a useful framework for helping collaborative projects reduce potential knowledge leakages. Design/methodology/approach The study applies a hybrid methodology to collect data. Postulates are tested through SPSS 23 and Process Macro 3.0 model 7. Findings The study finds that knowledge leakage is negatively influenced by contract completeness. Contract completeness has a positive effect on trust and a negative effect on distrust. Partner’s learning intent moderates the relationship of contract completeness with trust and distrust. Trust and distrust negatively mediate the relationship between contract completeness and knowledge leakage. Research limitations/implications The study contributes to the theories of information processing and knowledge management by empirically stating how contract completeness, an organizational structure, supports knowledge management under the influence of partner’s opportunism. The study sees positivism in distrust and explains how practitioners maintain an observatory eye on partner’s opportunism by virtue of distrust ultimately adding value to the distrust literature. Originality/value The conceptual framework is novel because this is the first attempt to investigate the moderation effect of partner’s opportunism on the relationship of contract completeness and relational factors; and the mediation effects of trust and distrust between contract completeness and knowledge leakage.