An Examination of Collaboration and Knowledge Transfer: China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park

abstract    This paper examines alliance knowledge transfer using a case study of the China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), an alliance involving the Chinese and Singaporean governments, their agencies, and various private sector organizations. The objective is to extend existing knowledge in the alliance learning area and provide deeper understanding of some process-oriented aspects of alliance learning performance. We found that tacit knowledge was particularly difficult to transfer and that issues involving collaborative interactions between the partners both facilitated and impeded knowledge transfer. We also found that competitive learning occurred, which impacted the partner relationship and knowledge transfer.     

Trustworthiness, Risk, and the Transfer of Tacit and Explicit Knowledge Between Alliance Partners

abstract    The transfer of knowledge in alliances entails risk to partners, whose willingness to accept it presumably relies on the trustworthiness that they perceive in their partners. We investigate the extent to which the perceptions of trustworthiness and the willingness to take risk determine the transfer of knowledge between alliance partners and their ultimate impact on alliance success. The results show that the transfer of tacit versus explicit knowledge have very different trust and risk profiles. Whereas explicit knowledge is closely associated with the firm's willingness to take risk, tacit knowledge is intimately related to high trustworthiness. The results support the important role of trust and the transfer of tacit knowledge on the success of learning alliances.     

知识网络嵌入、知识重组与企业中心型创新生态系统价值共创

价值创造离不开丰富的知识资源,知识网络是知识资源流通与交互的主要途径,因而探究知识网络嵌入对企业中心型创新生态系统价值共创的作用机制具有重要理论和现实意义。据此,本文基于社会网络理论与知识组合理论,提出知识网络嵌入与价值共创关系的研究假设,并通过引入知识重组和知识势差,构建一个有调节的中介效应模型。本文采用层次回归、拔靴法和主客观数据相结合的方式进行实证检验,探究知识网络嵌入通过知识重组对价值共创的作用机制以及知识势差在其中发挥的调节作用。结果显示：（1）知识网络结构嵌入与关系嵌入均正向影响价值共创;（2）显性与隐性知识重组在知识网络嵌入与价值共创之间发挥双重中介作用,隐性知识重组的中介作用更显著;（3）广度知识势差强化知识重组的中介作用,而深度知识势差对知识重组的影响并不显著。本文从知识组合视角揭示知识网络嵌入驱动价值共创的作用机制,对企业中心型创新生态系统的知识管理具有一定启示意义。     

Conceptualizing Knowledge Creation: A Critique of Nonaka's Theory*

abstract Nonaka's proposition that knowledge is created through the interaction of tacit and explicit knowledge involving four modes of knowledge conversion is flawed. Three of the modes appear plausible but none are supported by evidence that cannot be explained more simply. The conceptual framework omits inherently tacit knowledge, and uses a radically subjective definition of knowledge: knowledge is in effect created by managers. A new framework is proposed suggesting that different kinds of knowledge are created by different kinds of behaviour. Following Dewey, non‐reflectional behaviour is distinguished from reflective behaviour, the former being associated with tacit knowledge, and the latter with explicit knowledge. Some of the implications for academic and managerial practice are considered.     

Learning to Build a Car: An Empirical Investigation of Organizational Learning

abstract    This study provides a longitudinal empirical examination of the basic elements of Nonaka's (1994 ) dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. First, the data illustrate the notion that knowledge creation in organizations proceeds through an intertwined four-phase process: (1) socialization (tacit knowledge amplification); (2) externalization (tacit knowledge is transformed into explicit knowledge); (3) combination (explicit knowledge amplification); and (4) internalization (explicit knowledge is transformed into tacit knowledge). Second, the study extends Nonaka's theory by comparing the relative amount of intra-organizational knowledge transfer occurring during periods of product redesign with the amount of knowledge transfer occurring during steady-state periods. The questionnaire data suggest that the overall level of knowledge transfer is higher during periods of product redesign than it is during the steady state, whereas the interview data indicate that there were more mentions of knowledge transfer during the steady state. Third, the data suggest that there may be benefit in adding tacit error correction as a fifth phase in the learning cycle. This phase is characterized by a dual emphasis on externalization and internalization. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Role of Knowledge in Value Creation in Business Nets*

abstract This paper focuses on the role of knowledge in intentionally created business networks called nets. Nets are seen to offer firms collective benefits beyond those of a single firm or market transaction. We propose that the types of knowledge and learning required in the management of different types of business net are dependent on the value creation characteristics of the net types. Based on this we suggest a classification of three generic net types –‘current business nets’, ‘business renewal nets’, and ‘emerging new business nets’– and argue that they pose different conditions for management in nets. Using this framework and integrating notions from the industrial network approach, strategic management and dynamic capabilities view, and organizational learning we make a number of observations and propositions about the role of knowledge and learning in the three types of business net. The paper contributes to the emerging theory of network management.     

Interactions Between Organizational Culture,Trustworthiness, and Mechanisms for Inter‐Project Knowledge Sharing

This research used a multiple‐case study approach to empirically investigate the complex relationship between factors influencing inter‐project knowledge sharing—trustworthiness, organizational culture, and knowledge‐sharing mechanisms. Adopting a competing values framework, we found evidence of patterns existing between the type of culture, on the project management unit level, and project managers’ perceptions of valuing trustworthy behaviors and the way they share knowledge, on the individual level. We also found evidence for mutually reinforcing the effect of trust and clan culture, which shape tacit knowledge‐sharing behaviors.     

Internal Knowledge Development and External Knowledge Access in Venture Capital Investment Performance

abstract    We examine the performance effects of two knowledge-driven strategies – internal knowledge development and external knowledge access through inter-firm relationships – in the context of venture capital investing. Using longitudinal data on the investments, syndication, and performance of 200 US-based venture capital firms, we find that investing in industries in which a firm has more knowledge and investing with more or familiar external partners enhances investment performance. In addition, we reveal important interactions between the two strategies, such that access to external knowledge is particularly beneficial when the investment exposes gaps in the firm's own expertise. Thus, access to external knowledge is more effective when an incongruity exists between what the firm knows and what it intends to do. We discuss the study's implications for organizational knowledge and learning, strategic alliance, and venture capital literature.     

Knowledge Networks and Careers: Academic Scientists in Industry–University Links*

abstract Careers are central to our understanding of the knowledge creation dynamics of network organizations. Based on the example of R&D project collaboration between firms and universities, this paper examines the emerging forms of career models that support knowledge flows between organizations. It explores how some large firms in the high‐technology sectors have sought to break away from the limitations of internal R&D and firm‐based careers for scientists by engaging in external collaborative projects to gain access to the open knowledge networks of university researchers. It examines how the firms seek to forge close institutional ties with their university partners and develop network career structures in order to engage academic scientists in joint knowledge production. It argues that firms have sought to extend their human resource and knowledge boundaries into the established internal labour markets of the universities with which they collaborate, leading to the formation of a pool of joint human resources with work experiences and career patterns straddling the two sectors. The paper develops the concept of an ‘overlapping internal labour market’ to provide a conceptual bridge between internal labour markets and network organizations.     

The roles of tacit knowledge and OCB in the relationship between group‐based pay and firm performance

Researchers have suggested various mechanisms through which group‐based pay may affect firm performance, but few have provided direct empirical field tests of these mechanisms. In this paper, we argue that group‐based pay systems lead to more organisational citizenship behaviours (OCB) and facilitate the sharing and creation of tacit knowledge among core employees. OCB and tacit knowledge in turn enhance firm performance. Regression results show that group‐based pay is positively related to firm performance and that the relationship is partially mediated by core employees' OCB. We discuss implications for compensation theory and research.     

Company‐based education programmes: what's the pay‐off for employers?

This article addresses the question of whether company‐based programmes of education repay employer investment in terms of learning transfer to the workplace. Building on earlier work by the authors, we use an in‐depth longitudinal case study of a long‐standing programme of continuous education sponsored by the US‐based NCR corporation in Scotland. As educators, we expected to find that the programme would have been associated with positive outcomes, based on the belief that 'embrained' or formal, abstract knowledge can be transferred to the workplace. We were aware, however, that research in this area has not been promising in demonstrating learning transfer, in part because such a process is mediated by the quality of the transfer climate. Drawing on survey data and in‐depth interviewing of a sample cohort, we found that the programme of company‐based education had significant implications for learning transfer. Surprisingly, however, transfer climate had little influence on the willingness of employees to use their knowledge to make improvements or generate innovations at work. Finally, we found that these data supported situated learning theory, stressing the importance of tacit knowledge, informal learning, the communal nature of workplace learning and the difficulties in evaluating learning transfer. We believe that these results have important implications for the literature on the evaluation of HRD interventions, for human resource development (HRD) specialists interested in developing programmes of so‐called lifelong learning and for practitioners working in the area of organisational learning and learning organisations.     

Linking Individual‐Level Knowledge Sourcing to Project‐Level Contributions in Large R&D‐Driven Product‐Development Projects

This paper focuses on the link between individuals’ knowledge sourcing and their creative contributions, such as new ideas and solutions in R&D‐driven product‐development projects; creative contributions were both self‐ and peer‐assessed. The paper reveals that, for individuals, knowledge sources internal to the organization were generally regarded as more important than external knowledge sources. However, external parties such as customers, partners, and suppliers constitute the knowledge source that best predicted creative contributions at the project level. Informal external contacts were deemed the least important knowledge source by individuals; however, this was positively related to self‐assessed creative contributions. The paper thus finds that there is a discrepancy between the knowledge sources deemed important by individuals and the sources that are associated with creative contributions at the project level.     

隐性知识概念阐释与特征分析

显性知识仅仅代表了知识整体的冰山一顶,而隐性知识则占据冰山的大部。隐性知识相对于显性知识而言更具体、更大量。研究隐性知识对企业的发展和企业核心竞争力的增强将有重大的促进作用。论文全面、系统的阐释了隐性知识概念并对其特征进行分析。     

Foreign Direct Investment and Managerial Knowledge Spillovers through the Diffusion of Management Practices

Although managerial knowledge spillovers have long been claimed to be a major benefit of foreign direct investment (FDI), such spillovers have not yet been systematically analysed. This paper adds to the literature by analysing the nature and extent of managerial knowledge spillovers from FDI through the diffusion of management practices. Taking into account the tacit and explicit elements of management practices and distinguishing between industry and non‐industry specific practices, the paper identifies different types of spillovers and discusses their transmission mechanisms. Evidence from establishment‐level panel data from the UK attests to the existence and significance of intra‐industry, linkage, and non‐linkage based inter‐industry spillovers of managerial knowledge from foreign to local firms, although the strength varies for different types of practices. The spillovers are geographically localized, especially in channels without supply chain linkages. Local firms are selective in the adoption of individual practices and the spillover effects are more significant at the cluster and management system level. Reverse spillovers from local firms to MNEs from industrialized countries appear to be limited despite significant spillovers of practices amongst local firms.     

知识联盟与企业知识转移

知识联盟是现代企业战略联盟的一种重要形式。企业在组建知识联盟的过程中,可促使企业之间隐含性知识的转移,并且还能学习和创造新的交叉知识。企业隐含性知识能否在知识联盟的过程中实行有效转移,组织学习具有非常重要的意义,企业需要有明确的学习目标和较强的学习能力。     

培训师与人力资源开发师的对比研究

培训效果的好坏与培训师的水平有很大的关系。随着知识经济时代的到来,企业对培训的需求越来越多,对培训师的要求也越来越高。传统的培训师在暗默知识的创造和积累以及智力资本的增值这两方面都不能满足现代企业的需求。因此,一种新的职业角色——人力资源开发师,将伴随着企业发展成长而出现。人力资源开发师与培训师在工作目标、内容、责任、职业角色和评估方面都有着不同,但是二者也存在一定的联系。     

Metaphor and the Dynamics of Knowledge in Organization Theory: A Case Study of the Organizational Identity Metaphor*

abstract Despite the increased salience of metaphor in organization theory, there is still very little conceptual machinery for capturing and explaining how metaphor creates and/or reorders knowledge within organization theory. Moreover, prior work on metaphor has insufficiently accounted for the context of interpreting a metaphor. Many metaphors in organization theory, including the ‘organizational identity’ metaphor, have often been treated in singular and monolithic terms; seen to offer a similar or largely synonymous interpretation to theorists and researchers working along the entire spectrum of disciplines (e.g. organizational behaviour, organizational psychology) in organization theory. We argue in this paper that contextual variation however exists in the interpretation of metaphors in organization theory. This argument is developed by proposing and elaborating on a so‐called image‐schematic model of metaphor, which suggests that the image‐schemata (abstract imaginative structures) that are triggered by the metaphorical comparison of concepts may vary among individuals. Accordingly, once different schemata are triggered the completion and interpretation of a metaphor may equally vary among different individuals or, indeed, research communities. These points associated with the image‐schematic model of metaphor are illustrated with a case study of the ‘organizational identity’ metaphor. The case study shows that this particular metaphor has spiralled out into different research communities and has been comprehended in very different ways as different communities work from very different conceptions, or image‐schemata, of ‘organization’ and ‘identity’, and use different theoretical frameworks and constructs as a result. The implications of the image‐schematic view of metaphor for knowledge development and theoretical progress in organization theory are discussed.     

企业知识类型及其相关研究

随着知识经济的兴起,知识管理受到越来越广泛的关注。作为提高企业核心竞争能能力的重要资源,隐性知识愈发显示其重要性。本文介绍了显性知识与隐性知识的研究现状,分析了现阶段隐性知识研究存在的问题,最后从组织管理、隐性知识交流环境、员工隐性知识挖掘、隐性知识传播等宏观和微观两个方面提出了隐性知识研究中存在问题的解决办法。