TQM practices and knowledge sharing: An empirical study of Malaysia’s manufacturing organizations

The purpose of this paper is to examine the multidimensionality of TQM practices and its relationship with knowledge sharing as perceived by middle management employees in Malaysia’s ISO 9001:2000 certified firms of manufacturing sectors. The data which were collected from a survey of 129 middle management employees in Malaysia were used to test the proposed research framework. Furthermore, confirmatory factor analysis was performed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the measurement model, and the structural analysis was used to examine the research framework. The analytical results revealed that training and development, customer focus, and teamwork showed a positive association with middle management employees’ knowledge sharing. This analysis is vital for senior managers of TQM companies that want to establish a knowledge sharing capability. Senior managers could focus their efforts on implementing TQM practices for building competitive knowledge sharing competencies.     

知识员工雇佣管理模式研究--基于SHRM的分析

本文从战略人力资源管理的视角,综合运用知识资本理论和战略管理理论熏以知识员工异质性为研究的逻辑起点,根据知识员工所拥有知识的战略价值及企业专用性这两个维度,把知识员工分为先锋型、工兵型、卫士型和盟友型等四种类型,然后较深入地分析了各类知识员工的特点,并在此基础上提出了差异化雇佣管理模式。文章最后还就差异化雇佣管理所带来的问题进行了研究,一方面丰富了雇佣关系管理理论的内容,另一方面也为中国的知识型和高科技企业在实践中分层分类雇佣管理知识员工提供了理论依据。     

创新工程数据和知识管理 提升油企增值管理水平

从跨国油企日常工作中面临所需大量工程数据和资料难以按需获取和按时获取的诉求出发,分析了导致工程数据沉寂的体制、机制、企业文化、管理模式、工作方式、保密理念等方面的原因,就如何克服工程数据需求和数据沉寂的瓶颈性矛盾,提出了必须从创新工程数据管理着手来全面实施知识管理工程。指出,工程数据共享是知识管理的基础,对创新工程数据管理提出了要解放思想,打破数据壁垒;实行数据与档案的剥离,统一数据结构,充实完善各类数据库;保密关口前移,变人保为技保;优化资源配置,创新打造数据管理和知识管理中心等建议。     

Top management incentive compensation and knowledge sharing in multinational corporations

Growing interest has emerged in viewing the multinational corporation as a knowledge creating and diffusing entity. The importance of sharing knowledge across organizational and national boundaries has been established in previous research. However, the question of which organizational policies lead to knowledge sharing between multinational units is still not fully understood. In particular, the link between compensation mechanisms and knowledge sharing has not received attention in previous studies. By studying 164 foreign‐owned subsidiaries located in Finland and China, this article attempts to identify the relationship between subsidiary bonus pay based on MNC‐wide performance and knowledge sharing between different units of the MNC. In line with the knowledge‐based perspective of the firm, the results suggest that incentive pay based on the collective performance of the MNC leads to greater knowledge sharing. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

When using knowledge can hurt performance: the value of organizational capabilities in a management consulting company

This paper explores the possibility that utilizing the firm's knowledge resources to complete important tasks can backfire and undermine competitive performance. Drawing on organizational capabilities and knowledge‐sharing research, we develop a situated performance view that holds that the value of obtaining and using knowledge within a firm depends on the task situation. Using a data set of 182 sales proposals for client work in a management consulting company, we show that sales teams that had varying needs to learn and differentiate themselves from competitors derived different levels of value from obtaining and using electronic documents and advice from colleagues. Highly experienced teams were more likely than inexperienced teams to lose the sales bids if they utilized such knowledge. Teams that had a high need to differentiate themselves from competitors also had a lower chance of winning if they utilized electronic documents. There were situations, however, where teams performed better if they utilized the firm's knowledge resources. These results suggest that competitive performance depends not on how much firms know but on how they use what they know. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of team‐member exchange,differentiation, team commitment,and knowledge sharing on R&D project team performance

This paper integrates team‐member exchange (TMX), affective commitment, and knowledge sharing to examine how work unit TMX influences employees' R&D project team commitment and intention to share knowledge, and how team knowledge‐sharing intention and TMX differentiation influences team performance. The results support the relationships between work unit TMX and employees' intention to share knowledge and team commitment. In addition, the results show that work unit TMX increases intention to share knowledge through increasing group members' team commitment. At the group level, the results support the relationships between team knowledge‐sharing intention and team performance. The results also show that TMX differentiation moderates the relationship between work unit TMX and team performance. That is, greater work unit TMX is more likely to achieve higher team performance in a team with low TMX differentiation as opposed to a team with high TMX differentiation. Implications for theory building, future research, and R&D management are discussed.     

职场友谊对研发团队创新绩效的影响机制研究——一个带中介的调节模型

本文通过问卷调查法获得372份有效问卷，运用带中介的调节模型探讨了职场友谊对研发团队创新绩效的影响机制。实证结果表明：（1）职场友谊对团队创新绩效是有正向的激励作用的，其中知识分享起中介作用；（2）职场友谊对团队创新绩效的作用同时受到员工知识分享意愿和知识分享能力的中介作用；（3）职位级别对职场友谊通过知识分享对团队创新绩效的影响起负向调节作用，即职位级别越高，友谊机会越小，通过员工友谊促进知识分享，进而提高团队创新绩效的效应越低。     

Managing liquidity in research‐intensive firms: signaling and cash flow effects of patents and alliance activities

The effective holding and management of liquid assets is critical to success in research‐intensive industries. The primary output of invention is new knowledge. However, because of its ‘sticky’ characteristics, knowledge may not easily diffuse to external shareholders, leading to knowledge asymmetries between managers/employees and external suppliers of capital. Many valuable R&D projects may thus fail to attract external financing, limiting a firm's ability to invest in R&D. In this study, we examine how the cash flow and signaling properties of a firm's patents and certain aspects of its alliance strategy can attenuate such problems. Specifically, we suggest that a firm's R&D investments positively predict the level of its liquid asset holdings. This is due to the fact that invention‐induced knowledge asymmetries increase the firm's cost of accessing external liquid capital. However, holding cash entails opportunity costs. In this regard, we also find that patent production and certain alliance activities provide important signaling mechanisms, which reduce knowledge asymmetries between the firm and capital markets, and consequently lower the firm's need to hold liquid assets. Empirical tests were conducted using a sample of 108 U.S‐based biotechnology firms. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Information technology change,work complexity and service jobs: a contingent perspective

We examine the contingent impact of implementing an enterprise‐wide information technology system (Enterprise Resource Planning) on perceptions of work complexity in clerical, technical and managerial service sector jobs. Using matched and control samples of employee survey data, we compare pre‐ and post‐intervention perceptions of work complexity and importance of analytical skills across three hierarchical job levels: clerical, technical and managerial. We find that employees in clerical jobs, at the lowest level in the hierarchy, experience a significant increase in work complexity and need for analytical skills, whereas those in technical and managerial service jobs do not. Implications for theory, management of technology and employment policy are discussed.     

创新团队公平感知与知识共享行为关系研究——以成员信任为中介变量

创新团队组织形式的蓬勃发展使得团队成员的绩效激励方式成为众多管理者的研究课题。团队中掌握独特隐性知识的成员往往不愿意共享自身的有利于团队的创新知识,从而给团队的发展带来困难。如何针对这类员工做出有利于团队整体绩效提升的激励活动,是创新团队管理者和所有创新团队工作模式研究者的共同目标。通过数据模型的回归,得出如下结论:创新团队的成员公平感知与成员知识共享行为正向相关,成员对互动公平的感知对知识共享行为的影响最为显著。验证了创新团队成员信任在成员公平感知与知识共享行为之间的中介效用。