Abstract
Purpose: This research was aimed at investigating organisational support by means of knowledge conversion processes toward maturity growth in innovation capability areas. Problem investigated: No formal guidelines exist for the use of knowledge management to grow innovation capability maturity. As knowledge management plays a fundamental role in an enterprise's ability to innovate successfully, the following question arises: Can knowledge creation processes be used to enable innovation capability maturity growth? Methodology: The literature therefore provides a strong basis for the argument that knowledge management and more specifically knowledge creation processes could be used to improve an enterprise's innovation capability maturity. A knowledge creation framework that enables innovation capability maturity growth was designed by aligning knowledge creation processes to the requirements for innovation capability growth from one maturity level to the next. The time-frame of the research did not allow the implementation of the framework, and five industry and subject theory experts were used to evaluate the framework. Findings: All five experts responded positively to, and were in agreement that the reasoning applied when identifying the specific knowledge creation process path as a key enabler of growth between innovation capability maturity levels is logical and sound. Value of research: The unique research contribution of the framework lies in providing a tangible link between the fields of knowledge management and innovation capability maturity.Conclusion: The impact of this research lies in the development of a knowledge creation framework that provides guidelines for the use of knowledge creation processes as a vehicle for innovation capability maturity growth.
Highlights
The competitiveness and survival of the modern enterprise are reliant on its ability to innovate, providing a strong argument that innovation should not be apportioned to only the final levels of organisational maturity
The literature provides a strong basis for the argument that knowledge management and knowledge creation processes could be used to improve an enterprise’s innovation capability maturity
The fundamentals of the framework were derived through independent reasoning by the authors, by identifying a knowledge creation path that acts as a key enabler for maturity growth from maturity level 1 through to maturity level 5
Summary
The competitiveness and survival of the modern enterprise are reliant on its ability to innovate, providing a strong argument that innovation should not be apportioned to only the final levels of organisational maturity. In 1939, Schumpeter (1939:48) directly addressed the vague concept of innovation, defining it as encompassing the entire process, starting from a kernel of an idea, continuing through all the steps to reach a marketable product that changes the economy. He singled out five types of innovation: those that result in new products, new methods of production, new sources of supply, the exploration of new markets, and new ways to organise business. Bigoness and Perreault (1981:68) argue that the adoption of a single process, product or business concept by an enterprise does not necessarily represent a tendency toward innovativeness. They suggest that it is the enterprise that consistently adopts innovative ideas that appropriately demonstrates innovative characteristics
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