Knowledge, Attitude, Practice of Iranian Physicians about COVID-19 in Iran

As a result of the global crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak in late December 2019, Iran was also severely affected. The three provinces of Tehran, Mazandaran, and Gillan were high-risk cities exposed to infection and grievously damaged. Therefore, we decided to look at the level of knowledge, depth of attitude, and quality of physicians' practice in these three provinces. The most significant goal was to assess the level of KAP relative to the COVID-19 virus to provide comprehensive information to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the treatment staff to better cope and more effectively prevent and control critical situations. For research methodology, a cross-sectional study was performed on a sample of 300 people using a self-made questionnaire. An online questionnaire via virtual networks and a paper questionnaire were also distributed by the principal author in medical hospitals, which included four sections: demographic information, knowledge, attitude, and practice. Cronbach's alpha confirmed the validity and reliability of each component. The final results prove that the knowledge of physicians was acceptable and significant at the level of 0.05. Physicians' attitudes showed a level of fear and anxiety that was significant according to a one-sample t-test and chi-square (Sig <0.05). In order to rank the physicians' practice, a T-test was used, and the results of the Friedman test in the first stage of the Chi-square test showed that the significance level is 0.05. Looking at the research results, it can be said that the development of educational programs can have a beneficial effect in increasing physicians' knowledge and controlling the disease as effectively as possible. Also, due to the attitude associated with stress and fear, it can be seen that providing laboratory and treatment equipment has been one of the concerns of physicians.

How firms accumulate knowledge to innovate – an empirical study of Vietnamese firms

PurposeOrganizational innovations are closely associated with organizational knowledge, and thus a firm builds its knowledge base to enhance its innovative performance. However, insights into this process are still limited, especially in the context of firms in developing countries. Building on the dynamic managerial capabilities literature and open innovation paradigm, this paper attempts to fill this gap by developing and empirically testing a model that investigates how firms in developing countries accumulate knowledge to innovate.Design/methodology/approachA model of a firm's knowledge accumulation and innovation is proposed in which it specifies relationships among absorptive capacity, knowledge breadth, research and development (R&D), knowledge depth, exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation, and then it is empirically tested by using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique based on the surveyed data of Vietnamese firms.FindingsThe results indicate that absorptive capacity positively influences both knowledge breadth and knowledge depth, knowledge breadth positively influences R&D, R&D positively influences exploratory innovation and knowledge depth, and knowledge depth positively influences exploratory and exploitative innovation.Practical implicationsThe study proposes an “acquire and develop” open innovation model for firms in developing countries in which firms acquire external technologies and then develop R&D (develop and design) capability to adapt acquired technologies to their local conditions to create new organizational-specific capabilities and exploratory innovation.Originality/valueThis study argues that external knowledge acquisition is beneficial to innovative performance of firms in developing countries via renewing their knowledge base. Furthermore, the study provides the unique evidence that novel external knowledge acquisition and internal R&D are fit to each other in the fit-as-mediation form in which novel external knowledge acquisition is mediated by R&D to positively influence exploratory innovation.

Market knowledge impacts on product and process innovation: Evidence from travel agencies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the attributes of market knowledge (depth/breadth) and particular types of (process/product) innovation. The mediating mechanism of ambidextrous (exploratory/exploitative) capabilities is also investigated. Design/methodology/approach Data from 153 travel agencies from two phases of data collection in Taiwan were analyzed using the structural equation modeling method. Findings Market knowledge depth directly and positively impacts product and process innovation. Market knowledge breadth indirectly and positively impacts product and process innovation. Ambidextrous capabilities affect process and product innovation and mediate the effect of market knowledge breadth on the two innovations. Research limitations/implications This study provides different theoretical views, such as dynamic capability and organizational learning, to supplement the explanation of knowledge-based theory in the relationship between market knowledge and innovation. Practical implications This study encourages firms to accumulate market knowledge depth and breadth and facilitate ambidextrous capabilities for innovation. Originality/value Seldom has research explored the relationships between the attributes of market knowledge and types of innovation simultaneously to extend the input-process-output context. This study has done so and forwards the possibility that ambidextrous capability is critical mechanism.

Failure learning and entrepreneurial resilience: the moderating role of firms’ knowledge breadth and knowledge depth

Purpose Drawing on the knowledge-based view, the purpose of this study is to investigate the differential effects of failure normalization (FN) and failure analysis (FA) on entrepreneurial resilience (ER) and examines how firms’ knowledge breadth (KB) and knowledge depth (KD) moderate these effects in distinctive ways. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a mixed-methods approach, including a two-wave survey study among 226 entrepreneurial high-tech firms in China and a qualitative study. Findings The findings reveal that FA has a stronger positive effect on ER than FN. KB enhances the effect of FA on ER, whereas KD enhances the effect of FN on ER but buffers the effect of FA on ER. Practical implications The study advocates that entrepreneurs need to be aware of the importance of ER and strengthen the reflection on failure. Additionally, the study suggests that entrepreneurs should match FN and FA with firms’ knowledge characteristics. With this match, KB and KD can exert greater impacts on the effect of failure learning on ER. Originality/value Knowledge can influence the effect of learning on firm capability. However, such an effect in entrepreneurial firms linking to ER remains to be explored. This study contributes to ER from the failure learning perspective and extends knowledge management theory in the entrepreneurship context.

The effects of information technology capability and knowledge base on digital innovation: the moderating role of institutional environments

PurposeBased on the knowledge-based view, this study investigates how firms' information technology (IT) capability broadens and deepens their knowledge base, which consequently improves digital innovation. By further drawing on the institutional theory perspective, this study examines how the relationships between IT capability and knowledge base are moderated by the institutional environments in which the firm operates.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses 170 samples of Chinese firms and an empirical test conducted by the authors following a hierarchical moderated regression analysis.FindingsThe results find that IT capability positively affects knowledge breadth and knowledge depth, which consequently improves digital innovation. Furthermore, the study reveals the negative moderating effects of enforcement inefficiency on IT capability–knowledge breadth relationship, and the negative moderating effects of government support on IT capability–knowledge depth relationship.Originality/valueThis research is one of the earliest attempts to explore the impact of the institutional environment of emerging economies on IT capability. It also clarifies the impact of knowledge breadth and knowledge depth on digital innovation.

How knowledge affects incremental innovation in SMEs: Knowledge base and knowledge heterogeneity

While scholars have widely examined the effect of knowledge base (i.e. knowledge breadth (KB) and knowledge depth (KD)) on innovation performance, the relationship between KB/KD and incremental innovations remains not clear. This article examines how existing knowledge base interacts with external and internal knowledge heterogeneity (KH) to affect incremental innovation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). A collection of 230 samples from high-technology SMEs in China demonstrate that the effects of KB and KD are contingent on external and internal KH in opposite ways. The study proposes that a firm with a broad knowledge base is better able to develop incremental innovations matched with internal KH rather than external KH; firms with high depth of knowledge benefit more from external KH than internal KH for fostering its incremental innovations.

Risk, capabilities, and international venture capital syndication in China

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to advance a holistic model of venture capital (VC) firms’ syndication decisions in an emerging economy. When considering syndication with local partners, VC firms consider multiple sources of risk related to firm-specific characteristics (life-cycle, operational and political). In conjunction with these risk factors, they also consider their own capabilities, namely, their knowledge breadth and knowledge depth. Knowledge breadth stems from a VC firm’s network position and knowledge depth is a result of its prior industry expertise. Together, these capabilities have competing impacts on VC firms’ desire to syndicate. From one perspective, VC firm capabilities may help deal with risk such that syndication may not be perceived as necessary. Alternatively, VC firm capabilities may signal attractiveness to a local partner and allow the VC firm to syndicate more easily. Design/methodology/approach Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis is conducted on a sample of 111 US VC firms investing in China between 1993 and 2010. Findings Lower VC firm capabilities are associated with a tendency not to syndicate with a local partner when venture risk factors are low. This pattern may arise because of such VC firms’ relative lack of experience with partnership management or weaker appeal to local partners. Originality/value This study is one of the earliest attempts to develop a neo-configurational perspective within the VC literature and thus contributes to a more nuanced understanding of international VC firms’ strategic behaviour in emerging economies by examining multiple risks and capabilities simultaneously and in conjunction.