Microfoundations of innovative capabilities: The leverage of collaborative technologies on organizational learning and knowledge management in a multinational corporation

Abstract

Microfoundations of dynamic capabilities have become a central concept for strategy and innovation research. Yet, despite recent developments in information technologies which facilitate data flow and information management in firms, little is known about how organizational learning and knowledge management nurture microfoundations of innovative capabilities. Our case research addresses this gap by examining how the use of collaborative technologies in a globally leading industrial corporation leverages intra-firm processes of learning and knowledge sharing, fostering innovative capabilities. We combine top-down theorizing and evidence-based exploration to systematically trace microfoundations that undergird a firm's innovative capabilities. Drawing on multiple data sources, we categorize these microfoundations as organizational and managerial structures, systems, processes, and procedures. Our findings show that innovative capabilities result from specific interactions and interdependencies between microfoundations residing in the four categories. The complex and dynamic interplay of corporate knowledge sharing and organizational learning processes nurtures microfoundational sources of innovative capabilities and enables the firm to sustain a competitive advantage in rapidly changing environments. Our findings have important implications for the role of organizational learning and knowledge management in the dynamic capabilities framework.