Influencing factors of knowledge enhancement of corporate universities in China

Abstract

PurposeCorporate universities are regarded as the knowledge management institution of enterprises, but how to improve knowledge enhancement function has not been investigated. Constructed upon the knowledge-based view, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influencing factors of knowledge enhancement of corporate universities.Design/methodology/approachThis paper takes 34 Chinese corporate universities as samples. The influencing factors and interrelationships are checked through exploratory case study and multi-case analysis. A “stimulate-action” model of influencing factors is built up based on the multi-case analysis. The fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis is used to examine configurational paths for knowledge enhancement.FindingsThe research finding shows that only a single element of knowledge management does not constitute a necessary condition for knowledge enhancement of corporate university and explored the concurrent synergy effect and linkage matching mode of multiple conditions of knowledge management. Most of the knowledge-enhanced corporate universities are of strengthening the knowledge process, which shows that sorting out the knowledge process is the core of the corporate university.Originality/valueUnlike the existing research, the external teachers and combing of external knowledge processes are the key factors; this paper proposed that the internal teachers and sorting out the knowledge process within the enterprise play a central role in the knowledge enhancement of corporate universities. The path of high-knowledge enhancement and without high-knowledge enhancement is asymmetry. This paper refined and extended the application of the knowledge management framework in explaining multiple conjunctural causations and improves the relevant theories of organizational knowledge management in the Chinese context.