Leaders’ social ties, knowledge acquisition capability and firm competitive advantage

Drawing on the relational and knowledge-based views of competitive advantage, this study links leaders?? social ties and knowledge acquisition capability to competitive advantage of a firm. Specifically, it posits that leaders?? business ties and government ties have differential effects on firm competitive advantage. It further posits that the effect of leaders?? business ties on firm competitive advantage will be positively moderated by knowledge acquisition capability, and the effect of leaders?? government ties on firm competitive advantage will be negatively moderated by knowledge acquisition capability. The hypotheses are tested based on a survey of 386 firms in China. The results provide support for the hypotheses.     

The contribution of Project-based-learning to high-achievers’ acquisition of technological knowledge and skills

The main goals of this study were to look after the technological knowledge construction process by high-school high-achievers, and their ability to design and implement solutions for technological problems. More specifically, we examine the contribution of Project-based-learning (PBL), as pedagogical means for supporting the students’ knowledge acquisition and problem-solving process. The findings show a significant increase in formal knowledge as measured by standardized matriculation exams; an expansion in the scope of technological knowledge acquired and implemented, and in the scope of knowledge resources utilized for the projects; a high level of overall performance as regards to the set of design skills studied; a positive change in attitude towards technology and technological studies; the emergence of consistent design styles by individuals and groups along their work in the projects.     

Where can capabilities come from? network ties and capability acquisition in business groups

While strategy researchers have devoted considerable attention to the role of firm‐specific capabilities in the pursuit of competitive advantage, less attention has been directed at how firms obtain these capabilities from outside their boundaries. In this study, we examine how firms' multiplex network ties in business groups represent one important source of capability acquisition. Our focus allows us to go beyond the traditional focus on network structure and offer a novel contingency model that specifies how different types of network ties (e.g., buyer‐supplier, equity, and director), individually and in complementary combination, will differentially affect the process of R&D capability acquisition. We also offer an original analysis of how other aspects of network structure (i.e., network density) in business groups affect the efficacy of network ties on R&D capability. Empirically, we provide an original contribution to the capabilities literature by utilizing a stochastic frontier estimation to rigorously measure firm capabilities, and we demonstrate the value of this approach using longitudinal data on business groups in emerging economies. We close by discussing the implications of our supportive results for future research on firm capabilities, organizational networks, and business groups. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.