The construction of managerial knowledge in business networks: Managers' theories about communication

In this article we regard managers' knowledge as a nuanced construction of reality that produces particular ‘espoused theories’ about the self as a practitioner and the environment in which they practice. Everyday managerial practices take place within the context of these theories. We argue that a subtle analysis of managerial talk can enhance the study of inter-firm relationships by revealing the espoused theories on the basis of which boundary spanners act. To demonstrate the construction of managers' knowledge, we introduce and explore materials collected in interviews with marketing and purchasing managers in several industrial contexts. We restrict our focus to talk about instances of communication to explore in depth how this talk establishes perceived ‘facts’ about inter-firm communicative work. We identify key discursive repertoires that are deployed to establish the range of communicative work, the difficulty in managing the directionality of communication and the complexity of managing in sometimes ambiguous situations — managerial ‘facts’ that are absent in some communication research. At the same time, discursive repertoires are deployed to establish the self as an able practitioner and a capable participant in communication. Our study has implications for boundary spanners and their organizations. We consider how boundary spanners' understandings of communication may be better deployed by the organizations that employ them and also in management education and training.     

The decline of science in corporate R&D

Research summary: In this article, we document a shift away from science by large corporations between 1980 and 2006. We find that publications by company scientists have declined over time in a range of industries. We also find that the value attributable to scientific research has dropped, whereas the value attributable to technical knowledge (as measured by patents) has remained stable. These trends are unlikely to be driven principally by changes in publication practices. Furthermore, science continues to be useful as an input into innovation. Our evidence points to a reduction of the private benefits of internal research. Large firms still value the golden eggs of science (as reflected in patents), but seem to be increasingly unwilling to invest in the golden goose itself (the internal scientific capabilities). Managerial summary: There is a widespread belief among commentators that large American corporations are withdrawing from research. Large corporations may still collaborate with universities and acquire promising science‐based start‐ups, but their labs increasingly focus on developing existing knowledge and commercializing it, rather than creating new knowledge. In this article, we combine firm‐level financial information with a large and comprehensive data set on firm publications, patents and acquisitions to quantify the withdrawal from science by large American corporations between 1980 and 2006. This withdrawal is associated with a decline in the private value of research activities, even though scientific knowledge itself remains important for corporate invention. We discuss the managerial and policy implications of our findings.     

HRM systems and firm performance: The mediation role of strategic orientation

Prior research evidence of a set of internal fit human resource practices supports a positive human resource management (HRM)–performance relationship. Yet we know very little about exactly what drives the HRM–performance (also known as strategic HRM) relationship. In response to the call for suitable theories to explore the “black box” between HRM and firm performance, this study is designed to extend previous work by examining how the relationship between HRM and strategic orientation influences firm performance. Specifically, it examines the relationship between HRM systems, strategic orientation, and performance in a cross-section of 190 firms in Singapore. The research hypotheses were tested using multiple regression and LISREL. As predicted, there was an indirect effect between Inducement and Investment HRM systems and firm performance, such that the relationship was mediated by strategic orientation. In particular, Singaporean firms which implemented product and market differentiation strategies would mediate the HRM systems–performance relationship. Implications for research and managerial practices are provided.     

The many shades of ‘openness’: an application of item response theory to open innovation research

This study addresses one of the most basic research questions investigated in the Open Innovation (OI) literature: how open are firms? This question has remained partially unanswered given the challenges encountered by empirical research in assessing the relevance of specific OI practices within the OI model, as well as the types of activities perceived by managers as OI benefits or concerns. To provide an answer to this question, we suggest a framework using Item Response Theory to improve over current measures of firms' openness and test it on a sample of 383 technology‐based SMEs. Our theoretical model conceives openness as an instance of how firms make decisions regarding the adoption of different OI practices based on their evaluation of OI benefits and concerns. Focusing on the relationship between firm‐level differences in terms of openness and the types of OI practices adopted by these firms, we show that significantly different levels of ‘OI maturity’ are required to broaden the scope of external partnerships and to shift from non‐pecuniary OI modes (relation‐based approaches) toward pecuniary (transaction‐based) practices. Our results have relevant implications for the OI literature and provide new managerial insight into OI adoption.     

Good match matters: Knowledge co-creation in international joint ventures

Partners not only transfer knowledge to each other but also can jointly create new ideas and practices. This research examines knowledge co-creation (KCC) in international joint ventures (IJVs). Drawing on matching theory, we propose that partners' compatibility is positively related to KCC, whereas complementarity has a curvilinear relationship with KCC. Furthermore, according to institutional theory, the effect of KCC on performance is contingent upon the institutional environment. Specifically, information verifiability—an under-researched but important institutional factor—strengthens the positive influence of KCC on performance. We collected survey data from 372 senior and middle managers in China-based IJVs, and the results largely support our hypotheses. This research sheds new light on B2B collaboration and we conclude with its theoretical and managerial implications.     

Complementing open innovation in multi-business firms: practices for promoting knowledge flows across internal units

Over the past decades open innovation (OI) practices have gained prominence among both scholars and practitioners as a mean to accelerate time-to-market and reduce development costs of innovations. Thereby scholars have nearly exclusively focused on cross-boundary knowledge flows between the focal firm and (its) external collaborators. This paper argues that such a focus limits our understanding of how multi-business firms with a diverse knowledge base profit from internally applied open innovation practices that in turn provide complementary benefits to OI. We build on the current literature by investigating and describing OI activities that are conducted within the boundaries of the multi-business firm. Based on a multiple case study of 23 collaboration practices conducted across 14 firms, our findings reveal 5 archetypal forms of internally applied open innovation activities. We draw on the literature of cross-divisional innovation and crowdsourcing to highlight how these archetypes differ in terms of their purpose and underlying managerial processes. Multi-business firms regularly rely on internal practices due to lower transaction costs and for stimulating a collaborative culture. We conclude that internally applied OI practices are effectively stimulated by a combination of non-monetary reward systems and purposive integration mechanisms.     

A hub-and-spoke model for multi-dimensional integration of green marketing and sustainable supply chain management

Since the concept of sustainability was transformed into business mainstream, both sustainable supply chain management and green marketing have become key topics of academic research and managerial practices. Great advances have been made in the two areas in parallel. It has been recognized that green marketing and sustainable supply chain management should be seamlessly integrated so that green customer's needs can be better met by the supply chain capabilities. Existing research has explored point-to-point integration approach. This paper proposes a new hub-and-spoke integration model to integrate green marketing and sustainable supply chain management from six dimensions: product, promotion, planning, process, people and project (called the 6Ps). Empirical study has been undertaken with industries to test the 6Ps integration model. Results from the empirical study on integration dimensions, integration strategies, and drivers and obstacles for multi-dimensional integration are presented together with managerial implications. The new integration model allows the flows of resources such as information, materials and funds between green marketing and sustainable supply chain management through multiple direct pathways. It has the potential to achieve better overall business performance against the triple bottom line objectives.     

Prospects for developing absorptive capacity through internal information provision

Theories of absorptive capacity propose that knowledge gained from prior experience facilitates the identification, selection, and implementation of related profitable practices. Researchers have investigated how managers may develop absorptive capacity by building internal knowledge stocks, but few have focused on the distribution of this knowledge within the firm and the role managers play in administering information to organizational subunits. In this paper, we explore the degree to which managers can develop absorptive capacity by directly providing information to agents in the organization that might potentially adopt a new practice. We find that the effectiveness of managerial information provision depends on the degree to which potential adopters have information from other sources. We find that information from previous adopters and past events reduces the effect of information provision, while experience with related practices amplifies it. Our research helps clarify when absorptive capacity may provide a sustained competitive advantage. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Action research for innovation management: three benefits,three challenges,and three spaces

Given that the innovation landscape is changing, and new forms of organization and management are emerging, this study discusses the potential benefits of action research for innovation management (IM) as it provides closeness to living emergent systems, generates rich insights as well as knowledge for both rigorous theory development and change in practice. Drawing from a large-scale action research study involving a complex collaborative organizational construct, we outline three challenges from employing action research: the process is both reflexive and progressive, the researcher is both an outsider and an insider, and the outcome is both general and specific. A model of three social spaces (the action research space, the academic space, and the practitioner space) is proposed to address the challenges and assist in navigating the multitude of processes, roles, and outcomes associated with action research. The study argues that action research for IM is well suited to exploring tacit aspects of practices and processes in the emergent or shifting study contexts to transform practices through interventions. Thus, if implemented carefully by experienced researchers, it can provide valuable data that are indispensable for theory development in the field of IM.     

Knowledge management and coopetition: How do cooperating competitors balance the needs to share and protect their knowledge?

Coopetitors need to manage interorganizational knowledge flows to balance cooperative knowledge sharing and competitive knowledge protection. The question of how to balance these has received little research attention, with most studies analyzing knowledge sharing or protection separately. To address this gap, we develop a theoretical framework on coopetitive knowledge sharing and knowledge protection practices. This framework is based on a literature review of coopetitive interorganizational knowledge management. To complement and refine this initial framework, we build on insights from a qualitative study that gathered data from 11 semistructured interviews with key informants of Latin American firms. We show that a balance between knowledge sharing and knowledge protection in coopetition is facilitated when coopetitive interorganizational knowledge management helps coopetitors share general and project-specific knowledge while they withhold core knowledge about their firms and clients. To achieve this balance, firms combine formal and informal knowledge protection practices. As theoretical implications, we provide a fine-grained and synoptic understanding of the characteristics of knowledge management among coopetitors. As managerial implications, we call managers' attention to the need to find a balance between knowledge sharing and protection that will help clearly define what kind of knowledge is shared or protected when firms cooperate with rivals.     

Emerging Assessment Practices in an Emergent Curriculum: Implications for Technology

This paper reports on detailed case studies into emerging assessment practices in technology in two New Zealand primary schools (Years 1–6) with nine teachers. This research is part of the two year Research in Assessment of Primary Technology (RAPT) project and formed the basis for the one year New Zealand Ministry of Education funded Learning in Technology Education (Assessment) project.Emerging classroom assessment practices in technology, a new subject area in the national curriculum, are discussed. It was found that the existing subcultures in schools, teachers' subject expertise and the school wide policies impacted on the teachers' assessment practices. Assessment was often seen in terms of social and managerial aspects such as team work, turn taking and information skills, rather than procedural and conceptual aspects. Therefore teachers' formative interactions with students distorted the learning away from procedural and conceptual aspects of the subject, and the learning and the formative assessment interactions focused on generic skills rather than student technological understanding.The importance of developing teacher expertise in three dimensions of knowledge about the subject, knowledge in the subject and general pedagogical knowledge is highlighted. Thus the findings from this research have implications for thinking about teaching, learning and assessment in technology.     

What Works at Work: Overview and Assessment

This article discusses why it is difficult to measure the effects of management practices on organizational performance. In spite of these difficulties, a collage of evidence suggests that innovative workplace practices can increase performance, primarily through the use of systems of related practices that enhance worker participation, make work design less rigid, and decentralize managerial tasks. A majority of U.S. businesses have adopted some innovative work practices. However, only a small percentage of businesses have adopted a full system of innovative practices. We outline several constraints on the diffusion of new work practices, and suggest directions for future research     

The Impact of the Corporate Mind‐set on New Product Launch Strategy and Market Performance

In the last decade, there has been an increasing interest in the link between new product launch strategy and market performance. So far, new product launch research has focused on this performance relationship without giving much attention to background factors that can facilitate or inhibit successful launch strategies. However, investigating such antecedents that set the framework in which different strategic launch decisions enable or prevent the market performance of new products is useful for enhancing the current state of knowledge. Drawing on the concept of a firm's orientation, the present study discusses the influence of the corporate mind‐set on new product launch strategy and market performance. It is hypothesized that the capability to successfully launch new products is based on the interplay between a firm's mind‐set (i.e., an analytical, risk‐taking, and aggressive posture) and its strategic launch decisions on setting launch objectives, selecting target markets, and positioning the new product. A research model with mediating effects is proposed, where the corporate mind‐set determines the launch strategy decisions, which in turn impact market performance. The model is tested with data on 113 industrial new products launched in business‐to‐business markets in Germany using a multiple informant approach. The results support the mediated model as the dimensions of the corporate mind‐set have a significant impact on most strategic launch decisions, which in turn significantly contribute to market performance. It is found that while an analytical posture relates to all three strategic launch decisions, risk taking and an aggressive posture have a significant impact on two, respectively one, launch strategy elements. These findings confirm the importance of investigating antecedents for a successful new product launch, as the corporate mind‐set serves as a background resource that sets the framework for successful new product launch decisions. In the final section implications for research and managerial practice as well as limitations of this research are provided.     

A process model of tacit knowledge transfer between sales and marketing

Although an ability to generate and transfer tacit knowledge provides the basis for competitive differentiation, organizations face two primary issues when attempting to achieve this task. First, tacit knowledge, which differs from explicit knowledge in that it can only be gained through experiences, deep interactions, and learning by doing, is highly complex and therefore difficult to transfer. Second, as challenging as tacit knowledge transfer may be under the most ideal circumstances, the issue is exacerbated by the fact that sales and marketing professionals oftentimes have a dysfunctional relationship. Addressing these issues, we present and examine a theoretical model which captures the process through which tacit knowledge transfer occurs across the two functions. Study results, derived from a sample of 215 salespeople, highlight the important role interfunctional communication quality and the development of a mutual understanding play in this process. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications arising from the study, and present opportunities for further research in the area.     

Communities and managerial competencies supporting SMEs innovation networking: a longitudinal case study

Over the last few decades, the need for small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) to rely on networking to get access to innovation and larger knowledge bases has become evident. This paper analyzes the birth and evolution of an Italian innovation community created by a group of SMEs searching for innovation. Coming from quite different fields, these SMEs converged around a challenging project in the field of biomedical and rehabilitation devices. The aim of the paper is twofold: (1) to investigate what type of competences and tasks have to be accomplished to effectively manage an innovation community (IC) and what managerial roles (promotors) emerge by crossing competences and tasks; and (2) to what extent community members' absorptive capacity (ACAP) influences their ability to acquire and exploit innovation generated by the community. Using an in‐depth longitudinal case study analysis, we identified three different stages in community evolution. We also studied which promotors' roles that emerged in each stage and determined their relationship both between each other and to community performance. Furthermore, we investigated to what extent an existing knowledge base in a specific domain and previous experiences in networking influenced community members' ability to exploit innovation. We found that a specific correspondence among competences and tasks is needed to guarantee community performance and that promotors should interact among themselves to enable the community to reach its goal. Concerning ACAP, we found that prior experience and familiarity in networking are not predictive of new knowledge exploitation.     

Stakeholder management in complex product systems: Practices and rationales for engagement and disengagement

Collaboration with stakeholders has become a cornerstone of contemporary business; however, absolute collaboration is not trouble-free. The present study explores how and why firms engage and disengage external stakeholders in their value-creating activities in complex product systems over time. From the existing research on stakeholder management, we know that actor roles, strategies, reasons and challenges of engaging external stakeholders in innovation and business activities vary across contexts. However, additional research is needed to construct a more comprehensive understanding of the practices as well as their rationales by which firms engage or disengage external stakeholders in complex product systems. Our empirical study of a European district development megaproject improves the current understanding of stakeholder management in complex product systems contexts. We derive nine practices and four rationales that timely describe the engagement and disengagement of external stakeholders. The study develops a processual model of stakeholder management in complex product systems with implications for both stakeholder management literature and managerial practice.     

The digital marketing capabilities gap

Over the past two decades, digitalization has revolutionized not only consumer marketing but also industrial marketing. Both industrial marketing scholars and industrial marketers seek insights to understand how our knowledge and practice of digital marketing has been structured and configured. To address this gap, we adopt the resource-based perspective as an organizing framework and systematically review 129 articles spanning two decades of research to identify different digital marketing capabilities in industrial firms. From this analysis, we identify four themes: channels, social media, digital relationships, and digital technologies. We then stress-test this knowledge with managerial practices by conducting an online survey of 169 managers, designed to establish the repertoire of current and future marketing capability needs of industrial firms. Herein, we identify two marketing capabilities gaps: the practice gap—which identifies the deficit between managers' ‘current’ practices and their ‘ideal’ digital marketing capabilities; and, the knowledge gap—which demonstrates a significant divide between the digital marketing transformations in industrial firms and the extant scholarly knowledge that underpins this. Based on these results, we build an agenda for future research on digital marketing capabilities.     

Managerial Ties and Firm Innovation: Is Knowledge Creation a Missing Link?

Managerial ties, the personal networks of senior managers, have been found to be facilitators of firm performance because of their network benefits. However, social network theory suggests that managerial ties only play a “conduit” role by providing possibilities and opportunities to approach external resources. How can firms turn these possibilities and opportunities into internal knowledge assets and further transform them into firm innovation? Extant research constructs a direct mechanism for the managerial ties–firm innovation link. The research reported here, however, provides and investigates an indirect ties‐innovation argument where organizational knowledge creation processes, including knowledge exchange and knowledge combination, are mediators. And managerial ties are examined through two traditional dimensions, business ties and political ties. This study employs empirical data from 270 firms in China and uses structural equation modeling techniques to reveal interesting findings. First, the results support the key argument that the influence of managerial ties on firm innovation is indirect. Second, knowledge exchange and knowledge combination are different constructs and the former positively influences the latter. More interestingly, business ties can exert a significant direct impact on both knowledge exchange and knowledge combination, while political ties can only influence knowledge exchange directly. Although both knowledge exchange and knowledge combination impact product innovation directly, only knowledge combination can directly influence process innovation. These findings indicate that the role of political ties is declining, but business ties still have substantial influence on firm innovation in transitional China. Different processes of organizational knowledge creation, such as knowledge exchange and knowledge combination, make distinct contributions to firm innovation. Product innovation, as opposed to process innovation, is more externally oriented and needs more organizational level knowledge creation activities. This article extends the understanding of the ties–innovation link, organizational knowledge creation theory, and firm innovation in a transitional economy by providing a more complete understanding of how firms can access and internalize external resources and then transform them into product innovation and process innovation.     

Firm management of scientific information: Some predictors and implications of openness versus secrecy

This paper presents a model that seeks to understand and explain R&D performance differences in research-intensive companies. The primary theoretical model builds on the well-established theory of science as a public good but augments it with a game-theoretic argument for individual firm choices of scientific information openness or secrecy. The first research question we address is how a firm's scientific information openness, as measured by its research publications, impacts the firm's stock of technical knowledge. Additionally, we explore two predictor variables of scientific information openness: research lab and top management team demographics. The possible economic effects and other managerial implications of this model are also discussed.     

Determinants of Stability in International Joint Ventures: Evidence from a Developing Country Context

Though the number of international joint ventures (IJVs) from developing countries has grown considerably, little has been reported on their operations and performance. The extant literature is based largely on IJVs from developed countries. To help fill this knowledge gap, this paper examines the determinants of stability from a study of 59 IJVs from developing and developed countries operating in a developing country. A multivariate model investigates the impact of a set firm, managerial and culture related factors on the stability of IJVs. Logistic regression analysis reveals that cooperation and physic distance between partners have significant impact on the stability of an IJV. There were no significant differences between stability rates for IJVs from developing and developed countries, but their determinants varied. The paper discusses the implications and limitations of the study, and identifies areas for further research.